Marketers have never been busier or had longer “to-do” lists.
In such a stressful environment, it’s easy as a marketer these days to lose sight of some basics. And doing well at the basics can mean the difference between success and failure. Managing the agency roster involves a number of basic skills and practices, and doing those well will make marketers good clients. Good clients get good agency work.
There are a handful of basic practices that marketers can address that will set up marketers to be great clients and their agencies to deliver fantastic work. And both the marketers and their business will be more successful.
Making sure that you’re a good client is a core marketing responsibility. The following “brilliant basics” underpin a marketer’s ability to get great work from their agencies. Use this checklist to gauge where you stand as a client and to help focus your efforts towards being a better (and more successful!) client.
Marketer’s Checklist: Better Agency Relationships & Results
Briefing: Are your strategic marketing briefs clear, complete and concise? Are they delivered in writing and in a discussion session?
Timelines: Are timelines built with recognition of the time necessary to deliver great work?
Creative & Media Plan Evaluation: Do the teams evaluating the agency’s work have the depth of experience and skill to properly evaluate the work?
Annual Feedback: Do you have a thorough, third party administered 360 process where your team evaluates the agencies AND the agencies evaluate your team?
Routine Feedback: Does your team know how to give constructive, effective feedback in the moment?
Approvals: Is your approval process clear and is the decision maker involved early enough to avoid wasted time and agency effort?
Top to Top and Day to Day: Do you have a routine “top to top” cadence and are your people engaging daily with the agency?
Scope Clarity: Is your scope clear and detailed and is there a defined mechanism or process for managing out of scope needs and requests?
Agency Compensation: Have you had conversations with your agency focused on ensuring the scope and their compensation are well matched?
Agency Vows: Have you updated (or initiated) a set of client/agency “marriage vows” that define the principles and commitments that guide your relationship?
Let us know if you would like to discuss any of the above. We are always happy to share best practices and provide counsel!
Steve Boehler, founder, and partner at Mercer Island Group has led consulting teams on behalf of clients as diverse as Ulta Beauty, Microsoft, UScellular, Nintendo, Kaiser Permanente, Holland America Line, Stop & Shop, Qualcomm, Brooks Running, and numerous others. He founded MIG after serving as a division president in a Fortune 100 when he was only 32. Earlier in his career, Steve Boehler cut his teeth with a decade in Brand Management at Procter & Gamble, leading brands like Tide, Pringles, and Jif.
Mercer Island Group helps marketers and agencies succeed. Company leadership is as much at home with marketers and their C-Suites as in an agency’s boardroom. With marketers, Mercer Island Group is a top 5 agency search consultancy covering all types of agency relationships (creative, media, web, PR, experiential) and assists marketers with marketing organization structure, workflow and critical skill development (briefing, creative evaluation & feedback, etc.). The company also supports leading and aspiring agencies with positioning, pitch and strategy training and pitch support.
