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Is it time to fire your
interactive agency?
July 2010
© 2010 Tocquigny 401 Congress AvENUE | 17th Floor | Austin, TX 78701 | 512.532.2800 | tocquigny.coMIs it time to fire your You couldn't be happier with your agency.
interactive agency? Everyone agrees they deliver impeccable work. For years now you've depended on them, and through all that time they've never let you down, they've always been prompt to meet your requests - and to be honest, they're not exactly a burden on your budget. You couldn't imagine any reason you'd want to change the relationship now.
But could it be better?
Take a moment to ask yourself: Are you getting the most you possibly can out of your marketing? Look beyond face value - are you getting concrete results? And even though you and your agency may feel good about the work, are you achieving your business objectives?
Though the toughest question of all may be: How can you tell? Here are some key indicators that will lead you to an answer.
How often do you review results?
Marketing results won't magically appear. Throughout campaign management, your agency must adhere to a rigorous pattern of testing, measuring, and refining your marketing tactics. At regular intervals, you should see their progress as they make their way toward reaching your desired objectives.
Don't expect to see results overnight - the process takes time. But it also takes dedication. And if you're not seeing it on a consistent basis, then you and your agency aren't learning how to predict what's around the corner and establish a path of continuous improvement.
Continuous improvement requires continuous examination. Does your frequency of review assure continuous improvement?
Who's driving?
Your goals must steer your agency's decisions. But how specific is your agency when discussing your marketing progress? Consider hearing each of the following statements during a check-in:
. "We're on track to achieve your business goals."
. "We've reached 1,200 of your 2,000 desired leads, and are on track to reach your remaining 800 leads by the end of this quarter."
© 2010 Tocquigny 401 Congress AvENUE | 17th Floor | Austin, TX 78701 | 512.532.2800 | tocquigny.coM 2Is it time to fire your While the latter statement is specific and reassuring, the first is vague and should raise concerns. Specificity signals ownership, intention, and an ever-interactive agency? present knowledge that guides the marketing tactics your agency proposes and how vigilant they are while managing your campaigns.
You must also address whether you or your agency is leading discussions around your results. If you're absent from a meeting, are you ever happily surprised to find out how far they've moved the ball forward? Unchecked progress is an indicator of the relationship's value.
Does your agency ever tell you "no?"
Does your agency push back when they believe your requests aren't in your best interest?
When you and your agency trust each other as equals who are dedicated to your business objectives, it creates a space for constructive conversations to flourish. That's where you'll find your most valuable marketing partner - as well as results that exceed all expectations.
What have you and your agency learned?
The best of all possible agency relationships is one in which your agency shares your insatiable desire to understand how your marketing performs and improve your results.
This will be evident in how your agency interacts with you. Are they open to trying new methods? Are they always pushing to a new horizon?
A continuous process of testing, measuring, and refining should produce significant insights. However, insights are worthless without action. To derive their ultimate benefit, they must be applied to future marketing efforts.
So you should ask yourself: What have I learned and what was it worth? If you can't pinpoint any actionable learnings from the past six months, there's an issue with your agency relationship. If there were no learnings, then there wasn't adequate testing. And if there were learnings but no action was taken, you've missed serious opportunities for improvement and newfound efficiencies.
Consider the year-over-year results Tocquigny created for one of its clients:
. In 2009, our client's $700,000 investment drove $18... [download for more]
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