So as marketing people we know, we know… You get ten calls a week from people trying to “sell you” on why they are the best people to have as your marketing investors, brokers, or team. The truth is there’s no way to tell who the best fit really is, but coming from the other side we can tell you we have ended a few relationships with businesses because of one major thing: communication!
There will always be trial and error, but both sides own the responsibility of communicating as much as possible at the beginning and during the relationship.
That being said there are pre-relationship exercises you can do to ensure you are choosing the right partners for your business.
“Should You Hire Them?” Checklist
- Google them! Do they come up for what your needs are?
- Read their Google reviews. How many do they have? Do the reviews look real, or are they all “mom reviews”? (Because moms always love their kids.)
- On Google, do they have multiple search results? Do multiple pages show up on Google and if you click on those pages from Google… do they work? (You’d be surprised how many marketing agencies have non-functioning websites.)
- How’s their website? If you didn’t know them, would you want to? Remember, these are the people who will present you to the world. Can they sell themselves?
- Testimonials. Read them. Then call the testimonials and ask for referrals! Be thorough and ask what they did for them and ask about results. (This is also a great way to network.)
- Facebook and Instagram account lookups. Are they active marketers? Do they represent a brand that you want to associate your business with?
- Case studies. Ask them to showcase their success to you.
- How often and what tools do they have to communicate with you and your business? (Be wary if email is the only option.)
- Ask them how many clients have they lost and what challenges they have faced.
Treat your meetings in the beginning like an interview. Try not to be confrontational but be direct with your questions and expect direct answers in return.
Hopefully this helps give you some protection and direction to finding your new marketing team. Oh, and hopefully you choose Addison Marketing Solutions. ;)
