What We Need From A Client For A Successful Campaign

Choosing to work with a marketing agency (such as our good selves at Pear Digital!) can sometimes seem a bit intimidating. After all, you've chosen to outsource your most valuable asset, and it's only natural to want  reassurance that your ad campaign will be a success. In this quick guide we will explain some of the major points about how this business relationship works, and importantly, what you need to do to ensure that you get the best from your agency partners!

 

1) Proof Of Demand & Product Market Fit

When you approach an agency first impressions count. They want to help you succeed, and so if you can provide them with all of your collated evidence that your product or service is viable, this gives them a strong foundation to work with. Two things that will really help you forge a relationship with your agency are proof of demand and evidence of the product fitting into the current market. An easy way to do this is through social media results such as; subscriber/follower growth trends, genuine enquiries from retailers,  current sales figures, and any market research you have carried out in your sector. The main thing to remember here is: if your product is not in demand, or has no original USP... no amount of marketing expertise can help you sell it.

 

2) A Solid Sales process

Leading on from the first point, an agency needs to know that when they market your product the consumer will have the goods in a timely, safe manner, with great aftercare. Things that you'll need to discuss with your campaign manager will be how you will achieve;  good delivery times, stock replenishment, customer service demands, the returns process and any other sales-chain points that will impact the end user. Your agency will expect you to have a clear explanation, and to have considered the variables such as logistics delays, availability of raw materials, and other major concerns which are, unfortunately, a very real factor since the global market shift in 2020.

 

3) Your Marketing Agency Is Part Of The Team

Although you have out-sourced to an agency, it is paramount that you integrate them with your communications and treat them as part of your business team. The best way for an agency to handle your campaigns and projects is to have the exact same updates and resources as your in-house team. If you'd like to learn a little more about the differences between agency and in-house marketing we have a blog on the subject here. << link to relevant blog>> The bottom line is, if you can visualise the marketing agency as team members, you avoid the mentality of assuming they are just carrying out 'one off' adhoc tasks for you. This in turn allows them to be better partners, because they have current information at their fingertips and can create more tight, personalised campaigns for you.

 

4) Solid creatives and the willingness to invest into creating creatives!

This point is one of the most discussed processes when working with a client. As an agency we would expect you to have a collection of creatives available for us to use, and further more, be willing to invest in creating more content when it's required or if your original stock is not suitable. We have an article on why it's important to make creatives for your campaign (short videos, stunning photos, engaging narratives etc), especially since iOS14 and other updates are restricting certain market areas. You can find out article here. << link to relevant blog>> If your concept for an ad campaign doesn't include creatives and on-going funding for this area of the marketing, an agency will certainly have to point you in the right direction when it comes to evidence that creatives are the way forward when advertising online.

 

5) Trust The Process – Marketing Is Our Life

Marketing agencies wouldn't have the expertise or the clients if they didn't have insider knowledge and experience in advertising. Here at Pear Digital, for example, we've been working with clients since 2015. We have a team of skilled workers that live and breathe marketing, you'll be able to see from our website that we are transparent and honest when it comes to what to expect from an ad campaign. Some processes such as Search Engine Optimisation may take a while to start bringing you results, however, the advantage is that you don't pay Google for ads, it's organic. An agency will discuss timescales with you, and a good agency will show you the hard evidence that their method works. What they need from you as a client is commitment to their process, a reasonable timescale, and also trust that they are working in your best interest. There are a variety of marketing strategies, and just because you may not be familiar with a certain technique, it doesn't mean that it's not viable.

 

In conclusion, if you treat your agency with respect and as part of your team, you'll see amazing results. Keeping a friendly business relationship includes; paying invoices on time, completing in-house tasks on schedule, communicating any changes or delays and understanding that this may cause a bottle-neck situation at either the agency or your team due to demands from other clients. In a 'machine' with so many moving parts, it's easy for there to be a disconnect between marketing agency and client, we hope to change that rhetoric and create a productive, efficient workplace for all involved!