How to Make Your Marketing Money Count: Part 2 – How to Get Value From Your Marketing Agency?

In the last blog we looked at how marketing agencies should be delivering value to their clients. In this second part we will be looking at what you can do as a business to make sure that your marketing agency gives you the most tangible value for the marketing dollars spent.

When entering into a relationship with a marketing agency to embark upon any project there are a number of things your business should know and outline in detail:

Outcome

The desired outcome for any marketing project should be clear from the outset. It should be known why you have embarked on the marketing venture. Do you want to increase members to your loyalty club? Increase enquiries? Increase sales? Communicate a message to your customer base? Do you want to know how well your staff are doing their job? This sets clear expectations for the marketing agency. Another reason for outcome clarity across the board is to evaluate how successful the campaign has been. Failure to evaluate the success of a campaign will result in being unable to justify the investment with hard evidence.

Market Position

It is important to know which position in the market you currently occupy and where you would like to move towards. Do you want to be the company in the industry that is renowned for customer service? Perhaps exclusivity? Or low price? Knowing how to be positioned is important. It shapes the tone, content, and overall strategy of a campaign that an agency creates.
For example, a company aiming to position itself as elite and exclusive would not opt for guerrilla marketing tactics as it would potentially diminish the high-class nature of the product, giving it a more common feel. Instead, they would opt for a campaign that reinforces this experience of luxury and exclusiveness.

Goals and objectives

When deciding on the goals and objectives they should be SMART – Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic, and have a Timeframe to be completed by. These objectives must be communicated to all those involved in the marketing process to ensure that everyone is on the same page and working towards a common end result. Goal setting increases the likelihood of reaching a desired outcome.

Target Market

Businesses must know who they want to talk to so that the strategies implemented effectively reach this target market. Even the best idea will fail if the media used are not complimentary to the group that the message is intended for. For example, despite the popularity of social media, it is still not the most effective means of reaching your target market if you have products aimed at retirees.

Know where you want to go, then invest to grow

By investing the time to really figure your business’ situation and goals, your marketing will be much more relevant and effective. This means that the time and money you’re investing into marketing will have added concrete value to your business and generates a worthwhile return.