Why is it working for them and not me?
Why are they getting results when ours seem to be lacking? Do you ever find yourself asking these questions?

Does your board ask these questions?

How do you answer them?

Without a clear plan, adequate budget, and a strategy in place, the answers is almost always “Our marketing agency is the problem”. You are not alone as this is a common response. In the 25 years I have heard this time and time again as I meet clients that are unhappy with their current agency or marketing team and current results.

The comparison game is never fair and will always leave you wanting.

However, it is natural to insist on comparison.

So then, let’s do that but let’s properly “compare”.

BEFORE you assume your agency or marketing team is failing start with these questions.

• What is your budget in comparison to “them”?
  • If they have a bigger budget (investment), wouldn’t it make sense that they have a bigger return?
• What is your strategy in comparison to “them”?
  • If you are spread too thin and don’t have a comprehensive plan but they do, wouldn’t it make sense that they have a better result?
• Do you have a strategy?
  • If you don’t have a strategy your marketing becomes reactionary, translation, less effective.
• If you do have a strategy what part of it isn’t working?
  • The answer allows you to make changes to what isn’t working and shift more focus and resources into what is working without abandoning the plan altogether thereby allowing you to build on your successes.
• What upfront metrics did you set out and are they in writing?
  • If your metrics, goals, and outcomes are not in writing they are not real.
• Who is managing the agency and advertising vendors?
  • Are multiple people responsible for the outcome or is one person driving the strategy and responsible for the results and reporting monthly? Is the communication between the marketing and the office clear?
• Is your agency a full-service agency or simply a digital media buying service?
  • The type of agency you have should be clearly understood. There is a real difference.

Consistent success is a result of a carefully crafty strategy.
In my aforementioned 25 years plus in consulting and marketing I have seen this proven time and time again. Success is the direct result of a comprehensive plan that includes a clear persona, a specific strategy measured with predetermined outcomes, and a point person (or agency) responsible for the overall success.

Success starts with an unwavering commitment to that strategy, budget, process and clear communication between all stakeholders.

Is it possible that changing your agency and going to another one will fix your problem?
Maybe, maybe not.

It can be so tempting and easy after a conference to think there is a better solution than digging in with your current agency relationship. It can be so tempting to “swipe right” on the next “best looking” agency who you think can do more for you.

If you are unhappy, what should you do?

• Identify a specific persona and put it in writing.
• Predetermine and identify reasonable outcomes for your budget.?
• Evaluate your advertising to ensure it aligns with your strategic plan and is being placed in the right advertising mediums. (Digital, Billboards, Community, Radio, Etc)
• Evaluate your outcomes using a consistent metrics for previous year same time period, and for 2 years so you have a high and low reference point. Example: Track outcomes for Jan 2023, 2024, and 2025. Look for trends and consider outside factors.
• Determine what type of agency and marketing team have you established. Who is singularly responsible for managing outcomes, metrics and campaigns?

Let’s look at that last point. This is vital. What type of agency do you have?

Media Buying Agency

• Provides support for the products and services they sell, i.e. landing pages, direct response ads, or similar.
• Requires someone else to set the comprehensive strategy.

A media buying agency service is the most common “agency”. These are agencies that specialize in specific mediums, typically digital, and will help you allocate all your dollars with digital products and services they sell. Typically, they do not create, manage or consult on a comprehensive plan beyond placing your advertising budget in the mediums they represent. Their recommendations and communication is going to be exclusively on the ad spend for the digital products and services they represent. Cost for ads, landing pages, ad design, and regular monthly calls are typically ala cart. Recommendations for your budget will not include products or services outside of what they sell.

Full-Services Agency

• Creates the needed strategy.
• Manages all aspects of the advertising and marketing.

A full-service agency understands the complexities of both creating the strategy as well as buying the diverse media mix needed to help you establish your brand and move your organization forward as a household name. They will also evaluate the market and make recommendations for your budge. These recommendations will be comprehensive and specific to your needs vs a specific digital service. The full- service agency will provide brand management, design, website support, and placement of all media including but not limited to digital media, social, billboards, radio, tv, video, print, community engagement, promotional strategies, street team concepts, internal brand experience and more. Their services expand into design, script writing, consulting, monthly meetings, and things you would expect from a full-service outsourced marketing team. This solution allows you to outsource and hold responsible someone for your outcomes.

Both agencies are great but are distinctively different.
In the comparison game, you must evaluate properly what you have against what you want.
If you find that what you have isn’t what you want, then move forward in confidence interviewing your next agency.
Create your marketing team with the same intentionality as you hire.

So, should you swipe right or left?

• Answer the comparison questions.
• Evaluate the types of agencies.

Then, decide and create your dream marketing team. This may, or may not, include an agency at all.

Let’s wrap up with a story. I recently had a clinic reach out for a consultation. They ask us to evaluate their digital footprint and campaign and expressed a desire to transition their budgets for management to our full-service agency in hopes that would get them “more”.

You may be surprised to learn that after a full evaluation I recommended they stay with their current pro-life agency.

Here’s why.
After hearing their needs and concerns, we did a deep dive into the advertising they were doing.

I found that, just as expected, the other pro-life agency was doing a phenomenal job. I was very complimentary of the current pro-life agency and the outcomes. There were a few areas of opportunities but nothing that they couldn’t solve with clear communication to that agency.

Would we love to work with them? Absolutely!

However, based on the current outcomes with the current agency, it didn’t make sense for them to make a change.

Why?
Simply put, changing agencies is time consuming and expensive. To change you need to have a solid reason. If they were looking for a change to a full-service agency then we are the right solution. However, they were looking for a different agency to implement their same budget and same digital strategy.

Could we do it?
Of course, but here’s the thing.
Changing agencies is a little bit of work especially if you are dependent on lead gen for your strategy. Properly transitioning a digital campaign can take a few weeks to get things set up (money you aren’t putting into the campaign). It can then take as much as 30 – 45 days to regain positioning before you get back to where you were before you switched. Then, if you launch a new website, you may take another 30 – 60 days to reindex it. All in all, to do it right, there is a process and if you are hoping for “day 1 magic”, that just isn’t realistic unless you are buying that growth in the transition.

What if our research confirms that the marketing spend was not managed properly?
If our research of their campaigns showed that the other agency wasn’t hitting industry standards or had significant areas of opportunity, then the jump to a new agency, (us or anyone), would have been the right decision.

Does it happen? Yes, sometimes, but not often.

As an agency we are always willing to complement other agencies.

Advertising for this industry is unique. I feel like I have met most or all of the agencies that support this movement. One thing is for sure, they are all working very hard to serve their clients and do the highest quality work for the services they sell or provide. If your agency is providing you reasonable industry expected outcomes, then go deeper. Look at other ways to grow. Perhaps it means increasing your budget. Perhaps it means diversifying your advertising strategy. Perhaps it means having a multi-pronged strategy.

You can certainly change agencies but take a minute to “look in” before you “look out” and start comparing arbitrarily.

If the results you need require services that your agency is not able to provide or the communication is broken, then it would definitely mean it is time to change.

I believe…
It takes many parts to be the body. With a competitor that works to destroy life and all that you work for, let’s be sure as an industry we are building each other up, encouraging one another and supporting each other’s efforts.

Find the good, highlight that and look for areas to add unique value.

Be the positive and the addition, walk away from the subtraction and division.

Take athe pause.

Review your plan.

Evaluate what you have, what you want, and what resources you are pouring into getting those outcomes.

Have patience.

Move forward in confidence.

 

To your continued success of empowering women,

Liliana Grace
Owner Founder L Grace Brands