Industry-Specific Marketing Works — Find the Right Agency

Finding the right agency for industry-specific marketing work can be challenging. You want to ensure they know how to get results but you also need to know that the agency is skilled within your industry.

But how can you find an agency that understands the nuances of reaching customers for your brand? We’ll walk you through the steps of finding and vetting marketing agencies that can meet your needs.

Finding a Marketing Agency Skilled in Your Industry

If you’ve tried various marketing tactics in the past with no luck and are frustrated with the results from your current marketing agency or freelance partner, it might a problem with your strategy and not the tactics.

Each industry has nuances to it, requiring that your marketing partner be well-versed in how to get customers to notice you, test your products or services, and pay for what you’re offering. 

1. Set Goals

What are you trying to accomplish with your marketing? A goal-setting session can help you determine what’s most important to your business and its success. 

Your goals should be SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. While your marketing agency will likely want to have some input as to what’s realistic for your business based on what they’ve seen work in your industry, you should start your agency search with an idea of what you want to accomplish in mind.

2. Evaluate Your Needs

Businesses have different skillsets in-house and therefore need varying support from their marketing agency. Spend some time reviewing your needs.

Your needs should correlate to your goals so be sure you’ve completed the first step before moving on to evaluating your needs. Some businesses start running ads without considering what the outcome should be or how they want to guide prospects to the next step in the buying journey effectively.

3. Ask for Referrals

Ask trusted businesses in your area about the agencies they use. This is a good place to start with building a short list of agencies to interview.

Make sure to discuss results with your business connections and not just ask who they use. Marketing activity alone does not produce results. It has to be the right marketing initiatives with good audience targeting.

4. Schedule Consultations with Industry-Specific Marketing Pros

Once you have a shortlist of agencies to meet with, start scheduling consultations. Try to meet with three to five agencies and do so within just a few weeks. That way, your discussions with other agencies are still fresh in your mind so you can complete an accurate comparison. Letting too much time go between consultations can skew your memory of your impression of the agency. 

Follow-up with agencies you’ve already spoken with as new discussions present additional questions or you need to clarify what they meant in their strategies.

5. Ask Relevant Industry Questions

Be specific about what you’re looking for. Ask the agency to speak directly to their work with other companies in your industry. 

Talk about your target audience, the challenges you’ve faced in reaching them and listen closely to the insights the agency presents. While they won’t give away too much detail before you hire them, they should tell you enough to give you confidence that they know what they are doing.

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6. Listen Closely to Their Strategy

Don’t jump ahead to thinking about whether you’re going to hire the agency. Use active listening to be attentive to what the agency is saying.

Watch out for agencies that show these red flags.

• Poor communication: Watch the experience from the moment you register for a free consultation and how the agency follows up after the consultation. You should see clear, effective communication.
• No discussion of reporting: The agency should share details about how they’ll report on results and progress toward your goals throughout your working relationship.
• Overpromises on results: If the agency claims they can deliver outrageous results, such as an explosion in leads, instant SEO results or instant sales from online ads, they are probably overpromising on results.
• There’s no contract: Agencies that operate without a contract are unlikely to be reliable. They more than likely are not running a professional business and taking their work seriously. While you don’t want a contract that locks you in for a year before getting to know the agency, you do want to know that you have certain protections on your intellectual property. 
• The agency uses tons of buzzwords without a clear strategy: Agencies that get on a call and just throw as many buzzwords out there as possible are likely not the ones you want working for you. The agency should spend time explaining their strategy and what you can expect.
• The estimate comes back extremely low: When the estimate is far lower than other estimates, you should be concerned about the quality of the work or who the agency is hiring to complete the work for you. Review the contract to learn about subcontractors or who actually completes the work.
• Lack of diverse skills: Seek out an agency that can help you with your entire online presence and not just run ads for you. Ads are always part of a larger strategy. 

7. Request References from Companies in Your Industry

If you like what you heard during the consultation, request references from the agency. Be specific that you’d like to talk to other companies within your industry who have used the agency. Talking to just anyone won’t give you a feel for how good the agency really is within your industry. 

8. Get an Estimate and Review the Contract

Request an estimate or a proposal from the marketing agency. Be specific about the scope of how you want the agency involved to make the proposal accurate. If you add requirements or activities to the scope later, don’t be surprised if the proposal changes.

9. Keep Looking if You Aren’t Wowed

Don’t feel rushed or obligated to move forward with the first agencies you speak with. You should feel good about signing a contract. If you don’t, keep looking. Search for agencies with expertise in your industry and don’t limit your search to only being in your community. Remote work has made it possible to hire experts regardless of their location. The only consideration with hiring outside your area is that the agency will be able to meet with you during business hours in your time zone.

10. Don’t Be Afraid to Make a Change

If you’ve been working with a marketing agency for a while now, don’t be afraid to change things up if you aren’t happy with the results. Don’t feel bad because you’ve only been working with them for six months or a year. You should see good ROI from your efforts if you’re doing your part and implementing activities, such as lead nurturing and sales funnels.

Why New Light Digital

New Light Digital is a multi-faceted agency with experience in helping companies within the following industries: architecture and design, construction, finance, hospitality, insurance, IT and SAAS, restaurants, telecom and more. Let us show you how we can help you experience tangible results from your marketing. Schedule your free consultation now.

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