So, you have a marketing need that your in-house creative team can’t meet. This is how many of our larger corporate clients come to us. We’ve found that businesses looking to outsource their marketing and design work to a creative agency, like Howard Design Group, are typically experiencing one of the following situations:
- They’re missing an important skill set, and need to supplement their team with people who have the expertise and experience needed to be successful
- Their team is overloaded, and they need more capacity to allow them to grow their business or to meet deadlines
- They are looking for fresh, innovative ideas, and the resources to follow through
Choosing the right creative agency for your business can be challenging. We’ve got six great tips to help the process go smoother. It’s worth putting in the effort to find a firm that is a good fit. After all, who has time for unforced errors?
How to hire the right creative agency—HDG’s six tips for success!
- Make sure you have a clear understanding of your marketing goals and objectives, current resources, needs, and budget before you start your search.
- Look for a good match between your needs and an agency’s areas of specialty. You don’t have time for an agency to practice on your account.
- Remember Goldilocks. Look for an agency that can and wants to service an account of your size. The agency must be appropriately staffed with the ability and capacity to respond on time and within budget.
- Look for an alignment of values and work styles, especially if you are seeking an agency to be your creative partner rather than a service provider.
- Ask the agency to demonstrate a track record of success with client relationships. References, case studies, and samples of work can all help to build a picture. Don’t forget to quiz the account leads on how the work is done (account management, production management, communication methods, etc.)—watch for our next blog post “How to Build an Effective Working Relationship with Your Creative Partner”.
- Discuss the billing process—from job request to production to billing. Look for transparency, especially if a retainer as a fee model is being proposed.
Howard Design Group provides design and marketing services to a number of large organizations, especially in the finance, B2B/B2C, and education industries. Working with in-house marketing teams, we have the creative talent, skills, and resources you need to successfully achieve your business goals. Call us for more information on how we might help you.