Hiring the right agency team can be difficult. You might have a marketing team in-house but need additional support, or you might be a new business looking to launch a brand-new website with custom features that still need to be developed. No matter your project, knowing how to communicate with an agency team can help you find the best partner for your success.
Your initial conversation with an agency team is important to understanding if they’ll be a good fit for your project. To get the most out of these conversations, we put together a list of what we typically cover so you can have complete transparency when reviewing an agency team and if they’ll be a good fit for your business.
1. Know your goal.
Whether it’s a new website for better customer experiences, a custom app for increased sales, marketing campaigns to drive website traffic or something else, your project should have a goal that everyone on the team understands. Being able to answer the “why” for your project will be essential for your agency partner to know so that they can provide a solution that will accomplish it.
When we meet with potential clients, we discuss their goals and key performance indicators in-depth so we can understand if this is a project that we’ll be able to deliver on. We want to blow your goals out of the water; we don’t want to take on a project that we can never accomplish.
2. Know your audience.
Any agency will want to know who your users are so they can better understand the marketplace and how you’ll want to target these consumers with your product or service. It’s important to know who you’re trying to target and how they interact with your brand so your team can provide the best experience for them on your site, in your app, or through marketing collateral.
At Acumium, we’ll ask questions like: who is your target audience? Or who are you trying to attract as your customer base? Do you have information on these people; purchasing behavior, website demographics, etc. around who your users are? All of these insights will help your agency team develop a strategy that resonates with your users.
3. Know your decision makers.
Decision makers are an integral part of your project and can ultimately impact your timeline and budget. We want to understand if you have a Board of Directors or a single point-of-contact that will be involved in initial conversations, approvals, meetings, etc. Depending on your organizational structure, we’ll need to cater our timelines and processes to ensure we have a successful partnership.
We’ll also want to know your typical decision-making process so we can plan timelines accordingly and meet your launch dates. Getting the feel for your internal dynamic will help your agency team better understand the ways in which they’ll interact with you and provide success.
4. Know your pain points.
Do you have current pain points with your customers? Does your website not work the way you want it to? Are you seeing dips in site traffic or sales? Are your marketing messages and campaigns not resonating with your target audiences?
We’re not trying to expose your business secrets; we’re trying to understand what’s not working and why it’s not working. We want to know your pain points and their impact on your business so we can address them, fix them and improve your business. Your agency partner should create a summary of your issues, recommend a strategy to overcome these problems and pitch you why our strategy will help your brand and business.
5. Know your budget.
Knowing your budget and what you’re prepared to spend needs to be clear. Costs may vary depending on your project and the type of agency you’re interviewing; if you’re talking to an established agency versus a two-person shop. Depending on what your project is, your agency team will want to understand your initial project budget and your ongoing budget for maintenance, hosting, feature updates, etc. as well as your marketing budget for agency fees and advertising spend.
Agencies understand that you have a budget and need to stay within it but being able to understand what you’ll get with that budget from your agency partner is crucial to establishing a successful partnership before signing on with them.
6. Know your timeline.
Timelines are important! Is it a quick turnaround or an ongoing partnership? Are there upcoming events or meetings that your agency team should take into consideration and plan for? Being transparent with your timing expectations will help your agency partner successfully meet your requests.
7. Mention anything else.
Letting your agency partner in on your marketing strategies and business happenings will only strengthen your partnership and business. Think of this new team as an extension of your business, they’re there to support your growth and help in ways your current team cannot. Let them know if a major business change is taking place or if a new product is launching, all of those things could be areas your agency team could leverage to help your brand.
Are you looking for an agency team? Drop us a line, we’d love to help you with whatever you’re faced with.