subject: Finding The Best Marketing Agency For Your Business [print this page] Finding The Best Marketing Agency For Your Business
The UK has over 25,000 marketing companies ranging from smaller freelancers upto global marketing companies that work with top global brands.
Marketing is a diverse market that cam be split into 5 areas:
1/ creative design (website, graphics etc.)
2/ Writing services (pr. copy writing).
3/ Advertising (radio, tv etc.)
4/ training (sales training, business development etc.)
5/ Direct marketing (telesales, telemarketing, mailing, e-marketing etc.)
There are a very small number of marketing companies that do cover some or all of these services, most will cover one of the 5 areas above or more commonly, one of the sub areas within the 5.
This makes finding a local marketing company difficult - even with the use of the internet it only makes sheer numbers higher and mixes up results.
As society has moved more global, overseas companies are coming in and getting muddled up with the searches and thus finding the right business is made even harder.
Most companies would be looking for the following criteria:
An agency that can provide the desired service (creative, direct marketing etc.)
An agency that is local (so that visits can be arranged).
An agency that understands my industry
Thus finding a marketing company with the above criteria is needed and could take time.
There are a few different options available:
Using a search engine to wade through websites one by one.
Get a recommendation from a friend.
Use a price comparison site to compare quotes.
If you opt for doing the job yourself, then you may be searching a long time to find a few relevant marketing agencies. It would then be a case of contacting each one individually, looking through their portfolio's and then doing chasing to get responses/arrange meetings.
Asking a friend would be a good idea (and indeed many marketing companies rely on word of mouth to spread their news) - however the agency you were recommended may be good for your friend but not suited to you. The marketing agency that is recommended may not know your product/industry/service and thus may not be ideally suited. The agency may be 10%, 30% more expensive than market value - so again may not be ideally suited.
Working with a local marketing agency is always advised, as face to face meetings are much better for developing the relationship and also imparting knowledge. The marketing agency is much more likley to push for results if they know they need to present to you once a month/bi-monthly as opposed to hiding behind e-mails or being 'out' when you call.
Over the last few years, we have seen price comparison site springing up for all manor of goods; from insurance, DVD's, clothes, food - and indeed for markeitng. Through one quick form you can compare quotes from a few local marketing agencies that know and understand your market place - saving you valuable time and money.
Alll you then need to do is to compare the agencies, find a few that you like and organise a visit to their studio. It is always advised to meet with a marketing company - so you can get a feel for their capabilities, but also to ensure they understand your product/service.
