There are many ways to select a marketing firm. Looking in the yellow pages, directories, just googling the phrase “marketing firm” or “branding & marketing firm” is a start, but finding firms is just the beginning. You’ll need to take some other steps to make an important decision about who will work on your branding & marketing — not just by just search engine results.
Often our clients ask trusted business associates for referrals. Then they interview our firm, describing their challenges and asking us questions about our marketing results for our other clients.
I find that sometimes potential clients don’t know how to interview or evaluate if a firm is a good fit for them. The only question they know to ask is price, but really they’re wondering a million different questions, but they just don’t know how to frame them.
Here are a few ideas of what to consider when making this important marketing decision.
1. What kind of chemistry do we have with the people working on our account? Are they:
- Analytical
- Responsive
- Creative
- Quick
- Thoughtful
- High Tech literate
2. What is the focus of the firm? Does the marketing firm’s talents match the needs of our company?
- Graphically focused
- Writing focused
- PR focused
- Strategy focused
- Research focused
- Presentation focused
3. What kinds of clients does the marketing firm typically serve? Where is their experience level?
- Product focused vs Professional Service focused
- B-B focused vs Consumer focused
4. How convenient is it to meet with them? Are they local or is there a day or overnight trip involved?
- Do they know how to use on line meetings software?
- Do they use SKYPE or other conferencing tools
- How often do they recommend face to face meetings vs email & phone calls?
Although this is just a start of the types of questions you might ask when interviewing a marketing and branding company, this may give you some ideas of how to compare your options.
