What to Look for In a Creative Marketing Agency
Marketing is about more than selling a product.
Studies show that emotional connection may be the key to driving customer loyalty. So, if you want to have a true following, your brand should have a story. A mission. Something that goes beyond sales, and permeates every area of your marketing technique. But how do you make sure that you’re telling this story effectively?
A creative marketing agency is exactly what you need.
A creative marketing agency will take your brand’s ideals and mission, and spin it into a story that weaves through everything from your social posts to your website copy. That is, if you know how to pick the right agency for you.
Follow these steps to ensure that you pick the creative marketing agency that is going to help your business tell its story most effectively.
Goals that align with yours
If you’re going to hire an agency to tell your story, it helps if some of the elements of your story overlap with yours.
For example, if you’re a local business with strong ties to the community, you might look for a local agency that knows the culture of your hometown inside and out. If you’re a remote team, you should consider hiring a remote agency that knows how communication in a team like that works.
If your ultimate goal is client retention, look for an agency that has a strong track record in achieving that.
If your brand has a certain moral or political stance, make sure you hire an agency that shares the same values.
Of course, in order to achieve this, you’re going to have to know what your own goals and values are. So before you start looking for the perfect agency, make sure you know what it is you’re looking for.
Tangible results from past projects
When you’re looking into possible marketing agencies, you want to make sure that they can deliver on the promises they’re making.
That’s why case studies are so important. Showing exactly how they’ve helped clients in the past turns empty promises into guarantees for action. Plus, through case studies, you’ll be able to get a feel for a company and how they work.
Olive Group offers both a portfolio of past work and quick statistics, including our experience and maximum workload.
We do this because we want our potential clients to understand us as well as we will come to understand them. We want them to know exactly what we offer, so that when they come to us, they know exactly what to expect.
Transparency is key to any marketing agency and the techniques the use. Make sure your agency has that for themselves.
They’re always changing
The world of marketing is not stagnant. Like many things in life, it is always changing.
Just last year, digital and social media marketing surpassed television marketing. And the world of social media is always the quickest to change, with new platforms and innovations making new strides and trends monthly.
Your marketing agency should be able to keep up with these changes.
For this reason, you should be wary of any creative marketing agency that appears to do just one thing. It implies the sort of rigidity that will surely make a campaign fail. Imagine working with a creative marketing agency that just creates logos? With the thousands of logo creators across the globe and logos selling for as little as $5, that ship has sailed and that agency cannot function any longer in today’s digital world.
Instead, look for a company that does everything you’re looking for. For example, Olive Group prides itself on its agency level SEO marketing techniques. This requires us to be always changing, to keep up with the times.
They know what they’re talking about
Checking out a marketing agency’s blog is a great way to figure out who they really are.
Not only will reading an agency’s blog help you discover their story, to see if it aligns with your own. It will also help you see if they can offer good, solid advice to businesses looking to improve their marketing techniques.
You can also see if they’re the kind of agency that can help you achieve your goals. Looking for someone who will support your local business? See if they blog a lot about your hometown. Want someone who focuses on social media? See how often they give out social media tips and tricks.
You’ve seen their successes firsthand
By far, the best way to find a marketing agency is to get recommendations from your connections.
If you’re reading about an agency’s success on their website, you’re getting it from them. But if they’ve helped one of your peers, you can see exactly how effective their techniques were.
Reach out to your connections. Ask them about their experience with the marketing agency you’re looking into. Chances are good that they’ll be more than willing to talk about them.
Of course, this goes both ways. If you have good experience with a marketing agency, tell a friend!
You get along with them
An agency can control their portfolio and their blog. But there’s no faking rapport.
If you hit it off with a creative marketing agency, they’re probably exactly the ones you’re looking for. Nothing can replace a solid relationship built on mutual trust and understanding.
If you feel comfortable with the agency, there’s a reason for it. It means that their goals align with yours and that their business culture is probably similar to yours. It means that they will have no problems communicating with you, and making sure that you’re on the same page.
Try and find that spark between you and your agency.
But what does a creative marketing agency look for in you?
You are choosy. But creative marketing agencies can be, too.
If you want to attract agencies that are a good fit for you, make sure you’re transparent about who you are and what you need. If you give them details, they’ll be able to cater to exactly what you want.
For example, we are dedicated to giving quality service to everyone. But we are especially effective at helping people in our wonderful hometown of Tacoma, Washington and the entire Puget Sound.
If a company comes to us, and lets us know that they have the same pride in their hometown that we do, then we’ll know just how to market them — and ourselves, when we go to bat for your business.
A creative marketing agency is going to be telling your story. Make sure you give them the tools to know it intimately. And if you need an agency with the experienced professionals who can help you take your marketing game to the next level, contact us.