<div class="gn-article"><div class="gn-hero gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-hero__image"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/687a235da6861294eec73166/68fa11edd6211dadb86be56c_651d3d466f758e3b8633f261_6241ac7ce14a9fbc423c9752_Event%252520Cover%252520Images%252520_%252520Scale_Marketing_Drive%252520(7).png" alt=""></div> <div class="gn-hero__head"> <span class="gn-kicker"><span class="dot"></span>Growth</span> <h1 class="gn-title">How to Get the Best from Your Marketing Agency Relationships</h1> <div class="gn-meta"> <strong>The GO Network</strong> <span class="pip"></span> <span>5 May 2022</span> <span class="pip"></span> <span>10 min read</span> </div> </div> </div> <div class="gn-body"> <p class="gn-lede gn-reveal">From defining what you need in the first place to finding a partner that can embed into your existing business, a saturated market and limited resource means that for many of us, finding a marketing agency that ticks all the boxes for your needs is outright overwhelming.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">In our recent conversation with senior marketing leaders from across the industry, we ran through the agency search, appointment and evaluation process from start to finish to flag the commons pitfalls, considerations, and the key to success for building great brand-agency relationships.</p> <h2 class="gn-reveal"><span class="num">01</span>Assessing the need: Questions to ask before you start an agency search</h2> <p class="gn-reveal">Hiring a marketing agency is a massive leap of faith for many businesses.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Whether you are outsourcing due to a lack of in-house expertise or need additional overflow support, there are questions you should ask yourself before engaging in an agency search.</p> <h3 class="gn-reveal">Do you need a new perspective?</h3> <p class="gn-reveal">If a business is new to marketing, it might be that current stakeholders are too close to the brand and a fresh perspective is needed to resolve certain issues and disagreements. This was the case for <strong>Andrew Elder</strong>, Head of Brand at <strong>Policy Expert.</strong></p> <blockquote class="gn-blockquote gn-reveal">"The business had never done any marketing. Our competitors were more visible than us, so we needed to get a marketeer in. Where problems couldn't be resolved by senior management and disagreements were being made, <strong>we needed to step back and take a different perspective.</strong>"<cite>Andrew Elder · Head of Brand, Policy Expert</cite></blockquote> <p class="gn-reveal">For <strong>Emily Vandervell-Thomas</strong>, Head of Marketing and Brand at <strong>Fasthosts</strong>, the need for a marketing agency came from needing to level up an effective marketing strategy.</p> <blockquote class="gn-blockquote gn-reveal">"We needed some external help on strategy. The company hadn't spent money on the brand for a considerable amount of time, and then wondered why they weren't getting any new customers in through the door."<cite>Emily Vandervell-Thomas · Head of Marketing and Brand, Fasthosts</cite></blockquote> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><img alt="Andrew Elder of Policy Expert talks about brand-agency relationships." src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/687a235da6861294eec73166/68fa11ecd6211dadb86be520_6273c479ee141b724e99a13a_Policy%2520Expert_Article%2520Quote.png" width="auto" height="auto" loading="auto"></div> <figcaption>Andrew Elder, Head of Brand at Policy Expert, on why a fresh perspective matters.</figcaption> </figure> <h3 class="gn-reveal">Are your requirements specialised, or do you need more general marketing output?</h3> <p class="gn-reveal">The skillset of in-house marketing teams is often very general due to them needing to do a bit of everything.</p> <p class="gn-reveal"><strong>Do you need expertise in a certain specialism to drive your business forward, or are you looking to expand your in-house capacity for a more generalised approach?</strong></p> <h3 class="gn-reveal">What's the path of least resistance for your capacity?</h3> <p class="gn-reveal">Depending on your team set-up, budget, and resource, it may be easier or harder to bring on an agency vs. in-housed talent.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">For some marketing leaders like Emily, it is easier to get sign-off for an agency on a retainer than it is to get additional headcount for an in-house team, whereas Andrew has experienced the opposite and found it is easier to get buy-in to keep expanding an internal team depending on the sector.</p> <div class="gn-divider gn-reveal" aria-hidden="true"></div> <h2 class="gn-reveal"><span class="num">02</span>Starting the search: Finding the right marketing agency in a saturated market</h2> <p class="gn-reveal">Most agencies present very well online, and with more than 25,000 marketing agencies in the UK alone, figuring out who to invest your time into connecting with can be laborious. But is there a 'right' way to find the best agencies for your requirements?</p> <div class="gn-stats gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-stat"><span class="gn-stat__num">25,000<em>+</em></span><span class="gn-stat__label">Marketing agencies in the UK alone.</span></div> <div class="gn-stat"><span class="gn-stat__num">60</span><span class="gn-stat__label">Cold outreach messages received by in-house marketing leaders per week, on average.</span></div> </div> <h3 class="gn-reveal">Responding to cold outreach from an agency</h3> <p class="gn-reveal">Despite in-house marketing leaders citing that they receive, on average, 60 cold outreach messages from marketing agencies every week, our panel suggest that <strong>it's extremely unlikely that cold outreach from an agency will lead to a partnership.</strong></p> <blockquote class="gn-blockquote gn-reveal">"I haven't hired an agency based on cold contact, because it's unlikely that an agency is going to contact you right at the time that you happen to be looking."<cite>Emily Vandervell-Thomas · Head of Marketing and Brand, Fasthosts</cite></blockquote> <p class="gn-reveal">Andrew said it can depend on the size of the organisation. "With larger organisations, there is absolutely no point because you're talking about European pitch processes."</p> <h3 class="gn-reveal">Looking for a culture of problem-solving over "flashy output"</h3> <p class="gn-reveal">One of the most important factors in finding an agency for Andrew is seeing the strategic thought process that fits behind a creative 'prowess' is important when looking for an agency.</p> <aside class="gn-quote gn-reveal"><q>The brief isn't 'do me an ad', the brief is 'help me solve this problem', and then we'll decide what we want to do in terms of advertising, creatives etc.</q><cite>Andrew Elder · Head of Brand, Policy Expert</cite></aside> <p class="gn-reveal">Know what an agency is going to do to help solve your problem was a common theme amongst our experts, particularly when first engaging the potential agency partners.</p> <h3 class="gn-reveal">The key: Finding agencies relevant to your needs, not somebody else's</h3> <blockquote class="gn-blockquote gn-reveal">"All agencies present the same online. <strong>Sometimes it's down to the spark of an individual within an agency</strong>. Sometimes it's the chemistry you get from a word or a phrase or an approach. It's about finding individual points and examples that really pique the interest of the brand."<cite>Andrew Elder · Head of Brand, Policy Expert</cite></blockquote> <blockquote class="gn-blockquote gn-reveal">"I've seen a lot of proposals that have come onto my desk and they're full of big shiny brands and show-stopping project work, but when you dive down into what's been achieved for those brands, it's completely irrelevant to the problem I'm trying to solve."<cite>Phoebe Ashley · Senior Marketing Manager, Burger &amp; Lobster</cite></blockquote> <div class="gn-divider gn-reveal" aria-hidden="true"></div> <h2 class="gn-reveal"><span class="num">03</span>Running the pitch</h2> <p class="gn-reveal">Once agencies have been selected, taking them to pitch is their chance to demonstrate credentials, solutions and understanding of the brand.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">However, it's more than just a proposal document. Pitching also allows transparency as to what the working relationship between the agency and brand will look like.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Whilst an objective checklist or scoring matrix can support decision-making at this stage, there are some key pieces to look out for.</p> <h3 class="gn-reveal">Are measures for success being considered?</h3> <p class="gn-reveal">It's all well and good working with an exciting brand and presenting visually attractive case studies, but many clients what to know what you actually <em>achieved</em> for that brand in the form of results.</p> <blockquote class="gn-blockquote gn-reveal">"We've just been through a pitch process where <strong>there was only one agency that included actual results in the case studies presented</strong>. Needless to say, they're the ones who won."<cite>Emily Vandervell-Thomas · Head of Marketing and Brand, Fasthosts</cite></blockquote> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><img alt="" src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/687a235da6861294eec73166/68fa11ecd6211dadb86be51d_627a6dd4d47e0a7e0f603cb8_Fasthosts_Article%2520Quote.png" width="auto" height="auto" loading="auto"></div> <figcaption>Emily Vandervell-Thomas, Head of Marketing and Brand at Fasthosts, on what wins a pitch.</figcaption> </figure> <h3 class="gn-reveal">Is something new being brought to the table?</h3> <p class="gn-reveal">For many agencies, it's a fine line between provoking fresh ideas and perspectives without going off the rails of what's actually expected.</p> <blockquote class="gn-blockquote gn-reveal">"I think it's interesting when <strong>agencies or consultants show their understanding of your business by giving you provocations around your business and the challenge</strong>. It's about not giving you an answer, because you can rarely get an answer without any client input."<cite>Aaron Cole · Chief Marketing Officer, THE OUT</cite></blockquote> <h3 class="gn-reveal">Is the pitch <em>actually</em> responding to your challenge?</h3> <p class="gn-reveal">Andrew explained that during the pitching process, there will be examples of creatives that don't match with your needs.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">The worst part, he says, is when you get further and further down the line in the appointment process and the mark is missed. "<strong>It can feel like an agency already has their creative idea in mind which they're trying to push into your strategy</strong>, rather than starting with the challenge."</p> <p class="gn-reveal">This is backed up by Emily, who says "It's all well and good coming up with a piece of jazzy creative that isn't on brand at all, as long as the agency uses it to show the capability of their talents and doesn't suggest running with it 'because we know best."</p> <blockquote class="gn-blockquote gn-reveal">"A lot of the time you can get put into what feels like quite a 'cookie cutter process.' It's <strong>ensuring that these processes have personalisation and flex within them</strong>. Feeling that what is being pitched to you is personalised and unique is really important."<cite>Phoebe Ashley · Senior Marketing Manager, Burger &amp; Lobster</cite></blockquote> <div class="gn-divider gn-reveal" aria-hidden="true"></div> <h2 class="gn-reveal"><span class="num">04</span>Mutual Success &amp; long-term relationships</h2> <h3 class="gn-reveal">How to evaluate marketing agency performance and partnerships</h3> <p class="gn-reveal">Knowing what a 'good' brand-agency partnership should look like can be difficult. How do you ensure that both sides are getting the best out of it? Our experts had their own ways of evaluating their agency relationships. For Aaron, they start with the happiness of the team.</p> <blockquote class="gn-blockquote gn-reveal">"<strong>Both sides get questionnaire after the campaign around how they felt it went</strong>, because you trust in the experience and their professionalism to be open about when went wrong. We do the good, the bad and the ugly."<cite>Aaron Cole · Chief Marketing Officer, THE OUT</cite></blockquote> <p class="gn-reveal">For more tangible day-to-day metrics, you can choose to <strong>manage things on a campaign-by-campaign basis</strong>, even when on a retainer.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">"This way, the success of the relationship is on the success of that campaign. We also give agencies access to our data so that they can see what our business results are directly due to their efforts."</p> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><img alt="Phoebe Ashley of Burger &amp; Lobster talks about brand-agency relationships." src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/687a235da6861294eec73166/68fa11ecd6211dadb86be523_6273c5dcbaae79cc272edaa0_Burger%2520%2526%2520Lobster_Article%2520Quote.png" width="auto" height="auto" loading="auto"></div> <figcaption>Phoebe Ashley, Senior Marketing Manager at Burger &amp; Lobster, on personalisation in the pitch process.</figcaption> </figure> <h3 class="gn-reveal">Overcoming key challenges</h3> <p class="gn-reveal">There will always be challenges that present themselves during the course of the relationship. Think about how you would solve these problems internally. A good agency should feel like they're an extension of your team.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">For <strong>Emily</strong>, it helps to <strong>put the agencies in touch with key stakeholders</strong> to say, "this is what we're doing, and this is why we're doing it. As an agency, if you make yourself available to do that type of thing, it can be very helpful for the client."</p> <blockquote class="gn-blockquote gn-reveal">"Be open and honest with each other. If the board aren't happy with something, <strong>be transparent about why they're not happy and have a collaborative discussion</strong> about what can be done better so it doesn't happen again. This way, it feels like you're sharing the responsibility rather than going to the agency and putting it all on them."<cite>Emily Vandervell-Thomas · Head of Marketing and Brand, Fasthosts</cite></blockquote> <p class="gn-reveal"><strong>Andrew</strong> believes as the client, you should be open to being challenged to think about your work. "If you can get <strong>clients to think about the challenge in a different way</strong>, this helps to overcome a lot in becoming a valuable addition to the team."</p> <h3 class="gn-reveal">Brand-agency relationships as a two-way street</h3> <p class="gn-reveal">It can be easy sometimes to treat an external agency as a 'supplier' or solution provider. However, if you're trying to build a long-term partnership, avoiding this kind of transactional relationship is crucial.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">Even as 'the client', it's important to remember that <strong>you have as much responsibility as the agency to get to know each other and build the relationship</strong> into something that can be long-term, and it's why we call great brand-agency relationships 'Mutual Success'.</p> <p class="gn-reveal">To do this, <strong>Phoebe</strong> recommends putting in real time to get to know the team.</p> <blockquote class="gn-blockquote gn-reveal">"You need to be able to feel comfortable around each other and be able to talk to each other naturally. This lends itself to a very open and honest working relationship. This is the backbone to a successful client-agency relationship."<cite>Phoebe Ashley · Senior Marketing Manager, Burger &amp; Lobster</cite></blockquote> <p class="gn-reveal">For <strong>Aaron</strong>, it's all about remembering that an agency is supposed to be an extension of your own team. This means being transparent and honest about when things go wrong as well as when they're going right. <strong>"It's about not treating the agency like a line on an excel spreadsheet and calling them a 'provider.'"</strong></p> <h3 class="gn-reveal">It's the people that matter</h3> <p class="gn-reveal">They key behind any successful relationship is not the service itself, it's the people behind that service, and how they work together with you towards your common goals.</p> <blockquote class="gn-blockquote gn-reveal">"It's having trust that if you need something done, then the agency are going to help you because that's why they're there."<cite>Emily Vandervell-Thomas · Head of Marketing and Brand, Fasthosts</cite></blockquote> <figure class="gn-fig gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-fig__media"><img alt="Aaron Cole of The Out talks about brand-agency relationships." src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/687a235da6861294eec73166/68fa11ecd6211dadb86be544_6273c574ef02d164dd09700c_The%2520Out_Article%2520Quote.png" width="auto" height="auto" loading="auto"></div> <figcaption>Aaron Cole, Chief Marketing Officer at THE OUT, on what makes agency relationships work.</figcaption> </figure> <p class="gn-reveal"><strong>Aaron</strong> sums it up perfectly by saying <strong>"It's about people. It doesn't matter how many dashboards you've got or flashy decks. It's about people, and jumping in together."</strong></p> <aside class="gn-callout gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-callout__label">What this means for you</div> <h4>Building great brand-agency relationships.</h4> <ul> <li><strong>Define the need first.</strong> Whether you are outsourcing due to a lack of in-house expertise or need additional overflow support, there are questions you should ask yourself before engaging in an agency search.</li> <li><strong>Look beyond the portfolio.</strong> It's about finding individual points and examples that really pique the interest of the brand, not big shiny brands and show-stopping project work that is completely irrelevant to the problem you're trying to solve.</li> <li><strong>Demand results in the pitch.</strong> Many clients want to know what you actually achieved for that brand in the form of results, not just visually attractive case studies.</li> <li><strong>Evaluate together.</strong> Both sides get questionnaire after the campaign around how they felt it went, because you trust in the experience and their professionalism to be open about when went wrong.</li> <li><strong>Treat it as a two-way street.</strong> You have as much responsibility as the agency to get to know each other and build the relationship into something that can be long-term.</li> </ul> </aside> <p class="gn-reveal"><strong><em>With thanks to our experts:</em></strong></p> <p class="gn-reveal"><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-elder-1731064/"><strong>Andrew Elder</strong></a><strong>,</strong> Head of Brand, <a href="https://www.policyexpert.co.uk/" target="_blank"><strong>Policy Expert</strong></a></p> <p class="gn-reveal"><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/phoebeashley/" target="_blank"><strong>Phoebe Ashley</strong></a><strong>,</strong> Senior Marketing Manager, <a href="https://www.burgerandlobster.com/menu/" target="_blank"><strong>Burger &amp; Lobster</strong></a></p> <p class="gn-reveal"><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-vandervell-thomas/" target="_blank"><strong>Emily Vandervell-Thomas</strong></a><strong>,</strong> Head of Marketing &amp; Brand, <a href="https://www.fasthosts.co.uk/" target="_blank"><strong>Fasthosts</strong></a></p> <p class="gn-reveal"><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaroncole1/" target="_blank"><strong>Aaron Cole</strong></a><strong>,</strong> Chief Marketing Officer, <a href="https://www.theout.com/" target="_blank"><strong>The Out</strong></a></p> <p class="gn-reveal"><strong><em>The GO Network exists to help build proper relationships between brands and agencies. As a free-to-use marketing intermediary, we find the best marketing agencies for your needs to give you a better chance of success in the long run. Start your search </em></strong><a href="https://www.thegonetwork.com/get-in-touch"><strong><em>here</em></strong></a><strong><em>.</em></strong></p> </div></div> <aside class="gn-related gn-reveal" data-auto="related-reading"> <div class="gn-related__label">Related reading</div> <ul class="gn-related__list"> <li class="gn-related__item"> <a href="/articles/mutual-success-getting-the-best-from-your-agency-relationships" class="gn-related__link"> <span class="gn-related__category">Expression</span> <span class="gn-related__title">Mutual Success: Getting the best from your Agency Relationships</span> <span class="gn-related__excerpt">Senior marketing leaders share frameworks for agency selection, performance benchmarking, and building partnerships that deliver at every st</span> </a> </li> <li class="gn-related__item"> <a href="/articles/whats-so-hard-about-finding-the-right-marketing-agency" class="gn-related__link"> <span class="gn-related__category">Growth</span> <span class="gn-related__title">What&#39;s So Hard About Finding the Right Marketing Agency?</span> <span class="gn-related__excerpt">Referrals and cold searches both have hidden pitfalls. 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