Five things all marketing agency clients should know

With a necessity to work with a wide variety of personalities and individuals with various job titles, it’s become important for agencies to whittle down not only how they can foster great relationships with their clients, but how clients can help improve it as well.

When you’ve had great clients, some of whom have even become your close friends, here is a very concise list to help them get prepared to work with agencies like yours:

1. Be prepared to work

So, you’ve hired an agency – and it wasn’t easy at all. Investing in an agency is a huge leap of faith that takes a lot of work. So much so, that sometimes once you’ve made the commitment, there’s a huge collective sigh of relief from you and your team. Sorry to burst your bubble, but the work is only getting started.

If you want to succeed (and help them to help you), be prepared to invest your time. You are experts in your field and industry, and we are experts in marketing. We need to know everything we can about your product or service. Let us test, try, tour and experience what you’re selling. It takes time, but it’s vital. Be ready to answer questions, provide specific, clear and thoughtful feedback – and most importantly, be on time, or we can’t either.

2. Never forget why you hired the agency

If you just wanted something to look pretty, you could have hired a freelancer or your niece who has a copy of Photoshop. Agencies eat, sleep, live and breathe this work. They’re not like you. And you like that.

Knowing trends, platforms, proven methods and so on, this is what you pay them for. Although it seems subjective, more often than not, it isn’t. Trust them. And if you lose trust in them, give them a real opportunity to gain it back. Anything else is a waste of your time and money.

3. Know that your business goals are their business goals

If you succeed, agencies succeed. It’s as simple as that. A majority of agencies’ own business comes from returning clients from years back. It’s no secret – and other agencies are similar. No one benefits if you hide your business goals from them.

If you treat them like a partner rather than a vendor, you’ll have a much better chance of achieving your business goals. They’re not doing what’s easy; they’re doing what they think will work best within the parameters given. After all, why would they lie? If what they recommend doesn’t work, you’re probably not going to hire them again.

4. Be ready to ignore the shiny objects

Things come up, all the time! It is inevitable because marketing is especially fickle. There’s always a new trend, platform or opportunity that pops up in their industry. And sometimes things happen that require them to act fast. However, they lay out the initial plan and strategy for a reason.  

Remember the plan, the strategy? Those things they spent weeks working on and that you had all agreed upon? It’s there to keep them on track and focused on the original goal. They can’t let shiny objects get in their way.

5. Be friendly

This one seems odd, but it’s the most important one. This is an in-depth collaboration involving various types of people ranging from Copywriters, Designers, Analysts, Specialists, Account Managers and more. Each and every one of them plays a vital role in your business’ success, and agencies are all there to provide you with their expertise. Having said all that, we’re all just people too.

So when conflicts arise, try to provide commentary as you would one-on-one with your colleague. Be kind. Be fair. Don’t intimidate. Good work doesn’t happen if someone is pointing a gun to your head. When you create that environment of teamwork and friendship, it opens doors that lead to better, more effective work. 

But like we were taught in grade school, friendship isn’t a one-way street. Agencies are always friendly from start to finish; you just have to be open to it too!

By Matthew Tsang, Account Director and Principal, at My Loud Speaker Marketing. He’s a natural researcher with an entrepreneurial and creative flair.

Edited by ‘Dele Dele-Olukoju, Marketing Communication consultant and publisher of the online Marketing Communication Digest. He writes from Lagos, Nigeria.