If your company has reached a certain size, you likely have an internal marketing team in place. If you’re small (or growing) that team might be one or two individuals who manage all things marketing for your organization. Even if they have a great handle on things, there are times when it might make sense to partner with a marketing agency to support your existing team. While this is a common solution that can provide significant value to your marketing efforts, there are some considerations you should take into account to make the transition a smooth one.
First things first, identify what you’d like to achieve with the support of an agency. Are you approaching a milestone you want to leverage through marketing outreach? Is it time for a rebrand? Are you launching a new product, moving into a new market, or otherwise making a big announcement? In our experience, the most successful relationships are those that offer flexibility - so things don’t need to be set in stone, but it’s helpful to have a general sense of what you’re hoping to achieve to engage the best partner for the job.
Select the right agency partner
To set your team up for success, make sure you bring in the right agency for support. Not all marketing agencies are created equal. While some excel in design work, others might be more focused on PR or strategic recommendations to guide a marketing plan. Ask for case studies and review previous work to ensure their capabilities are on par with what you’re looking for.
Identifying your needs is a great starting point to ensure their team can provide the right support, but you also want to find a partner you mesh well with. As with all businesses, there are workplace culture and personality differences to take into consideration. Be sure you’re clear about which agency partners you’ll be working most closely with and that they’re the right fit to collaborate with your team.
Make sure everyone’s on the same page
Keep your marketing team in the loop throughout the decision making process. No one wants to feel like they’re being pushed out, and in fact, the opposite is true when you turn to an agency for support. The goal is to provide your internal team with additional tools to ease their workload and expand their resources. Include them in the selection of an agency partner and work with them at the very start of the engagement.
Early on in the process, have open conversations with your team about where they’d like to focus. Determine the best way to amplify the strengths of your marketing team through the support of your agency partner.
Let them get a thorough understanding of your brand
You may be turning to this new partner for creative inspiration, but ultimately the job of a marketing agency is to match the look and feel of your current brand, unless you’re specifically looking for a brand refresh. At fluent, we start most engagements with an audit of the brand we’ll be working with. That means we’re looking closely at any existing marketing materials we can get our hands on - website, print materials, newsletters, ads, social media.
As one of our first steps, we focus on making sure we have a thorough understanding of what’s working and what’s not, as well as how your brand currently communicates and how we can keep things consistent or make any necessary adjustments. It’s important to note that a trusted marketing partner might not always take your existing collateral and run with it if they feel strongly that improvements need to be made. Keep in mind that you’re hiring an outside team for not only their support, but also their industry expertise, and consider any recommendations they have to your brand moving forward.
Utilize a project management tool
You likely already have a preferred project management tool and in most cases, agency partners are happy acclimating to whatever your team is comfortable with. However you choose to manage it, the important thing is that there’s a system in place to keep everyone on the same page. Make sure there’s a clear understanding of project expectations, individual responsibilities, and deadlines that leaves no room for misinterpretation.
Ultimately, collaborating with an outside agency can be a great resource for your organization. Take these steps into consideration to start out strong and develop a successful partnership. If you think fluent might be the right fit, find out more about our agency or fractional CMO offerings.
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