Finding the Perfect Marketing Partner: Unveiling the Blueprint - Part Two

Part 2: Screening

Now that you’ve evaluated your business, you need to know how to find the right partner to help you bring your marketing up to speed. There is a very real risk of choosing an agency that will not deliver the results you need. So how do you make a good fit?

A good marketing agency will be creative, innovative, and—above all—interested in your business. Avoiding agencies that offer recycled solutions is just the beginning.

Many business owners know the frustration of working with inexperienced, unresponsive, or opportunistic marketers: teams that promise more than they can deliver; and agencies that are more interested in their brand than yours.

So it’s crucial to have a framework to help you find the right partner for your business. If you have taken the time to identify the marketing resources that need improvement, you’re ready to begin searching for the right team to help you succeed. 

As you begin your search, keep in mind these five signs of a good partner. In part 3 of this series, we will walk you through the process of working with your marketing team to ensure you get the best results.‍

1. The Right Partner Is: Broadly Capable

Look for a portfolio of work that covers the whole spectrum of your needs.

Specialists have their role, but unless you’re running a large business with a well-established marketing program already in place, you will probably be better off with a team that can do more than just one or two things.

The best reason for this is integration. When your web developer is also your SEO expert—and your social media consultant—and your brand strategist—the result is likely to be much tighter and more seamless than if you contract each element separately (not to mention more affordable).

In fact, the word “team” captures the idea here. The ideal marketing partner should have multiple specialists functioning as one efficient operation.

2. The Right Partner Is: Invested In Your Success

Expect your marketing team to take the fate of your business personally.

What’s the goal of marketing, after all?

Growth.

Connection.

Breakthrough.

Effective marketing is driven by the pursuit of results that matter to the client. If your marketing team considers the success of your business their mission, you’re in good shape. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case.

While you’re screening potential marketing partners, ask them about their philosophy, mission, and previous clients. It’s a good sign if they seem genuinely excited about the growth of those businesses—if they enjoy telling the success stories.

On the other hand, if they talk about their other clients as mere statistics and testimonials, the odds are your business will not receive the level of personal investment and attention it deserves.

3. The Right Partner Is: Up To Date

Ask about innovative solutions that have worked well in the last six months.

Don’t settle for an earful of marketing jargon; everyone in this industry will tell you they know SEO and can build targeted social media campaigns. What matters is that your marketing team can apply cutting-edge solutions to your business in your area to satisfy your goals and priorities.

The way to learn whether a marketing firm has the chops is to ask specific questions:

• “Do you do SEO?” How did you improve your last client’s SEO?
• “Can you design responsive websites?” What are the most common devices being used this year to access your other clients’ websites?
• “Can you manage my social media?” What have you found to be the three most effective social platforms for a business like mine?

Ultimately, you want a partner who is not only capable but practical. Don’t just let them explain how marketing innovations work; ask them how they will work for you.

4. The Right Partner Is: Collaborative & Responsive

Find a marketing team that will work closely with you to achieve your vision.

It’s up to you how deeply you want to be involved in the creative process, but you should at least have a partner that is open and transparent and actively keeps you in the loop as your marketing strategy unfolds.

Here it might help to understand the workflow of web designers and copywriters: In the midst of the creative process, it’s easy to get caught up in the project and lose sight of the client. This is an innocent mistake many inexperienced artists—even some very talented ones—will often make.

On the other hand, it’s a serious red flag (but unfortunately not unheard of) when any service provider keeps you far enough outside the process that you don’t understand what they’re doing and therefore remain dependent on them to continue. Your ideal partner would never distance you from your own marketing assets, but will instead go out of their way to keep you involved at the level that works best for you.

And if you happen to have the time and desire to be intimately involved, then by all means look for a team that is ready to bring you all the way into the process. Not all marketing firms specialize in close collaboration.

5. The Right Partner Is: Interested in You

If a marketing agency makes your interaction all about them, run away.

On the other hand, if they are asking questions about your business and trying to get a handle on your situation from the very first meeting, that’s a good sign. 

One reason marketing gets such a bad rap is simply that many marketers don’t take the time to understand their clients before jumping into a dozen creative projects.

Every business is unique. Success looks a little bit different from city to city, and from office to office. Your marketing team should certainly understand that, and put in the effort to reach a working knowledge that they will apply to every step in their creative process.

The best marketing is rooted in a thorough understanding of the client. How could it be otherwise? Without beginning with the client’s unique story, all that’s left is clip art.

You don’t want clip art, do you?

Conclusion

These are, of course, not the only smart or relevant questions to ask of a prospective marketing team. But if you start with these action items, you’ll be on your way to working with a solid partner who can help you achieve your goals.

In Part 3 of this series, we’ll lay out a few expectations—what it’s like to work with a marketing agency these days, and how to get the most out of your partnership.