Picking the Perfect Ad Agency Partner
Many Companies But Few Experts
With so many people offering advertising solutions, picking the perfect ad agency partner is difficult. Should you even work with an agency or do it all in-house?
There are businesses that can be as small as one-person shops and as large as multi-national agencies. Choosing your marketing and advertising solution is critical to your business growth.
Statistics
- Marketing companies in the US: 14,000
- Number of people employed in marketing in the US: 200,000+
- Number of Upwork freelancers working in sales and marketing: 1,400,000
So, how do you find the right marketing solution for your business?
20 Years In Advertising
Why You Should Listen To Us
Since 2003 our CEO, Robert Brill, has grown companies in the US. Some are Fortune 5 and some are small businesses. All need growth, strategy, and advertising expertise. For details on his career, check out his LinkedIn profile.
- Entrepreneur for 10 years
- Agencies and advertisers trust us to scale their businesses
- The Brill Media team spent $100 million+ in advertising throughout our careers
Digital Ads Grow Businesses
On Meta alone, there are 10 million businesses running ads. Many companies understand the power of digital advertising.
Digital is so important because:
- Very low daily minimum spends
- Minimal lead time to launch
- Ads are targeted to your best audience
- Leverage AI and machine learning to find your customers
- Deploy massive amounts of data to generate sales
- Quickly learn what your customer want from your business
- Fast data feedback between launch and optimizations
- Respond quickly to changing market environments
It’s no surprise that offline media like TV and radio are declining in ad spend, while digital channels are growing.
Of the expected $363 billion in US ad spending, $263 billion will be on digital channels, accounting for 72% of all ad spend.
What To Look For In An Agency Partner
1. Performance
Your digital advertising needs to work. When you judge an agency, look for:
- Case Studies
- Testimonials
- Ratings and Reviews
2. Seniority and Experience
Since anyone can claim to be a marketer after watching a few YouTube videos, taking a few courses, or taking certifications, look for experience.
- The more, the better
- Check LinkedIn profiles
- Look for credibility in the form of publishing in trade and business publications like Forbes, Inc, and Entrepreneur
3. Urgency
The growth of your business requires people to step up to the magnitude of their responsibility. Your business needs immediate, ongoing, and expert support to make the most of your advertising investment. You need people to answer your emails, be available to talk, and collaborate to grow your business.
4. Strategy
You need a navigation plan that protects your business from making bad investments. Your strategy is that plan, and it gives you confidence that your business growth is in good hands. Before any advertising is run, you should have a strategy in place.
5. Communication. Context. Consistency.
Your advertising partner should know the answers before you ask the question.
They should be available to talk and answer questions.
You need to be able to rely on your team for consistent communication.
They need to share what works and what isn’t working. You need to be receiving recommendations on improvements.
You should be connected with campaigns through advertising dashboards like this one.
In-Housing vs Agency Partnership vs Freelancers
Choosing the best digital ad partner is important to the growth of your business. As a business looking for marketing services you have some options in the partners you choose. Let’s explore three standard setups.
Freelancers
Freelancers are good for one-off tasks and projects, even if those projects are months long. You can find good people, and come back to them repeatedly.
Pros
- Short term projects
- Lower cost than hiring
- Low-risk trial of individual work
Cons
- Hard to establish process
- Limited oversight
- Limited trust
In-Housing
Your business can hire marketers, but they are expensive, require supervision, and you’ll usually need more people than you realize. Marketing can be creative, numbers driven, and analytical. The person who knows Photoshop is unlikely to be skilled at ad optimizations.
Pros
- Control day to day work
- Can build with the company
- Dedicated professionals
Cons
- Very expensive
- You'll need a big team
- Your team needs supervision
Agency Partnership
Get the best of both world and none of the drawbacks. Your agency is a full team of marketing experts across disciplines who are dedicated to growing your business.
- Many capabilities under one roof
- Dedicated account manager
- Limited cost
- Expert marketing expertise
- Standard operating procedures
- Multiple rounds of review
- Experience across businesses
The Money Conversation
High cost doesn’t mean expensive. Low cost doesn’t mean cheap. Look for pricing you can afford to run for at least three months. Whatever your monthly budget it, cut it into 1/3, and make it last for three months. You’ll see outsized performance as the algorithms are tuned to your business needs.
Paying Too Little
- 2x or 3x costs account for mistakes
- Run ads with the wrong tactics is a disaster
- Bad advice creates systemic growth problems
Paying Too Much
- Features you are not using
- Solutions you don't need
- Opportunity cost doesn't allow you to do more with your investment
Work with an advertising agency that has the systems, people, and processes to make your company grow.
Top Advertising Agency
Dedicated Account Team
Holistic Digital Media Buying
Live Campaign Dashboards
