If all goes well, you should develop a long-lasting relationship with your marketing agency. It takes time to forge this kind of relationship and it does involve effort on both sides.
However, you may find that the agency you choose is just not giving you the service you need (or paid for). You need to be on the alert so you can recognize when your marketing agency is dipping out on you.
5 Signs Your Marketing Agency is Failing You
1. Communication is not there.
You and the agency should be in regular contact. Better agencies will set a time each week to meet and go over your project’s progress. It is a time for both sides to bring questions, comments and concerns to the table. If communication is not happening, you need to find out why and get things going again.
2. The agency is not meeting its own deadlines.
OK, things can occasionally go wrong. That is a given. The agency should communicate any delays and provide new deadlines as needed. If there is no communication and missed deadlines, there is something very wrong.
3. They are just not providing the results they promised.
The agency should be clear about what results you can expect with their services. If the results are far from what they guaranteed in your service agreement, the agency is either not doing its job or it over-promised to get your business. In either case, the relationship is not working.
4. The agency cannot demonstrate a return on your investment.
There is a perception from the C-suite that marketing agencies often get caught up in the creative side of the business and forget the financial side. A good agency balances the two. You should have a clear path from the investment made into a project and the return the agency brings.
5. You believe the agency is being dishonest.
This is probably the worst situation. The agency keeps billing for extra hours, but you cannot figure out what they are doing. You have asked questions and are not getting any answers. If this is the case, it may be time to have a come-to-Jesus meeting.
What Should You Look For In A New Agency?
If your relationship with your current agency has reached the point of no return, it’s time to move on to other fish in the marketing sea. You don't have unlimited funds to dump into an agency that isn’t giving you the results you need. Here’s what you should look for in a new agency:
- Transparency: The agency should be able to trace every hour they work with specific tasks and deliverables.
- Clear pricing: The cost of hiring a marketing agency for a major project is around the price of hiring a new in-house marketing professional.
- Access to the right tools: HubSpot is one of the leading marketing automation platforms.
- The right culture: The agency should have a culture that promotes honesty, hard work and fun.
Are you thinking about parting ways with your marketing agency or have you already severed ties? If so, get in touch with ROI Online. We’re honest, transparent, fun and up-to-snuff on the latest digital marketing trends! Contact us today; we'd love to chat!
ROI Online is an inbound marketing agency. Learn more about the benefits of implementing inbound marketing into your business strategy.
