You have the potential, you have a product or service to provide and you have a strong business to provide it. Now you need help advertising it and the best way to do so is by hiring an advertising agency.
You don't want to get taken advantage of by choosing the wrong ad agency. There are certain criteria that need to be met in order to pick the agency that's best for you.
Think Before You Act
You can't just enter the world of advertising without first considering if the entry will be good for your business. Most of the time hiring an ad agency is great for business, but there are some rare occasions when it's better not to get involved.
One occasion may be due to the fact that your business doesn't have money to spend on advertisement. It could also be that your business is too small to source its advertisement out to an ad agency. Imagine a snack bar at a recreational baseball field (as an extreme example). They don't need ads on the highway or on TV. The only ads they need, if any, are on the field, which they can do themselves.
Regardless of the positioning of your business, you need to first consider the benefits of an ad agency before hiring one. This should never be an impulsive decision.
Collaboration, Not Size
Bigger is not always better. Sometimes a big group can diminish the creativity and efficiency of individuals. Of course sometimes a big group is good, but you should not judge the productivity of a company based off this factor. The best way is to determine the company's chemistry - how their employees works together regardless of size.
Advertising and More
An advertising agency needs to do more than design posters and slogans. They must be able to solve marketing problems, provide public relations, handle brand messaging and so on. Make sure the agency provides advertising and more. Linking all your marketing plans provides a more effective campaign and greatly cuts cost.
Request for Proposal?
For a long time, the best way to review an ad agency was a request for proposal (RFP). This is when a business, more or less, holds an audition for companies to present a pitch. Doing so helps the business a great deal by learning more about the agency, determining the potential cost, demonstrating creative work, discussing any contractual concerns and designing rough sketches.
However, over the recent years RFP have slowly diminished due to agencies' distaste for them. They require agencies to provide hours of unpaid research and RFPs also try to quantify creativity, goals and other performances into a checkbox, which should not be the case.
Most of the information learned in a RFP can be gathered online from websites such as Agency Spotter. The RFP is a very controversial issue so be prepared when asking for one. Shawn Buss provides more info on this matter on his blog here.
Do Your Reporting
Determine how effective a business is by viewing their reports. See examples of a previous ad campaign and how it affected the company they represented. Find out exact numbers, such as if the ad campaign increased sales by 50 percent, 70 percent or even at all. What the firm measures shows what the firm cares most about.
Never Forget About Ethics
Ever since the Enron collapse in 2001, ethics has been a great concern in the business world. Unethical behavior can provide poor public image, a competitive disadvantage and lead to business failure. Therefore, partners in your business must be ethical too. Make sure the agency you pick performs not only legally but ethically as well.
Do You Like the Agency?
The company may be the best ad agency ever, but if you don't like them then you shouldn't hire them. Remember, you will be dealing with these people for a long time. You must be able to enjoy their company. Otherwise you're going to dread every day you'll have to spend with them. This can affect your performance and the performance of the agency.
Using these tips will ensure you'll pick the best advertising agency for you, and cutback on all the headaches others deal with trying to find a great agency.