How to Choose An Advertising Agency
The use of an advertising agency can be a great marketing strategy for a company. These agencies are dedicated to helping organizations create and handle all of their communications with consumers and the general public. This can include both print and media publications, sales promotions or programs, and more.
Advertising agencies can help a company create a strong brand identity that is professional and recognizable to those the company is trying to attract. The agency can provide an external look and perspective to the company and help to create the most powerful message possible. They can be used to do a single ad or ongoing marketing campaigns, and be a marketing presence for the company overall.
Agencies can also provide expertise in newer marketing strategies such as search engine marketing (SEM) and search engine optimization (SEO) for website and electronic media pieces. The agency will typically have teams that include copywriters, designers, art director, and account managers.
Because of the important role that an advertising agency plays in the marketing and communications strategy of an organization, it is a critical decision for a company to choose the right agency.
The process and steps for finding and choosing an agency is basically that of any important professional that we must choose in our lives, such as a doctor, lawyer or even babysitter. These steps include:
- Asking for Recommendations - Think about the companies that you are familiar with through friends, family or business colleagues and which ones capture your attention. Find out who does their advertising work and use that as a starting place to create a list of possible companies to explore.
- Doing Your Own Research - In addition to asking friends and colleagues,you can also use internet resources to research local or national companies in the field. You can check with professional organizations you are a part of for contacts, the alumni department at your college, etc.
- Looking at Pricing/Costs - Once you've done this research, you should have a list of options to consider. Often times a company is going to be limited by budget and whatthey can afford to pay for when doing advertising and seeking assistance. Obviously, this should not be your onlycriteria since we all know that we tend to "get what we pay for," but ifyou know that you have a certain range to spend and a particular companyis thousands or hundreds of thousands above that range, then that willlikely take them off of your list.
- Looking at Websites/Materials - Once you've further reduced your list of possible agencies, you can then begin to more closely examine the work that they do. Since their work and expertise is the whole reason that you are hiring them, you need to make sure that the work that they produce is professional and high quality. If they will be doing print media for you, make sure you see different types of materials they have done, such as newsletters, brochures, letterhead and other company identity pieces, etc. If they are going to be doing electronic media work for you, such as websites, make sure you look at many different sites that they have done. Look for sites that are simple, yet convey the right message. In both cases, look at their use of graphic design elements in addition to the text message that may be used.
- Checking References - You've decided on an agency or two that you are strongly considering. One of the final steps will be to check references.You don't want to rely solely on the work that you have seen, but instead want to talk to actual clients that they have worked with. You want to talk to the company contacts and find out how the agency staff were to work with, did they meet the deadlines set, did they stay within the budget given to them, did the company see the results that were promised in a campaign or strategy, do they still work with the company and why, and finally would they recommend that you choose that agency for your work.
Once you have completed these steps of asking for recommendations, doing your research, looking at pricing, reviewing examples of their work and talking with references, you can be fairly confident that you are making the right choice of an advertising agency for your organization; one that will create a strong, consistent and professional message and bring the best possible results to you. |
