We are back with part two of our deep dive into “10 questions you need to be asking your marketing agency in 2022”
We already covered aspects like pinpointing you business problems and retaining ownership of you campaign data – but now its time to dive into five more critical questions you need to be asking your marketing agency.
If you missed the first half of this list, click right here to the first half of this chocolate and vanilla scoop of marketing goodness, otherwise get ready…set….lets go!
6. Are You Willing to Tell Me I Am Wrong?
Yes, you read that right. Is your agency willing to tell you that you are wrong? The answer should be yes.
This isn’t in reference to goals surrounding revenues, profitability, and business growth—all of this is what you want as a result of great marketing. But the last thing you should be looking for from a marketing agency is a team of “yes-people” that are unwilling to challenge your ideas or assumptions.
A great marketing, media, or creative agency should be willing to push back on you if they have a better strategy or idea, which is what you are paying them for!
Take Google Ads for example. You may think that you just need more ad clicks—end of story. But a great agency should be looking under the hood and asking, “How is your landing page converting? How are you following up? What is your CPA?” They should be digging down deeper to uncover the root causes that can be affecting the results you want.
This is not a dictatorship. This is a partnership. And any agency worth their salt will push back on you from time to time in everything from campaign types to how to achieve your growth goals.
7. Can You Ensure Communication?
In a world filled with endless ways to communicate, we hear too many stories of breakdowns in campaign launches, processes, and creative approvals due to lacking communication.
In this business there should be no “We will call you when it’s ready” or “If there are any issues.” The next phone call or follow-up is always on the books.
The speed with which marketing moves means that you should be looking for an agency that is willing to over-communicate rather than under-communicate. This might mean a weekly or bi-weekly call, Zoom meeting, email synopsis, etc. Whatever it is, you should never need to question what is going on with your campaign(s).
Should you expect an agency to spend hours every day discussing every aspect of your marketing plan? No. Again, this is going to be a partnership and both sides need to trust one another. However, if a baseline of communication is not established, or your follow-up emails are getting no response, this might be a red flag you don’t want to ignore.
8. Will You Answer My Questions?
If there is one question your marketing agency should never shy away from, it’s “Why?”
As the brand or business that has hired the agency you should never be shy about asking “Why?” when it comes to campaigns, creative choices, or even particular strategies. Truth be told, good agencies are more than happy to pull back the curtain and explain why they are making the strategic moves that they are.
“Why are we only targeting this region of the country in my Google Ads campaign? Why are we targeting that demographic in my Facebook campaign? Why are you suggesting an SMS text campaign instead of an email campaign? “
No matter the question, never be afraid to ask “Why?”
If the agency you are vetting is reluctant to answer questions (perhaps like the ones on this list), consider continuing your search until you find one that will.
Keep in mind, you may not understand every answer—heck, you may not even like the answer—but you are looking for openness and transparency when it comes to questions you may have.
9. Do You Focus on Strategy or Tactics?
This is a big one. Conflating strategy and tactics is all too common amongst creative agencies.
Tactics are usually “one-off” actions, while strategies are the itemized steps or even a collection of tactics designed to help you reach your goals. Here is an example of an agency conflating the two when it comes to SEO.
If an agency said, “Okay, to get your sales up to where you want, we are going to do some SEO so you show up on page one on Google.” They are speaking tactically—not strategically.
Besides SEO (basically) not working like this anymore, an agency that is quick to treat things like SEO or Google Ads as a plug-and-play solution is not thinking strategically.
And the strategy is what you want!
On the other hand, if they said, “Well, you want to increase your website sales, so this means that, from an SEO standpoint, we need to drive traffic, convert that traffic into interest, and then convert that interest into sales. So, we want to build XYZ type of content and fix these UX issues to make your brand easier to find on Google. Then we should use 123 imagery and video to entice visitors on your site. Finally, we should ABC your checkout to make purchasing simpler.”
Now you have found a partner that is considering the strategy needed to achieve your goals. At the end of the day, you want a marketing partner that has a strategic approach with benchmarks they are aiming to hit—not a bucket of tactics with no real explanation of how they will be used.
10. Can You Guarantee Results?
Now we reach one of the greatest questions you can ask. Why? Because it is kind of a trick question, especially in the agency vetting process.
In marketing, there are no guarantees. If you worked with a financial advisor and they guaranteed you 15% annual return no matter what, you would be skeptical, and you should be. As with any type of investment, there is risk. Risk that can be minimized but never eliminated.
If your agency says yes to this question, close the door, don’t move forward, do not pass go, do not collect (or rather, shell out) $200.
Any agency that’s good at what they do can tell you a couple of things. First, they can likely give you a ballpark of what they want to see happen based on previous work they have done with similar clients. Secondly (and maybe more importantly), they can show you examples of past campaigns that have delivered success in the form of case studies.
While client confidentiality is often (and should be) a priority for agencies, cleaned-up (sterilized) versions of reports provided to clients may also be available.
Again, you are looking for honesty and transparency. So never expect an ROI, ROAS, or revenue guarantee and steer clear of those who are willing to provide one.
What’s Your Next Move?
As an agency that is about to cross the 20-year threshold (about 200 in digital marketing years), we have seen clients from every corner of the digital ecosystem. As such, we want every business willing to take the risk to have an amazing experience and get the results they want.
Are there more questions that you could be asking, absolutely. But the questions provided across this article (and part one) will give you a solid foundation when it comes to locking down your perfect marketing agecny for your growth goals.
If you are on the hunt for your next agecny or just want to bounce some questions off our experts call us at (818) 740-4774 or email us via our contact page and be sure to tell us a bit about your business in the comment box.
Be patient, ask all the quesitons you need, and make sure your next agency has your best interest in mind. You got this!