Senior Account Manager Katie Sandell offers some useful and insightful tips for success.
It’s a relationship that has been around for decades. Marketing departments hire agencies and build relationships with them. Whether those relationships are project-by-project, or ongoing relationships which last for decades, how can marketers use an agency’s expertise to meet their objectives?
In this insight article I will share some thoughts on how to get this relationship working to its fullest potential.
1. Share your strategy
Your world as a marketer revolves around marketing strategy and how this will ultimately help your company to achieve its business goals. When working with an integrated agency, it’s really worth sharing your marketing strategy upfront as it gives the agency something to refer back to, whether they’re creating a digital display banner or a messaging workshop. It also allows the agency to challenge the brief if necessary. Everything needs to sing from the same hymn sheet, so your agency needs to know what song you’re singing!
2. Write a brief
This will sound incredibly obvious. But, by writing an actual, physical brief it will often save lots of interrogation later on. When writing the brief you might throw up some questions yourself that you need to discuss with your stakeholders before briefing a project into the agency. It saves creative teams being briefed incorrectly which could end in unexpected additional fees. Having something on a written document also gives the agency something to refer back to during the lifespan of the project – is this small element in line with that we’re trying to achieve?
3. Be open and honest
Like with any relationship, trust is crucial. You don’t want to feel like you’re having the wool pulled over your eyes by your agency, but this works both ways. If you’re open and honest from the get-go, agencies can often put processes in place that can help you with challenges that you face. It could be a tricky stakeholder who could blow the project out of the water, or that deadline you think you could miss. But by sharing relevant information with your agency upfront, you’ll find that they will usually try their best to help and will work in a way that helps to ease these pain points.
4. Listen
Some of the best relationships I’ve had with clients are with those who want to work with their agency to create brilliant on-strategy work, rather than dictating what needs to be done. You’ve hired an agency for their expertise, so if you’re challenged to think differently, don’t be afraid to take on board any suggestions and fresh ideas. It’s valuable to listen to what’s being suggested. It may not always be spot-on but hearing these challenges and questions from your agency signals that they care and want to create great work for you. That campaign you’ve been briefed to deliver by your boss – is it on strategy? Is it going to reach our audience? Having an outside-in view can sometimes be invaluable. Listening helps build a collaboration approach, and that ultimately drives success.
At Mobas, we work hard to create meaningful, long-lasting relationships with our clients. We work with them to help transform their marketing challenges into business success. By getting under the skin of their businesses and delivering strategically-focused creative work. We’re here to transform client opportunity into success.
