Do you want to learn the secret to spreading your company’s brand awareness and gaining more loyal customers? The secret is finding a great marketing agency that works well with your business.
But how do you know a small business marketing agency is the right fit for your company? Many outstanding marketing agencies are great at what they do, but that doesn’t mean they’re the right agency for your company.
Many marketing agencies have a specialty or a particular focus. This can be as specific as the industry their clients work in or as broad as business size.
Then there are soft skills such as how often the agency communicates with you and their professionalism. You want to find a small business marketing agency that your company gets along well with.
Are you looking for a marketing agency to help you with your marketing efforts? Then here’s what you need to know about choosing the right marketing agency for your business.
Finding the Right Small Business Marketing Agency
When you work with a marketing agency, you will be in constant communication with them for hopefully a long time. They need to get a feel for your business and business goals to create effective and meaningful marketing materials. Here’s what to look for in a small business marketing agency.
1. What are Your Business Goals?
Before you start searching for a marketing agency, you must identify your business goals. Marketing agencies have different strengths that will reach some audiences better than others. You’ll want to find a marketing agency whose strengths and work matches with your business goals.
When you meet with an agency, they will ask you what your business goals are so they can craft an effective marketing plan. Your goals can help both you find an agency that fits and can accomplish your marketing needs.
2. Look at the Agency’s Services
As you search for a marketing agency, you will find some do the whole gamut of marketing. They offer comprehensive services that include everything from planning to implementing campaigns to PPC (pay per click) and SEO (search engine optimization).
Other agencies may only focus on a couple of services such as just SEO or just PPC. If you’re looking for one of these services, it may be best to work with an agency that focuses only on that one service.
3. Does the Agency Match Your Business Personality?
While the work the marketing agency does is very important, their personality is just as important. The marketing agency will be creating work that will become the voice of your business. This voice will be emails, social media, posts, and your website, depending on the services you need.
If you’re a fun boisterous business, wouldn’t you want to work with an agency that is also fun and outgoing? If you’re a business with a quiet and professional personality, you probably wouldn’t want to work with a boisterous risk-taking agency.
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As you search for a small business marketing agency, take note of the personality they share about themselves and their work. If you feel their personality matches yours, the next step is to reach out and meet with them.
When you decide to work with a small business marketing agency, they will become similar to a business partner. Since you both will be working closely together you must get along. If something doesn’t feel right, that agency might not be the right fit for you and your business.
4. Check Reviews and Testimonials
Businesses can make themselves look amazing on their website and social media while hiding their ugly side. Of course, not all small business marketing agencies have an ugly side. But there are a few who may not be as they appear.
Check reviews, read testimonials, and research current and former clients. This will give you an idea of the type of clients the agency has experience working with. If you’re a technology company, you will want to work with an agency that has experience with it marketing.
From these reviews, you can learn how the agency is to work for and the type of work they do. Positive reviews can be reassuring while negative reviews can be warning to avoid a particular agency.
5. How Involved Do You Want to Be?
This tip is often overlooked as many businesses think they want to offload their marketing to the agency and let them handle it. Then partway through the first campaign, they decide they don’t love the campaign and want more control. This wastes time for both your business and the agency.
Fortunately, you can avoid this situation by deciding now how accessible and involved you want to be. Let your marketing agency know your accessibility and involvement. Most marketing agencies are happy to involve you as much or as little as you would like.
However, it’s equally important to follow through with these expectations. You can change your mind as long as you communicate that to your marketing agency. Failing to do so can create tension between you and the agency.
6. Commitment to Your Business
If you’ve reached out to several different marketing agencies, how many responded to you with a personalized email or phone call within a reasonable amount of time? Take note of the agencies that responded right away and the ones that took their time and sent you a generic pre-made response.
The agencies that took the time to get back to you right away with a personalized response are genuinely interested in working with you and your business. As you continue communicating, pay attention to how they respond. If they continue responding quickly and sound excited, they’re an agency that commits themselves to help your business.
Find the Perfect Marketing Agency
Finding the right small business marketing agency for your business can appear time-consuming and stressful. But by following these 6 tips, you’re sure to find a great marketing agency that understands your business. Both you and your agency will form a lasting relationship while growing your business.
Want to learn more great marketing tips to help your business? Check out our latest blog posts to stay up-to-date on the latest marketing news.
