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Common Mistakes To Avoid When Hiring Advertising Agencies
If you are hiring Orange County advertising agencies to help you tell your story to the world, you should ensure you are going into the relationship with the correct information. Here are some common mistakes you should avoid when hiring an ad agency.
Not asking for references
If you are hiring the right ad agency, it is important to know that since they have been in business for a while and worked with other businesses, they should provide a list of their previous customers. You need to take your time to reach their previous and current clients. Know what the ad agency did right for their clients and where they may have gone wrong. Knowing your potential ad agency through talking to previous customers will tell you whether you have found the right agency.
Choosing an agency by considering their price alone
Just like other proposals, you should ensure that you have an understanding of what services you are signing up for. If you are comparing various proposals, you should ensure you are comparing the same thing. One agency may include generating posts and replying to comments in their social media management package while another may include just making weekly suggestions about trends and leaving you to do the rest of the job. If you don’t understand the services provided, it will cost you a lot of money in the long term.
Accepting the proposal of the agency without understanding the benefits of each service
Good advertising agencies are not going to recommend services that they consider to be superfluous. The agency will value your money the way you do and if they recommend something, you will be assured that they think it is valuable. This does not mean that you need to accept a proposal without knowing what you will get for your money.
Viewing advertising as an expense rather than an investment
Marketing money is some of the most important capital you will spend on your business. Everyone has budgets and good ad agencies understand this. However, this is not a line item that you would slash every chance you have. By investing in advertising, you are investing in the future of your business. This means that your marketing agency will help you optimize the money you are spending.
Not understanding how to evaluate or measure the performance of the agency
Data is very important when it comes to marketing and advertisement. A good agency will provide you with actionable and measurable reporting. You should use the reports provided to understand what results you are getting. Do not understand some of the technical terms. You can talk to your account executive to explain everything to you.
Forcing the agency to guess your marketing budget
Your relationship with your ad agency should not be adversarial. You should ensure it is a partnership where you trust enough to be forthcoming and honest. Your Orange County advertising agency should develop an advertising plan for your business. They should give you a budget based on facts and not guesswork.
