Deciding to commit to a marketing agency can feel daunting. It’s a big step and investment! That’s why it’s so important to understand what you can expect — before you commit.
At Zoe Marketing & Communications, we have a 40+ year history of working with clients — as Zoe since 2020, and our sister companies, Chicago Parent and Metro Parent, since the mid-’80s.
We view marketing as a partnership that hinges on our values of innovation, respect and dedication. What does that mean, though? It means the Zoe team focuses on:
- Strategic planning
- Straightforward pricing
- The creative process
- Quality content
- Ongoing commitment
- Goal alignment
- Collaboration
- Training
- Clear ROI (return on investment)
Read on to discover what each of these aspects entails. By better understanding what a Zoe partnership looks like, you can take your next steps, whether with Zoe or another agency.
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1. Strategic planning
Zoe is a “planning” agency — as opposed to a “buying” agency. Buying agencies specialize in purchasing ad space (e.g., digital and print ads) and time (e.g., radio, TV, OTT, etc.).
Planning agencies, on the other hand, build comprehensive strategies based on your goals, target audience, and competitive landscape.
Zoe is a partner that helps your business’ growth and success from a holistic perspective, tailoring your plan with tactics like:
- Market research
- Audience analysis
- Media planning
The goal is to find the best mix of channels to reach your target audience and long-term objectives — so you’re spending your marketing dollars for maximum output.
2. Straightforward pricing
The marketing costs vary, but you should clearly understand your investment. Zoe provides starting points on our pricing page; three plans begin at monthly rates of $3,000, $4,500 and $6,000. There is a six-month minimum commitment. Your costs may vary based on your goals and needs.
3. The creative process
Whether it’s creating a brand identity, campaign design, content or engaging people on social media, creativity is part of the process. And you are a vital part of this creative process.
Using your input, we amplify your company’s voice and brand knowledge in a way that resonates and builds trust. Expect to give your thoughts and insights — and also receive constructive feedback from our team of creative experts.
4. Quality content
From blogs and landing pages to social media posts and emails, Zoe has a deep history of creating content. It goes back to our roots in regional journalism with Chicago Parent and Metro Parent. Well-crafted content is essential in connecting you with your future customers.
Zoe applies content best practices while focusing on your brand’s expertise and personality.
5. Ongoing commitment
Your marketing plan with Zoe is built around your needs and involves at least 2-3 tactics. This type of multichannel marketing is most effective in meeting your goals. But it also takes time.
That’s why Zoe requires a minimum commitment of six months. This allows:
- Several weeks to onboard and set up campaigns
- 3-6 months for campaigns to build traction
- 3-6 months to build brand awareness in multiple places
- Time to test and optimize campaigns to reach your audience
- Time to gather data over longer periods to learn what’s working
It takes ongoing effort to keep momentum (and the results) going and growing; six months is only a start.
6. Goal alignment
Your marketing with Zoe starts with a client needs assessment. This is a chat where you’ll get to share, among other things, your goals. From there, we set clear expectations so that we’re tracking the same success measurements you are.
For instance, goals or “conversions” can include:
- Number of new leads per month
- Revenue
- Form fills
- Appointments set
- Total number of people visiting your website
To ensure you know exactly how you’re progressing, Zoe uses read-only access to your Google Analytics (GA4) to set, track and share goals we agree upon.
7. Collaboration
Our ongoing collaboration includes regular meetings and touch-bases. You’ll have two types key of meetings:
- Bi-monthly client reporting meetings
- Weekly client success strategy meetings
Depending on your plan and needs, your meetings will include these Zoe team members:
- Your marketing analyst
- Your senior marketing strategist
- Your content editor
- Your client success strategist
- Zoe’s sales director
- Zoe’s creative director
You’ll dive into your campaign performance and the best next steps. This is also a space for you to express your challenges and bring your ideas — and for us to listen and advise based on our expertise. This ongoing, dynamic process continues in other emails and video/phone conversations.
8. Training
We want you to understand your marketing techniques and metrics. Zoe uses various approaches, including educational articles, tailored video guides and real-time meetings.
This training can include, but isn’t limited to, why your ad clicks are different than your GA4 data and the benefits of granting read-only GA4 access (plus how to do it).
Again, the purpose is to keep our goals aligned.
9. Clear ROI (return on investment)
From your first proposal to each client success strategy meeting, you’ll see precisely how your marketing pays off toward your goals. You’ll get a clear picture of how many marketing dollars it takes to earn one new client or customer.
Next steps in finding the right agency partnership
When choosing a marketing agency, knowing what’s in store is essential. When it comes to Zoe Marketing & Communications, you can expect strategic planning, straightforward pricing, a creative process, quality content, ongoing commitment, goal alignment, collaboration, training and clear ROI.
Could we be the right fit? Talk to us. Our marketing specialists will learn about your goals and create a marketing plan that best fits them. From there, you can choose whether to move forward.
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