Your business’s best friend is its marketing partner. Think about it for a second – your company could be performing the most amazing work in the world, but if nobody hears about it, what’s the point?
That’s why its essential to evaluate your marketing partner’s capabilities. The right combination of elements can literally make or break your business, sometimes in dramatic ways. Consider giant examples of corporations like Apple and IBM. Both of those firms were failing at various points in their histories and were only saved by committed marketing creativity. That’s the power of a solid marketing relationship.
To help your company make its evaluation, we’ve compiled an overview of some of the most indispensable factors to look for in your marketing organization. These are all must-haves for success in 2023 and beyond.
Mutual Understanding
It might sound silly, but if your marketing company doesn’t fully understand what your company does or who buys your products/services, that should serve as a huge red flag to take your business elsewhere. A trusted marketing partner should have a thorough understanding of their client’s goals, target audience, products, and services.
If starting out a new relationship, you should expect your marketing firm to ask a lot of questions in the beginning of your time working together. They’ll need to know as much as possible about your company to build an effective campaign that impresses your customers.
Dedicated Creative Team
Don’t accept outsourcing or a middleman when it comes to creativity. There’s a lot to be said about a layer of tangibility between your business and the people designing your marketing collateral. It’s important to have a positive relationship with these people because their skills can have a huge impact on your brand.
A good marketing firm should have graphic designers, writers, and other skilled creative personnel on staff. There’s going to be a lot of project correspondence and collaboration with these folks, so be sure to find a marketing firm that provides you a strong sense of rapport.
It’s worth noting that creative people can be a bit of a different breed – putting it gently. But a quality marketing firm will be able to let creative individuals shine without burdening their clients with undue idiosyncrasies. In other words, it’s okay for these individuals to work a little differently as long as they’re working well for your company.
Digital Department
Similar to the creative team, a marketing firm with its own in-house digital department is highly beneficial too. Most often, the very first thing a prospective customer will see about your company is its online presence. This is something that needs to be consistantly maintained over time, so having a team of social media and web development professionals at your disposal will be a huge asset.
Also, a team of people that can generate a steady stream of web content about your company will take a lot of work off your plate. It can be a challenge to maintain social media content and other promotional material on a regular basis, so having people dedicated to the task will remove a lot of headaches and will likely get better results in the long run.
Network of Vendors
As a final recommendation, it would be a good idea to evaluate your marketing firm’s network of vendors. Your company is probably going to need quite a few different pieces of marketing material – be it printed items, signage, employee apparel, or any other type of branded material. The scope of possible items is virtually limitless, which is why your marketing partner should have a wide network of vendors, print shops, and other manufacturers that can produce the right types of items you’ll be needing.
The last few business years have shown everyone very clearly the need to be adaptable and have alternatives. Shortages of all kinds of goods and products have been occurring for quite some time now. If you’re marketing firm is limited to just a handful of vendors, that could turn into a big problem for your promotional goals. Instead, you’re going to want a marketing firm with a well-established network of multiple vendors that can enable your firm to pivot when needed.
In a similar regard, a marketing firm with a strong network of media partners can be a major asset too. These will be the types of contacts that can help your company secure affordable advertising options, organic content, editorial and video content, coverage of your events or announcements, and much more. Leveraging these types of relationships through your marketing partner can be very valuable when spreading the word about your business.
Business Besties
With these types of elements in place, your company and your marketing partner are going to become business besties. Their job will be to tell the world about the outstanding work that you’re doing, and that can only be achieved by having the right combination of knowledge, personnel, and network capacity. With all that on your side, your business is going to have a tremendous amount to gain.
