Collaboration between businesses and marketing agencies can unlock incredible potential and create an excellent foundation for your marketing strategy and business growth. However, the foundation of this partnership is often predicated on the clarity and preparation of the business seeking marketing expertise. Having a well-defined idea, creative brief (yes, traditionally this was solely the marketing agency’s job), or budget before approaching an agency is not just beneficial—it’s crucial. Why does preparation matter? What are the risks of entering such partnerships unprepared?
The Benefits of Being Prepared
Enhanced Strategic Alignment
- Clear Objectives: A creative brief or a detailed idea helps ensure that both the business and the marketing agency are aligned on objectives, target audience, and desired outcomes. This alignment is crucial for developing strategies that are focused and effective. Not sure what a creative brief is? A quick Google search for “free creative brief templates” will provide numerous resources.
Efficient Use of Resources
- Budget Optimization: Knowing your budget beforehand allows agencies to tailor their strategies to maximize impact within financial constraints, ensuring that resources are allocated efficiently. There are a thousand ways to get the same results in marketing and not coming with at least a budget range in mind will waste your time and the agency’s. Even if that range is between $500-$5,000 CAD can be beneficial because then the agency can provide a three-tiered suggested deliverable and estimated results to provide you with a snapshot of what’s possible.
Creative Synergy
- Fostering Creativity: A well-prepared idea can serve as a springboard for the agency’s creativity. It provides a clear direction while leaving room for creative exploration and innovation. While we here at Kiers Marketing are fantastic at meeting clients and anticipating their needs, we are unfortunately not mind readers. Having an idea beyond “I’ll know it when I see it” will drastically reduce your costs just in terms of meeting time, let alone in terms of editing time.
Time Savings
- Streamlined Process: Preparation reduces the back-and-forth often required to clarify objectives and expectations, significantly speeding up the project timeline. That’s why, when we feel it appropriate, we provide clients with a branding exercise that asks them WHO their business is, NOT WHAT.
The Drawbacks of Approaching Agencies Unprepared
As we’ve briefly discussed already, there are many, but what are the main ones we see here in New Brunswick?
Delayed Project Timelines
- Extended Timelines: The absence of a clear brief or idea can result in prolonged planning phases as both parties work to define objectives, target audiences, and strategies, delaying the overall timeline. This is a recurring issue for businesses we work with, no matter the industry. That’s why we don’t initially offer project timelines unless specifically asked. They almost always run longer than anticipated because many people don’t come to us with an idea of what they are looking for or how much money they want to spend on solutions.
Misaligned Expectations
- Lack of Direction: Without a clear idea or brief, agencies might not fully grasp the brand’s vision, leading to strategies that may not align with the business’s core objectives or brand identity.
Wasted Resources
- Inefficient Budget Use: Approaching an agency without a budget can lead to misallocated resources, with funds spent on areas that might not align with the business’s priorities or offer the best return on investment. As we’ve said before, there are 1,000 ways to get to the same point in marketing your business. Not having a budget means the agency will create what they know will work, but most likely won’t work with your budgets. Having an amount you want to spend in mind helps focus the creative ideas flowing through the minds of the designers, advertisers, printers etc.
Creative Misfires
- Lost in Translation: Without a concrete starting point, the creative direction might not truly resonate with the brand’s ethos or appeal to its target audience, leading to missed opportunities and ineffective campaigns. Marketing agencies are not mind readers. Just like everyone else, we’ve seen your brand, we’ve talked about how we would change it or how we would “do things better”. But the reality is only you know who your business is and what you want to achieve with your marketing efforts. An agency shouldn’t have to guess. It wastes their time and your money.
Best Practices for Approaching Marketing Agencies
So, what should you do before approaching a marketing agency such as Kiers Marketing?
Develop a Clear Creative Brief
- Outline Your Vision: Yes, we know a creative brief is traditionally created by the designer as a way of showcasing their ideas to a client, but the reverse is equally important. If you want to get off to a great start, have a one-pager that outlines your goals and ideas. If possible, include objectives, target audience, key messages, and any brand guidelines to ensure the agency can align its creative direction with your brand’s identity.
Establish a Budget (and Expectations)
- Set Financial Parameters: Providing a budget, even a range, upfront helps agencies design campaigns that are feasible and focused, optimizing resource allocation.
Open Communication
- Maintain a Dialogue: Engage in open and ongoing communication with the agency, providing feedback and making adjustments as necessary to ensure the project remains aligned with your vision. Many agencies, Kiers Marketing included, will have project management software that also includes a Slack-like chat component to help facilitate regular communication.
Flexibility
- Be Open to Expertise: While it’s important to have a clear idea, being open to the agency’s expert recommendations can enhance the strategy and creative output. The graphic above by Jackson Yew shows just a snapshot of why our designers create things the way they do. Agencies understand why you want something done the way you think it should be, but behind every great designer, there are years of experience, psychological experiments and decades of research data that have gone into their toolbelts. Let designers be designers.
Preparing before even asking for a quote is more than just a preliminary step; it’s a strategic and cost-saving advantage. By approaching agencies with a well-defined idea, creative brief and/or budget, you can set the stage for a partnership that is efficient, strategically aligned, and primed for creative success.
Conversely, entering into these partnerships without preparation can lead to misaligned expectations, wasted resources, and ultimately, a less effective marketing campaign. In the fast-paced world of marketing, the adage “fail to prepare, prepare to fail” has never been more pertinent.
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