Raise your hand if you are: You engaged two, three, or even four digital marketing agencies, only to find yourself in the same position as before. Each time, you lose thousands of dollars and develop a deeper dislike for marketing agencies. You are certainly not alone in this regard. Agencies have a reputation for overpromising and underdelivering.
Does this train of thought seem familiar?
- Can I independently learn this and achieve the same results?
- Can THIS agency produce the results the other one stated it could?
- Is this nothing but smoke and mirrors?
- Is it the correct moment to hire an agency, or should I strive to learn enough to be able to hire one in the future?
- Where may I obtain the highest return on investment?
- Can this agency help me surpass my rate of success?
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Checklist for locating the most suitable agency partner
How can you escape the principal agency conundrum and identify a person who will genuinely produce results? What we’ve observed at MavenXmedia is that there is, in reality, a checklist you must follow while searching for the ideal agency partner:
Is now a good moment for me to hire an agency?
- In order to offer results for services such as sponsored media, advertising agencies will require a minimum ad spend commitment. This is not intended to make you spend more. Because, in order to reach a scaling threshold, the algorithm needs a specific quantity of data to locate the ideal consumers for you.
- If it’s a website or creative service, you should examine whether, at this time, you would be better off finding a friend with basic expertise or even doing it yourself as opposed to paying an agency that can capture excellent images and films or develop a world-class website.
- Initial cash allocation is the determining factor. In digital marketing, contrary to what you may hear from so-called experts, money reigns supreme. Be prudent, yet build frameworks such as MARR, the hurdle rate, risk asymmetry, etc.
Can they provide results for my niche, and do they have testimonials to back up their claims?
- Do they have more than five testimonials in your industry or one that is closely related?
Is the agency willing to allow you to contact previous clients in order to hear their feedback?
- If they exhibit even the slightest reluctance to allow you to contact current or former clients, you should skip it. They should be confident that their previous clients will speak favourably of them.
How many workers do they employ?
- This will inform you of the extent of their available resources. It’s not a leading sign of quality or outcomes, but if you’re a business, you’ll need someone with practically unlimited resources for adapting to your needs.
What two to three services does their company specialise in?
- Despite what their website or sales pitch may claim, every firm with fewer than 15 to 20 employees will specialise in only two to three services. They simply lack the manpower to provide exceptional outcomes for more than that, and their scale prevents them from attracting the top talent necessary to really drive home those results.
- If they claim to be experts in five services at that level, investigate more to determine their true area of expertise.
Should I employ an agency for a single task or numerous tasks?
- If your business is in its infancy, you should search for someone that can offer 80% of the results a top-tier agency would deliver. You will save money and save the hassle of listening to the spokespersons of several agencies. Consider utilising various companies that each specialise in distinct services, such as Facebook advertisements, SEO, brand strategy, website building, CRO, etc., if you are a much larger business or even an enterprise.
Would they be adaptable to what I believe will work, or are they rigid?
- Frequently, the agency will have a set of practices that they have found to be the most effective. However, if they are unwilling to accommodate the nuances that make your firm distinctive and the products your customers purchase, it may be prudent to look elsewhere.
What is the best and highest use of my time as an entrepreneur? is the most crucial question.
Suppose you require cardiac surgery. Are you planning to see a paediatrician? Or possibly a family physician? Of course not! You will Google the most qualified heart surgeon you can find. Why? Because of their specific expertise in delivering near-perfection in their work.
The same holds true for a marketing agency or any other operational duty that you may outsource in order to free up time to focus ON building your business. As a business owner, you begin by performing every function, including marketing, operations, product management, human resources, and accounting. As you advance, you delegate these responsibilities to those who are just superior to you. Yes, you’re actually losing money by not employing for these positions (opportunity cost of not using your highest value skillset).
What matters most is the stage of your lifecycle, your financial situation, and your current skill sets. Determine these three factors and evaluate the preceding questions to determine which direction you should lean. This should drastically reduce agency turnover and, more crucially, lost growth time.
Summary
Exception: If you are a marketing specialist with years of experience in a certain field such as Facebook advertisements, Google, SEO, etc., you can delay outsourcing these tasks until they consume too much of your time.
Consider these points with caution and restraint. Cheers to more constant growth and the end of taking aspirin after firing yet another marketing agency! Cheers!
