5 Questions to Ask Your Next Marketing Agency

No matter the industry, it can be difficult to devote the time and energy to the internal marketing needed to ensure the continued growth of your business. Before all else, that time goes towards manufacturing and distributing your products and providing service to your existing customers. Marketing firms exist to bridge the gap for you by providing advertising, branding, social media management, and other capabilities that support business development.

If you choose to spend your valuable marketing budget on an external firm, you should expect services that suit your company's specific needs. Ask potential marketing agencies these five questions to ensure that they’ll be a good fit:

1) WHAT'S YOUR B2B EXPERIENCE?

If you're looking for an external company to manage your marketing budget, it should be a firm that's familiar with the standard procedures, tools, and best practices of B2B marketing. As is probably inherent to your company's current marketing and business development efforts, marketing to businesses is different from selling products to individual consumers on multiple levels, ranging from the decision-making process of your potential customers to the types of communication channels you should use to reach your target audience. If a potential marketing firm does not have significant experience in the B2B sector, you may want to keep looking.

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2) CAN YOU SHOWCASE SUCCESS STORIES IN MY INDUSTRY?

Next, narrow in on your specific industry. As a manufacturing business, for example, you may want to know about other manufacturing clients the agency has served in the past, and how they achieved success. A logistics firm may want to see specific examples of how an agency has reached potential customers up and down the supply chain for other B2B clients in the past. Ideally, you should ask your potential marketing firm for case studies that relate to your company as closely as possible to forecast what the firm can do for you.

3) HOW DO YOU CONNECT MARKETING AND SALES?

Many marketing firms consider their job to be finished once the stated marketing goal—increasing brand awareness, converting leads, etc.—has been accomplished. In reality though, those marketing goals will mean little if they don't convert leads into new customers and increased overall sales for your business.

A competent marketing agency will be aware of this connection between marketing and sales, and have a vested interest in sales as the ultimate goal of its strategy and tactics. If your marketing goal is lead generation, for example, your agency should have creative tools and optimized systems in place that not only increase your number of qualified leads, but foster the progression of your prospects through the sales funnel.

4) WILL WE BE KEPT IN THE LOOP?

If you're investing your marketing dollars in an agency, your firm will most likely require a record of where and how that money is being spent. It's never too early to talk to an agency about exactly how they will keep you updated regarding their efforts on your behalf. Many agencies provide monthly reports along with regular meetings, but understanding and negotiating the parameters of these interactions is a critical step that is often overlooked by clients.  

5) HOW DO YOU PROVE ROI?

Finally, you must consider the return on your investment in a marketing agency. You cannot determine ROI without connecting marketing and sales, and you cannot establish at least an estimated ROI without regular marketing reports. Make sure that you are set up to receive period-by-period updates on the campaigns your agency is running and how they are impacting both your original marketing goal and your overall sales figures. No matter how your agency determines the return on investment for your marketing dollars, be sure that they have a process in place.

Of course, you'll have many more questions for your next marketing agency. The list above will give you a solid foundation in your search for a reliable agency partner.