Getting awesome marketing campaigns for your brand is your aim.  Getting the right agency and the right brief is key.

In our experience, time and again, we find that a poorly executed campaign can be traced back to sloppy agency selection and poor briefing.  Any time invested up front at the beginning of the campaign will be repaid many times over in a successful outcome.

So we’ve done some research for you and here are our top 5 steps for selecting an agency

1. Write a short list – yes we mean a short list.  That means fewer than ten names on it – preferably five.  When compiling your list have about three criteria that are critical and each agency must have.  These could relate to the type of work (SEO, content marketing, direct mail); the location of the agency (geography) or the industry sector in which they are experienced (B2B, food and drink).  Some people also put emphasis on not having conflicts of interest.
2. Reduce your short list to a VERY short list.  This is the group you will interview:  Now prepare for the interviewing stage
3. You may want to set out an RFP if that  is the way your industry works or your prcurement department insists on competitive tendering.  Otherwise, set out your campaign plan and what you want your new agency to do with your brand.   Get internal sign-off for the briefing document.  Be sure you’ve thought of everything up front.
4. Call each agency on your list.  Introduce yourself and your company, and tell them you’d like to include them in your agency selection process.  Three reasons to do this 1. it allows any agency to opt out of the process right away. 2.  It enables you to speak directly to an appropriate individual at the agency and begin establishing a rapport. 3. It assures that you will be sending your agency selection document to the right person.

Part two of this post will publish tomorrow.

With thanks to Webbiquity for giving us the idea for this post.

If you are an agency looking for more leads take a look at Brands Seeking Agencies – the weekly marketing leads service for creative marketing agencies.

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1. Critique: Marketing your Creative Agency
2. Copy this new biz campaign for your marketing agency
3. Shout! With Sam Brownfield, MD of Digital Agency Search
4. Guest Post: Michael Gass on agency blogging for new business
5. Neat agency promotion

Posted in: 3 New Business Pipeline, 6 Creating Opportunities.