Many successful business endeavors can be broken down into three parts: research and development, creation and production, and marketing and selling. People often love the design stage and the growth of an idea into a finished product but don’t always love the work it takes to market it.
Confusion abounds. There are so many options for advertising to achieve the results you want. When trying to present your services or products to the audience who would benefit most from them, it’s hard to know where to begin. On which media or platforms should you spend your money? How much is enough?
Choices include public service announcements, direct mail marketing, more than 100 social media platforms, websites, blog sites, vlogs, podcasts, radio spots, television commercials, live and virtual events, press releases, billboards, newsletters, search ads, targeted display ads, brochures, business cards and promotional products. It can be overwhelming, but that’s okay help is available!
Let Someone Else Handle Your Marketing.
When choosing a marketing company, find one who provides:
Customized Approaches to Your Strategic Campaign
No two businesses are exactly alike. Your marketing firm should be able to help you devise and set in motion a personalized, strategic, multi-faceted, results-driven campaign to help you achieve your goals.
Your business is unique and deserves to be studied and marketed by informed people who either know your industry or are willing and able to immerse themselves in it and learn what drives your customers. Understanding you, your brand, products and services, your company culture, your way of conducting business and the needs of your clients is integral to the process. The marketing agency you employ should be able to quantify the results their plans achieve, modifying them when necessary to keep the message fresh.
Longevity, Stability and Flexibility
For you to have confidence in the staying power of an advertising firm, a proven track record is a necessity. An agency that has been around for ages demonstrates its stability and its ability to adapt to changing times, trends and techniques. It may specialize in only a few aspects of advertising or may use a multitude of innovative ideas and media platforms. There is no one-size-fits-all or one single approach that produces results everywhere, at all times, for all demographics.
- How long have they been in business?
- Can their business survive significant events (recessions, pandemics, natural disasters)?
- How adaptable are they to new methods and technologies?
- Are they specialists in one type of advertising or are they knowledgeable about many means and techniques?
Customer Service
Your marketing team should be professional, friendly, communicative and easy to reach, especially when unforeseen changes are needed rapidly (think damage control). You should be able to get hold of a person, not just an automated phone menu, and the person who answers ought to be enthusiastic about helping you solve your problems, whether simple or complex. They should be quick to contact you if there’s a delay or complication with delivering a new or revised plan, script, layout or document.
State-of-the-Art Technology
Innovative technology is an important part of the marketing culture. Look for a firm with expertise in web design, social media, targeted display ads, analytics, graphic design, digital billboards, video storytelling, geofencing, surveys and interactive media and the innovative ideas that drive screen-based marketing. The ability to provide computerized tracking of how many people respond to each piece of advertising and other promotions is important to keep you connected and regularly informed of the progress toward your goals.
Company Culture
The best marketing firms are brimming with bright, skilled professionals who are straightforward, knowledgeable and full of integrity, treating every customer and team member equally with courtesy, respect and dignity. They know you by name and consider your success their success, because your business is as important to them as their own. Whether they have local staff or draw on the talents of the most skilled freelance experts from all over, teamwork is prized, so you can count on everyone working together to meet your needs.
These people will create the face of your business when your brand, goods and services are portrayed in public spaces. Make sure you will be represented enthusiastically and characterized accurately by a team you trust.
References
Find out what other businesses have to say about the marketing agency you’re considering as a partner. Don’t just take the agency’s word for how they operate. Talk with people whose brands depend on the firm’s ability to meet whatever goals they set.
Ask- How long have you worked with the agency and what is your overall impression?
- Have you had any problems with them?
- What do you feel they do best?
- How would you describe the company’s professionalism, customer service and flexibility?
- Is the provider easy to work with?
- Do their team members respond quickly to communications, concerns and changes?
- Are they able to find solutions to problems you present?
- Do they keep their promises and deliver what they say they will?
Don't Settle!
Great marketing companies exist, so don’t settle for less than the best. Keep searching until you find one with whom you feel completely comfortable entrusting with your brand and your reputation. It will be well worth the effort.
Fryed Egg Productions—ADVANCING BRANDS BY ANY LEGAL MEANS NECESSARY—is a full-service creative agency that specializes in Marketing, Event Production and Film. Led by Yvonne Fry, our Plant City-based firm specializes in transforming brands, creating videos and producing events throughout the Tampa Bay area. We are a team of story crafters and experienced creators who have mastered the art of taking a vision and making it a reality. Whether that vision is an emerging brand, film or producing an event, we have the skills to make that vision come alive!
If you want to see if Fryed Egg is the right agency for your marketing needs, contact us at (813) 478-0494 or [email protected] or visit www.fryedegg.com.