Choosing the Right Ad Agency for Your Business

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Once your business has reached a certain size, you’ll want to start expanding your customer base. The most effective way to do this is by using targeted media, and to make the most effective use of your budget, you should appoint an advertising agency that understands the marketing process.
There is really only one purpose of advertising, and that is to increase your sales, and profits.

Remember that you should choose an ad agency for the long term – switching agencies can be a time-consuming and expensive process.

When selecting an agency, there are certain things to consider:

Agency size
The best way to ensure that your business gets the benefit of your agency’s input is to match the size of the agency to the size of your business. Big agencies tend to put their most creative talent to work on those accounts generating the most revenue. You want an agency which is small enough to give your requirements the attention they deserve.

Portfolio
An ad agency’s work for previous clients should tell you a lot about its abilities. Make sure that your agency’s type of creativity will work for your company. Look for familiarity with your industry. You’re not interested in the awards they’ve won, but how their work has helped their clients business. Awards don’t pay the bills.

Measureable results
It’s often difficult measuring the effectiveness of mass media advertising. Sometimes it comes in the form of increased brand awareness, rather than an immediate increase in sales. Your agency should be able to give you an indication of what it will achieve.

Capabilities
Make sure that your selected agency has the necessary expertise and experience to see to your requirements, both now and in the future. You may not be ready to go onto radio or TV right now, but in two years time when you may be ready, you don’t want to have to change agencies because the agency you’ve selected can’t see to your needs.

Chemistry
Marketing is a people-driven activity. Make sure you know who will be working on your account, and that they have the necessary experience and the desired passion and attitude. You need to feel comfortable with your agency personnel. Your brand needs to be in good hands.

Confidentiality
Your agency will need access to confidential information about your company and your objectives. Make sure that the personnel working on your account can keep that information to themselves.. Make sure that they’re not doing work for your competitors.

Fees
Find out what your agency charges, and for what. Make sure that you’re not being overcharged. Bear in mind however that a good agency will do a lot of work on your brand behind the scenes – work that you may not be aware of. If it does a consistently good job, giving you strategic guidance, producing good creative work and meeting your deadlines, it should be fairly compensated. There is nothing more damaging than a client or agency feeling aggrieved. Come to an understanding before you brief your agency on its first task.

On selecting an agency, you must feel comfortable that there is a “fit”. You must be confident that it can see to your requirements – and that you’ll be happy with its servicing, its creativity, its enthusiasm and its reliability. Once you’ve chosen the right agency, your task will be to help it achieve your objectives by providing as much of a brief as possible. (The more information the better). An agency cannot work in a vacuum. Avoid setting up an adversarial relationship where you pick holes in every idea they come up with. An agency can only be as good as your relationship with it. At the end of the day, an agency must be a partner – respected and valued.

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Tags: ad agency, Branding, business, media, positioning, revenue