Hiring a marketing agency is a big decision for your Agri/business even if your budget is $1000 a month to $100,000 a month. No matter the sized budget you want to know if the agency is willing to go the extra mile. Advert Your Eyes Digital was established to break down the barriers for rural and remote businesses to access the right tools for them to build their business online in 2022.
Here we have gathered together the 11 things you should think about before hiring your marketing agency. Let us know what you thought?
- In-house or agency, it’s up to YOU?
As a lot of companies start the first thing you should do is think if you need to be growing your in-house team or outsource your digital marketing to a reputable marketing agency? This decision is vital to make so that you can plan for the future.
The benefits of working with a marketing agency are that they’re exposed to the whole industry and even wider. They know what is trending and how to make the most impact with as little cost as possible.
Go and talk with your team to decide what’s the right fit for you.
- What the h*ll do you want out of this relationship?
Do you even need to hire a marketing agency to carry out these tasks or are you able to delegate them to someone within the team? Working within agricultural businesses in Australia means that your business is probably a lot different from others out there.
Making it less comparable and harder for digital marketing agencies to give you the time that you need and deserve. We work with small to large businesses but if the work isn’t right for then we won’t say yes. So, therefore, you need to know if the agency is right for you.
We have filtered through client requests enough to know what businesses are most likely to get the results they need to grow online in 2021.
- Start a bloody plan for the agency or in-house
Don’t just rely on the market agency to do all of the strategic planning for your business. Yes, the agency will know how to carry out marketing if they are actually qualified. But they won’t actually know how your business has been running, the internals of how it operates, and what you’re capable of currently.
If you have already tried online advertising for Facebook, Google ads then have this prepared so that the agency knows what you’ve already tried to implement. By knowing what you’ve done previously is important to gather any trends or mishaps previously.
- Reputation for agricultural knowledge and marketing?
It’s easy to get a marketing agency with a good wrap sheet but do they know the field that you work in. AYE Digital focuses on agricultural businesses because that is what we know and love. We were born into it and flourish within the community. We’re a new agency on our way up to focus on your audience to get them the best most qualified information.
We have plenty of clients willing to be a reference so please get in touch.
- How do you know what their expertise is?
Most agencies are born out of single expertise. Where did they learn this and is it their bread and butter? We’ve done the hard yard for both agencies and in-house teams to find out what works and what doesn’t. It’s important to know the direction of where the founder of the agency wants to go. You can learn a lot from the leaders of the agency and what they’re up to.
A big red flag for YOUR time of business is knot knowing how you operate. As you probably work within the agricultural space you’re prone to different concepts and means of doing things. Finding an agency that understands the needs and wants of these types of businesses will allow YOU and the agency to both grow on the journey of finding your audience online.
- Sh*t, how much do they charge?
Agency costs are not just about the rates. It’s the roles, resource allocation, and absorption. there are three ways agencies price their work:
– By the hour, which is the simplest. Basing the value on time.
– A retainer, which we use with 99% of our clients. Hours are estimated by the scope of work and the business knows that it will be carried out regardless of the hours worked at the agreed-upon fee. The additional hours would be absorbed by the agency itself.
– Resource allocation. When 50 or 100% of the resources are offered. The scope of work is loosely defined.
We work how clients want to work. A long-term relation works best with a retainer fee so that you know what you’re getting the most from your campaigns and that we can apply ourselves and be ready for it. We’re able to work in a ROAS on this as well for the larger companies.
- Are they committed to the cause?
Typically, contracts are 6 months minimal for the retainer and will need to be honored for that entire period. With that being said though, a good agency will offer you a release period where YOU receive a 30-day “out clause”. which means you can terminate the contract when you no longer need the relationship to proceed.
You can determine if your agency is invested in your business easily if you look for red flags or how they honor your contract.
- What type of clients have they worked with?
Most agencies work within their own pocket of sectors such as fashion, food and drink, and the new/oldest sector of agriculture. It’s hard to find those agencies who know the agricultural industry and also the ongoing trends of marketing to capture an audience.
- Plan for the longterm
Agencies spend 100% of their time researching your products and systems in place to fully understand the products and services you sell (well, they should be anyway). For the relationship to be as strong as possible and the communication channels open the best position is a long-term one with your agency of choice.
Agencies aren’t vending machines that can be churned through us you’ll mix your marketing message and drag your own reputation across the paddock. Make sure you plan to establish the relationship from the get-go.
Don’t push your marketing at the last minute so that you can take full advantage of your marketing strategy and generate a better outcome for yourself and your business. We’re looking for 5 more clients to work with for 2022. With these limited places left you don’t want to miss out on an agricultural-based marketing agency. Contact us so that we can start building your business. We’re growing with you in regional NSW.
Advert Your Eyes Digital is a no b*llshit marketing agency for the agricultural space within Australia. We are doing things that others don’t dream about. If you want to see amazing results you have to change the game. Let’s start now with a conversation. Email my personal on jack@advertyoureyes.com (founder)
