A successful relationship between your company and an agency (like ours) is based on trust which in turn allows for open communication, mutual respect, and effective collaboration. When this happens you are on your way to an efficient and profitable partnership that scales.
But – how do you build that trust?
Building Trust with your Marketing Agency
A marketing agency needs to show that they care about you, your goals, and are honest about what it takes to get there.
The best way trust is developed in your relationship with your marketing agency is by being honest and the agency showing that they care (Nebo Agency).
Green Flags
A great indicator of intention is if an agency asks you specific questions about your strategy, sales objectives, and marketing approach, it shows that they want to learn about your larger goals and get to know and understand your business, organization, or brand to the best of their abilities.
Another great way to ensure a successful relationship is to showcase yourself!
Even in a professional world, you can let a sense of yourself shine through – a balance between being professional and authentically you.
Be Yourself
It’s okay to be quirky or even a bit humorous – as long as you are appropriate, think of it like dating – slowly peel back the layers of who you are as the relationship progresses (Nebo Agency).
When both you and the agency are able to be yourselves, it makes you both relatable and approachable which makes it easier to build a trusting relationship between the two of you.
Communication is KING between you and your agency
It is very important that an agency keeps their clients well-informed about the ongoing activity with your account, not only will this make your life easier but also makes both parties happy and confident (Content Snare).
When communicating with your marketing agency it is important that you both establish clear expectations for communication style – will your conversations primarily be held on email or on another platform? Do you prefer phone calls? If so, are there specific hours that you are unavailable?
It is also important that each responds in a timely manner to questions and comments that arise. Even during a hectic day, it is great when agencies acknowledge their client with a simple email response to let them know that the email has been received and response will be on the way as soon as possible.
Create and efficient content approval process with your agency
In the world of marketing, a large portion of communication is spent reviewing content – usually time sensitive – so it is crucial that you create an effective content approval process with your agency to keep the ball moving at all times and ensure that tasks are completed in a timely manner (Content Snare).
When a marketing agency works effectively with both you and their team it creates an effective workflow. This includes outlining important dates for review, allowing for sufficient timing between completing the content, reviewing and then final touches.
Establish a clear definition of success + evaluation framework
In order to develop trust, ensure there is a definitive alignment on what success looks like for you and your business. Incremental finish lines are a great way to keep moving forward and have measurable success along the way.
To do so, it is important that the agency understands the stage your company is in and where you wish to grow. Once you are both on the same page and learn how you can reach those goals it is important to then put in place an evaluation framework to ensure progress is being made and address any concerns that may come up (WARC).
To keep everyone on track and keep things moving forward it is important that agencies involve their clients in the process. Scheduling recurring meetings and/or sending reports will help you evaluate the steps being taken.
You should come first and trust them to push you there
How well you establish trust will ultimately depend on the agency’s ability to give their clients what they need – having a client-centric approach.
This means that we are constantly evaluating and adapting our services in order to serve the needs of our clients – for example adding in TikTok content creation as a tool in response to its rapid growth in popularity (Content Snare).
The most straightforward way for an agency to develop trust with you is to walk the talk and deliver results that achieve your marketing goals.
At Giant Shoe, we pride ourselves in being trusted by our clients and look forward to nurturing relationships with each of them over the years.
