Seven steps for hiring a marketing agency

Whether you’re wondering if it’s time to hire your first marketing agency or you’re thinking that it might be time for some new ideas, it takes intentionality, good planning, and some introspection to make sure you choose the right partner. You’re entering into a relationship, after all. This list can help you take the proper steps to select and work with a marketing agency and set you up for a mutually beneficial, long-term relationship.

1. Analyze your needs
You can use any number of methods to measure your organization’s unique needs. A SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) is one great way to uncover what you’re missing from your internal team or your existing agency relationship.

Meet with your team and set up a whiteboard or virtual sharing tool. Work together through the four areas, starting with your team’s strengths, and write down everything that comes to mind. While you may not need an agency to help with your team’s strengths, this section may help you rule out what you are not looking for in an agency partner. Is your team great at thought leadership? If so, an agency may be able to review your strategy and offer an outsider perspective, but maybe this won’t be the first thing you look for.

As you complete the rest of the analysis, especially if you uncover opportunities but find that your team isn’t strong in that area, you’ll begin to see what kind of agency you’re looking for.

2. Decide who is leading the search efforts
There are hundreds of thousands of advertising or marketing agencies to choose from. Narrowing the field seems daunting. And if you search by committee, it can get messy. An internal team member can start narrowing your search by understanding some macro differences between agencies. For example, marketing agencies like Lunne create marketing materials that promote your service or product. An ad agency, on the other hand, is primarily responsible for planning, purchasing, and managing your paid ad campaigns on traditional media, such as print, radio, and television, or newer outlets like social media or influencer marketing. From there, do you need support focused on a specific type of marketing, such as digital or experiential marketing? These broad categories will help you focus on the right kind of agency quickly.

3. Determine your agency budget
What can you spend with an agency partner? If you’re a small business with an annual marketing budget of $50,000 to $100,000, a major market ad agency would burn through all of that kicking off your first project. On the other hand, a small, local agency may be able to make those dollars stretch a bit further. 

You don’t need a Maserati to get groceries or a sledgehammer to kill a fly, and you don’t need Don Draper to manage social media for a local shop. Lunne’s clients have a range of budgets, but we work best with long-term partners (we’re the Agency of Relationships, of course). Investing in a long-term agency partnership allows your account team to learn about your unique needs over time, which means you’ll spend less time and money to on-ramp the team and devote your budget more efficiently as your relationship grows.

4. Ask around
Referrals are integral to the way we shop for everything from cars to paper towels. Gathering referrals from trusted connections in your industry gives you a more subjective look at the agency’s strengths and weaknesses than you’ll find on their website. No agency shares case studies about projects that didn’t go well or relationships that fizzled over time. So in addition to the rest of your research, check with a friend.

This tip also applies once you get further into the process and actually speak to agencies. Feel free to ask for an introduction to a referral who has worked with the agency so you can get a look behind the scenes.

5. Set up some conversations
You can go about this one of two ways. If the person leading the agency search is able to locate a few interesting agencies worth exploring, reach out to their head of growth or business development, and they’ll be happy to talk to you. Alternatively, there are companies that will perform an agency search for you for a fee as well.

During these conversations, as you would in a job interview, ask the tough questions. Dig deeper than an overview of services the agency provides, or a look at projects they’re really proud of. Ask why their last client left. Have them explain how they handled a mistake that was their fault. Try to find out if they specialize in your industry or in the types of marketing assets they create. If they’re a small agency that does everything from websites to videos to social media ad campaigns, they’re generalists. When you analyzed your team’s strengths and weaknesses, did you uncover a more specific need? Or do you need an agency that can do it all? And be aware of the old saying, “Jack of all trades, master of none.” If you need an agency that masters something more specific for your organization, focus on finding the right kind of support.

6. Get to work
In the end, there’s no better way to find out how you can work with an agency than by diving in with a project. Don’t rush them, or give them something so important that your marketing plans hinge on its success. For example, don’t give them a full rebrand to do in a week. But spend time working with them with the intention of starting a long-term relationship. This is the dating phase!

Stay in touch throughout the project to see how they communicate with you proactively, and monitor how they move the project along between touchbase opportunities.

7. Grow together
I’ve said to many new clients that when we first start collaborating, it can be a little like learning to dance with a new partner. You may step on each other’s toes a few times or get off beat here and there, and that needs to be expected. Because as you keep dancing, you can start to predict your partner’s moves, know when to support them, and figure out how to work together as one. 

Over time, a good agency partner will start planning for annual campaigns, possibly even before you do. They’ll see and share news and insights that are helpful, provide thought leadership, and act as part of your team rather than as a hired resource.

Let’s talk
Are you in the early stages of looking for a new agency partner? Lunne has maintained relationships with clients for as long as 20 years. Reach out to set up an initial conversation and see why.