The Green & Red Flags of Managing Agency Partnerships
Any strong marketing campaign is bound to have many moving pieces and parts. Things can change quickly, so it's important to rely on a team that can handle all the curveballs. You may handle your marketing efforts through in-house teams or employ a third-party agency (like us), or several, to help you do the things you don’t have resources or staff for.
However you prefer to work, getting the best return on your investment and seeing results from your campaign is what matters most. Whom you work with, or rather, whom you employ, can be a crucial ingredient to your recipe of campaign success.
Not all agency partnerships are created equal. The goal of any good agency should be to act as if they’re an extension of your brand but function with their own unique outside perspective. Partnering with an agency allows your company to do things better and faster while seeing robust results in your marketing efforts.
Agencies are here to be your partner, and there are very specific ways to work that can accomplish that relationship. We’ve put together this list of “Green Flags” and “Red Flags” based on all our collective experiences of positive qualities your next agency partner should have, as well as some negative qualities to avoid.
Agency Green Flags
These are the positive qualities we think your agency partner should have.
Collaboration
It’s important that an agency works well with other agencies and vendors, not just the client themselves. After all, we should all be working toward the same goal: Helping the client grow their business.
At AfterMath, it’s all about teamwork. We think having chemistry and synergy on a team is important because it helps us stay integrated with our clients and their needs. We are committed business partners to our clients and to anyone else working with them. Basically, we play well with others.
Good, Consistent Communication
Working with an open and honest agency that is receptive to feedback will go a long way, but it is definitely a two-way street. Both parties need to be open and communicate their needs while setting expectations.
For example, we hold retrospectives internally and with our clients at the end of each project to figure out what worked and what didn’t.
Meets Deadlines
Having an agency that has their s*** together ensures that you can do business better. Deadlines are important, whether they be for timely events, promotions for holidays or sending creative work to a radio or TV station on time.
We have deadlines for each team on various projects; that way we know the date we need to hand things off.
Proactive
Agencies that go above and beyond to anticipate the needs of their client are a valuable resource. A proactive agency brings ideas and/or solutions that the client may not have even thought of or looked into before partnering up. Clients sometimes need more than just someone to get a job done. The “Don’t-Tell-Me-What-I-Already-Know” clients rely on agencies for fresh ideas and insights.
We always want to make our clients happy, so we dig deeper to find the real pain points and find fresh, creative solutions. We think it's important to continuously evaluate our strategy behind your marketing efforts to drive ROI.
Industry & Marketing Expertise
It’s helpful when your agency understands your pain points already, because it means they are already familiar with the material. Industry experts are very useful, but marketing experts who understand how to assess and reach any audience, and can apply strategic thinking to the rapidly changing world around us, are priceless.
Unlike many agencies today who are singularly focused on one or two industries, we draw our energies for creative design and strategic marketing solutions from the vastly different industries we represent.
Observant
Good agencies will ask clients questions about their ideas to make sure they understand (or can improve upon) their ideas. Agencies should especially understand what the client’s objectives are and if there are any constraints with meeting any of those objectives.
All AfterMath associates who will touch a given project gather for a “context kickoff”. This meeting is a useful tool for everyone to ask all the questions they need to develop a successful campaign. Once we have client-provided insights and our burning questions answered, we’re able to continue the project with minimal roadblocks, which results in meeting or exceeding client expectations.
Agency Red Flags
These are the negative qualities we think you should be aware of, or avoid, in an agency partner.
Order Takers
Agencies that simply do work as assigned without adding improvements are not going to help your business in the long term. Agencies that have your best interests in mind will push you towards your goals by making recommendations that best serve your brand.
We like to say we push clients, and when they push back, we can back up the strategy behind our campaigns that we believe will drive the business forward.
Too Comfortable
Brands or agencies that employ the “If-It’s-Worked-Before-We’ll-Just-Do-It-Again” method may not always pay off in the long term. Sometimes clients need an agency that’s willing to step outside of the box.
There is a fine balance between agencies that are smart enough to push outside the boundaries and agencies that goes to the extreme of crazy, bad ideas.
Obscure Results
When an agency is handling your measurement, it is important that they are upfront with you on what the numbers reflect. It’s even more important for an agency to be able to read those results and provide insight into what they mean. Be leery of agencies that are sketchy about the numbers and can't translate them into action.
Big Egos
Don’t let egos, titles or self-serving personalities get in the way of final deliverables. At the end of the day, all parties involved are there to make sure you look good, the brand stands out and the business results are positive.
It’s less about giving us credit and more about making you and your brand shine.
Complicated Costs & Operations
Scams are everywhere these days. Agencies with weird pay schemes are difficult to do business with, especially if they aren't upfront about even a project estimate.
It's smoother sailing when an agency that understands the scope of the work can break down how the process will work and how long it will take and be transparent about costs with an approximate estimation.
Lying or Gaslighting
This one seems pretty straightforward, right? Agencies should not be lying about their capabilities or exaggerating what they can do without even thinking about it, or worse, saying whatever they have to in order to get your business.
An agency that communicates its limits and restraints honestly and openly is one you can trust, which is an essential key to building partnerships.
Great Agencies Make Clients Greater
Hopefully, we’ve helped you understand the kind of agency you need and what a good agency does well.
We’ve listed many of the qualities we think any great agency (like us) should have. Some of them may seem obvious, like the capacity to consistently engage in the status of a project in a timely manner. Others may not seem so obvious, like paying attention to what works so they can be proactive enough to anticipate your needs.
Ultimately, a great partner agency will have the right expertise for your brand. And, ideally, this partner agency should rely on their team (even your team, occasionally) for high-caliber collaboration that solves your needs and meets all deadlines on time.
Having trouble finding a great marketing agency? Look no further; we have all the green flags.
We’re like another arm of your business, and we are here to make your working life easier.
Contact Dale Elwell today to work with us tomorrow: delwell@teamaftermath.com