The right agency is situational depending on many factors, including:
Contrary to what social media or Google search results will tell you, there is no picture-perfect digital agency that can get outsized results for every brand.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t find the right team for your specific needs. There might not be a perfect match for every brand but there is one for your brand—with experience in your specific industry. Not quite a turnkey approach but they will already know how to work with your budget, meet your goals, and capture your target audience’s attention.
After a decade of hiring for various roles and industries—and running the industry’s leading digital matchmaking service—here’s how John approaches hiring:
“Hire an agency that has experience in your industry and consider slightly overpaying them. When you find your ideal partner, communicate with them constantly, and hold them accountable to the metrics you agree beforehand that are most important to your brand’s success.”
Don’t worry—we’re going to unpack this throughout the remainder of this guide.
Identifying the best agency is a tough task if you’ve never worked at an agency or hired an agency before. Finding the right agency for your business’s unique needs and setup can be downright daunting if you have no framework on where to start.
This is a large part of the reason Credo exists. Check out how we help you identify the best agencies for each and every client – https://www.getcredo.com/how-credo-works/.
To point out the obvious, you’re looking for an agency to help you solve your marketing pain points. Whether that’s enough hands on deck to execute campaigns, supplemental expertise that you don’t have in-house, or simply more growth to make sure you keep the lights on (and investors happy), you can rely on an agency to help fix these issues.
Therefore, you need to trust the agency. Don’t just hire the cheapest option. In the end, you always get what you pay for. And yes—as John says—perhaps even overpay a bit for the right team that suits your needs. Consider it an investment in the success of your brand!
John has written about this in more detail here and here, but if you’re considering hiring an agency or marketing strategist you need to ask these questions first:
Now—with those questions asked and answered—you need to understand all of these points directly related to working with that agency:
These are the questions we recommend that you ask and get answered, but you should also recognize that there is no single right answer for most of these questions.
At Credo, we take the question: “Can they do the work well?” off the table with pre-vetted agencies who have passed our rigid application process. Then, these questions let you concentrate on finding the right fit for your brand by any metric you choose.
These questions can guide you as you hire—not only quantitatively—but also qualitatively. Keep reading to learn more about the intricacies of quantitative and qualitative hiring.
That second part is important and often missed. The biggest reason why an agency fails is not that the agency cannot do the work. It is because personalities or expectations clash. On the other hand, it could be a lack of personnel to implement the strategy you need.
In the end, if you can get through these questions before you enter into an engagement, you will start with a high degree of certainty that it will succeed and help grow your brand.
This page last updated on January 17, 2023 by John Doherty
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