All Advertising Agencies Should Do These 5 Things Well

Overwhelmed by how to market your business on your own? You’re not alone! A great marketing plan starts with having a clear business strategy that works toward your unique goals. Whether you need pay-per-click advertising, SEO help, or social media content, here are a few things to consider when it comes to selecting the right agency. 

#1: Great Advertising Agencies Have a No-Fail Plan for Communication 

In business, frequent communication is everything. You need an advertising agency bent on good communication. Ensuring an open exchange of ideas and feedback is essential between your business and the advertising agency of your choice.

Find out what the agency’s structure is like for client communication and using follow-up channels. Ideally, you’ll have a single point person running communications between the agency and your business. This eliminates the chance for miscommunication or confusion. 

Good advertising agencies provide regular updates on project deadlines and approvals. Ask the agency how they plan to deliver feedback, seek approvals, and how you can review ad copy or content. Communicating well is a great first step toward building a successful working relationship! 

#2: Proven Marketing Chops in the Digital Space

With all the new and existing platforms out there, it can feel like a lot to make decisions about ad spend and marketing budgets. Even when you grasp all the options, making time to track campaigns and knowing when to shift gears on a strategy is a whole different ball game. 

Great advertising agencies will understand how to do this. In-house experts understand the strengths of each platform and how to maximize them on the client’s behalf. Google Ad campaigns, social media posts, and website platforms are an agency’s bread and butter. 

Great advertising agencies have expertise in the digital space for brand positioning, design, web development, and multi-platform marketing. After all, it is a collection of strategies that create momentum and get the word out about your company. 

While researching potential agencies, check out their testimonials page. Ask past clients about the agency’s communication, performance, and professionalism. Doing your research will pay off when it comes to selecting the right advertising agency. 

#3: They Get Results (in the Form of Data)

When you hire an advertising agency, you’re paying for experts who weigh in on the data and interpret what it means for your audience or brand. Few of us have time to search for the perfect longtail keyword or to poke around on the backend of the website to optimize it for Google. 

So many micro-decisions lead up to the big moment a website is launched, brand packaging is printed, or a social media campaign pulls in a new lead. And a good advertising agency carries that lift through its team of experts. Regular reporting is part of this feedback loop to keep the client and agency relationship thriving. 

Another place where the data should show up is in quantifiable results. Depending on the services, clients should get data-rich feedback on campaign performance. (And that includes websites, too!) Are campaigns attracting leads? Converting them into paying customers? Is SEO boosting rankings for your website content and edging out competitors?  The data will tell a story through numbers. And that story is important to measure if the advertising agency’s strategies are working.

#4: Advertising Agencies Know the Importance of Great Visual Storytelling

Good ideas are visual as well as verbal. For social media and the web, there’s no better way to connect with your audience than visually. If you’re looking to tell a story online, you’re going to need a lot of images or video to do it. A good advertising firm has a host of digital storytellers.

Photos communicate trust, proficiency, and experience in the industry, and show proof that you are who you say you are. There’s no better experience than landing on a website so intuitive you feel like it’s reading your mind. Graphic designers and web designers communicate trustworthiness in a brand without using words. This is an essential component of convincing buyers to come through the door. 

#5: Brand Reputation Monitoring Means Someone’s Always Looking Out

Real interactions with customers through social media helps business owners come back to the table with new ideas. That’s why many brands prefer to connect with their audiences this way. Unfortunately, some customers turn to social media as a megaphone to broadcast negative experiences. This means brands should monitor their online brand reputation and be prepared to respond at a moment’s notice. Leaving your digital assets unattended for too long can mean broken links, stale Google listings, and other frustrating deadends for customers looking for answers or help with a problem. A great advertising agency doesn’t just care about the success of individual campaigns, but about your whole brand integrity.

Advertising agencies do brand reputation monitoring differently. There’s no replacement for a real person monitoring your social media, testing links, and looking after your online presence. Simple hurdles, like the wrong business hours listed on Google, can lead to a very dissatisfying and memorable customer experience. Marketing agencies prevent this by getting out in front of the problem with proactive quality controls. 

Reach Your Business Goals and Hire an Advertising Agency

To summarize, the opportunity to get the word out about your business is right now. And you don’t even need to have all of your ducks in a row first. Ready to go from disorganized to launch-ready on ad campaigns? Hiring a strategic advertising agency like Savy to help is the first step. Our specialty is getting behind the wheel of your business with proven and effective marketing efforts. Have branding questions, website issues to address, or want to enter the world of social media?  We can help with all of that. Get our strategy team on your side and drop us a message.