When you sign up with a marketing agency, their job is to get your brand seen and trusted — and, of course, get you clients. But in the process, you become your agency’s “client,” too. So, in that role... what should you bring to the table?
It’s a question we hear often at Zoe Marketing & Communications. We’ve been collaborating with local businesses since 2020 as Zoe — and for 40+ years with our sister companies, Chicago Parent and Metro Parent. We’ve found it helps to view these 9 things as your responsibilities:
- A collaborative spirit + innovation mindset
- Trust in your agency’s expertise
- Clear communication
- Your passion for your business, including your brand voice
- Access to resources
- Responsiveness
- Commitment to a partnership + long-term marketing
- Realistic goals
- A realistic budget
While these tips are from Zoe, they’ll likely apply at any agency you work with. Read on to learn what each entails — and to start thinking about your next marketing steps.
1. A collaborative spirit + innovation mindset
Encourage a collaborative environment within your company between your internal teams and your marketing agency. It’s important to promote teamwork, share insights and work together.
Working with an agency also takes an openness to innovative approaches — which can sometimes mean different and even “scary” ideas. Keep in mind that the marketing landscape is constantly changing. What worked in the past might not be as effective today.
Collaborating and evolving can lead to campaign breakthroughs that set your brand apart.
2. Trust in your agency’s expertise
It’s important to ask questions and get clarity. At the same time, let your marketing agency help you. In other words, it’s crucial to trust the expertise you’ve brought on board.
All agencies have marketing experience and knowledge. Listen to their recommendations, even the new ones. A good rule is to stay open to feedback — both giving it and getting it.
3. Clear communication
What are your business goals? How about your target audience and brand values? What messages do you want to convey? Articulate this clearly to your agency.
At Zoe, we begin with a client needs assessment or CNA — a chat to learn more about where you’ve been and where you’re heading. We even offer a sheet of questions to prepare.
Regular communication is essential to ensuring your agency understands your expectations.
4. Your passion for your business, including your brand voice
No one knows your business better than you do. Bring your insights, past marketing efforts (if any), brand guidelines and anything else to help your agency get to know you.
What’s your brand voice currently, what will it be — and does it fit your history and future? You have a major role in creating this. An agency encourages and needs your input to develop campaigns. Bring ideas. What has worked for you? What hasn’t? What have you learned?
5. Access to resources
Provide your agency access to your essential marketing resources. This can include:
- Brand guidelines
- Product or service information
- Customer data
- Previous marketing analyses
- Read-only access to your Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, etc.
- Experts to interview for blogs or social media content (as needed)
The more information you share, the better your agency can tailor their strategies to your business’s needs. Collaboration again is so important.
6. Responsiveness
When it comes to creating your campaigns, we’ll provide the deadlines and criteria, but we’ll need your help to make it happen.
Respond promptly to requests for information, approval and feedback. Delays on your end can slow down your agency’s ability to launch or update campaigns promptly, negatively affecting your results.
7. Commitment to a partnership + long-term marketing
View your relationship with your agency as a long-term partnership instead of a transactional service. At Zoe, we view ourselves as an extension of your team.
Spend time building a solid relationship with your agency. Sustained efforts and adjustments over time typically yield the best results.
Plus, bring your patience for the process — and give your campaigns time. You likely won’t see big results in three months, and you won’t reach “the end” in six months (the minimum time for a Zoe plan). Marketing is an ongoing process.
8. Realistic goals
Be ready to work with your agency to set realistic, measurable goals for your marketing campaigns. It’s essential to be aligned.
Whether your goals focus on revenue, new leads or web traffic, keep them SMART — specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.
Setting clear benchmarks helps both parties stay on track and measure success over time.
9. A realistic budget
Provide a budget — and be realistic about it. Clearly outline your budget constraints and priorities. Being transparent helps your agency focus on strategies that deliver the best ROI (return on investment).
Remember that many small- to mid-sized businesses invest as much as 7-15% of their gross revenue into marketing. As you review your budget, consider marketing a longer-term investment with a clear payoff. This investment mindset is crucial.
Next steps in deciding whether Zoe is right for you
Marketing is all about your goals and growth. A marketing agency can help you get there — but only with your help.
As you learned, that includes collaboration, trust, communication and sharing your passion and resources. It also entails responsiveness, commitment to a partnership and long-term marketing — and realistic goals and budget.
Would Zoe Marketing & Communications be right for you? Talk to us. We’ll walk you through our collaborative process, and you can decide whether it fits your needs.
Need a little more information first? Read on to find out:
Kim Kovelle
As Zoe Marketing & Communications’ content manager, Kim Kovelle brings nearly 20 years of writing and editing experience in metro Detroit. She has strong roots in community journalism and a knack for making complicated topics make more sense.
