Recently Media Inc. requested that regional executives in the advertising field answer some questions that clients often wonder, but don't necessarily want to ask directly. It was a fun chance to put my thoughts down and here's a few of the questions and my answers.
Q:
In what areas would an agency complement an in-house marketing, design and Web department that feel they do a good job already but is a bit overwhelmed?
A:
An agency can help plan and facilitate overflow work by partnering with the internal team. As opposed to bringing on a freelancer, we have an established workflow and process that supports projects large and small, resulting in a significantly higher level of execution and accountability.
Q:
What should I expect from a good agency as far as service, time and financial investment?
A:
On the service side, the agency should start to feel like part of the company team. We're here to support brand and business growth, and to do so, we have to get to know the strengths and weaknesses of your projects or services.
The time/financial investment is best judged on a situational basis. It's often true that you get what you pay for...and it's important that what you're paying for will meet both the company's short-term and long-term goals.
Q:
How will you educate yourself about my company and my competition?
A:
Time and research. We like to establish an active dialogue with each company. If you've got a product, we want to get our hands on it, use it, understand it. We take the same approach with services: We want to experience the internal process and also understand why your customers buy from you and what we can do to leverage your current relationships and create new ones. The only way this can happen is to know your company and know your customers -- and since, as an agency, we're neither, we can offer perspectives and ideas that facilitate the relationship between the two.
Q:
What kinds of things can be used to quantify the results of an ad campaign, and what time frame should be used?
A:
Goals should be established on a campaign-by-campaign basis. Depending on the execution, we need to establish a base point and decide what the goals are: brand awareness, sales, etc. The time frame depends on what you're advertising and your typical sales cycle.
