06/ 10/ 2002
by Jeffrey Moses
Though no one knows a company better than the founder, that individual may not be the best person to create the advertising and promotion necessary to take the company to profitable levels. Depending on the company's needs, the owner may choose to hire an advertising agency, which can handle any or all of the company's marketing. This could include PR; writing and placing ads and commercials for varying media; designing, writing and printing brochures and annual reports; and handling the designing and creation of booths and other paraphernalia for shows, important presentations and ongoing sales efforts.
The entire process of contacting and beginning work with an advertising agency can be broken into seven steps:
1. Determine your budget. It doesn't matter what you want to do in the way of marketing if you can't afford it. Your marketing plan (and your business advisors) should be the guides for determining the dollar amount you can put into promotion. This determination is always a balancing act: too little put into advertising could mean slower growth than desired; too much could drain other areas of your business.
2. Based on your budget, determine if you should use a full-service agency or freelance advertising professionals. Ad agencies usually like to handle a wide variety of promotional activities for a company (although some are flexible enough to focus on specific areas such as PR, brochure creation, etc.).
Top-quality freelancers, on the other hand, will readily work on projects that you specify. It's a given that working with an agency requires a higher initial budget than working with freelancers, but it's not a given that the quality of work will be higher. Many freelancers once worked with agencies. If you require an array of services, however (such as coordinated newspaper, TV and radio marketing), an ad agency may be your best bet.
3. Assuming that you decide to hire an ad agency, it's best to locate agencies that are familiar with your industry. Too many small businesses hire agencies based on work done for other types of businesses. While it's usually not a great idea to use an agency that works for your chief competitor, you should ask an agency about previous work done in your field.
4. Before talking with agency representatives, perform the following activities within your own company:
- Select a review committee, if you will not be acting alone throughout the selection process;
- Meet with the committee and determine specific types of marketing you will be requiring;
- Go over budgets to make sure they are realistic;
- Set a timetable for selecting an agency;
- Assign to an individual within the committee the task of contacting agencies. This individual should inform the agencies about what services you will require and what your budget is.
5. Select a list of agencies, using references from colleagues, your own past use of agencies, Yellow Page advertising and so on. If your budget is small, invite only two or three agencies to meet with your review committee. If you have a large budget and will require extensive services, contact more. Prior to the agency interviews, ask each agency to provide you with information about the agency's employees who will be working on your projects, examples of former work for companies in your industry, and hourly or per-project charges.
Ask to be shown personally through each agency's office before the formal interview with your committee. This will help you get a feel for how the agency works. Also, ask to speak with several clients of each agency, using this to find out how efficient, timely and flexible the agency is. Don't hesitate to ask if the clients feel that the agency has helped boost their business.
6. During an interview, focus on the agencyÆs experience with your industry and size of account; specific examples of previous work; degree of innovation or creativity in suggesting types of ad campaigns; availability of key personnel within the agency to work on your account; and the "chemistry" between the agency and your selection committee.
Ask the agencies such questions as: "Why do you feel that you will be able to promote our specific type of business successfully?" "What are some of your particular strengths--and weaknesses?" "Do you see any potential difficulties in our choices for media selection?" "Can you achieve what we need with the budget we're proposing?" "Do you have suggestions for marketing that we haven't thought of?"
7. Select an agency and put in writing all financial agreements, timelines for creation of ads, responsibilities of the agency and your company and ownership of creative work. The agreement with the agency you select is as important as any other business contract you write, so consult with your attorney and business advisor throughout the process.
