When it comes to developing, building and maintaining a strong brand awareness for your business or product, or even a cause – having an effective advertising agency on 
your side can be a powerful resource. While this is not just because an agency can increase the amount of resources you can utilize, since they already have established relationships – it can also give you an inside track on pertinent information that can help you establish your brand more quickly and effectively than doing so on your own.
Think about it, an advertising agency has professionals that are niche oriented, have already established long-term relationships with various contacts and know exactly how to reach a wide variety of target market segments in a direct ad effective manner. This can help you reach your goals and simultaneously open up more opportunities for your business while you are free to focus on the production side. Think of how much time you can reclaim while you have a strong resource handling your advertising – pushing your brand directly in front of your target markets and in most cases, opening up the realm of possibilities for new market segments that you may not have been thought of.
Choosing the Right Advertising Agency to Achieve Your Goals
There are hundreds of advertising agencies out there. What guidelines should you use to choose the right one that can successfully help you achieve your individual goals. More importantly, which ones are well-versed in your industry and can help you flourish? While the answer may be simple for some brands, it may be quite difficult for others, especially those that are developing a brand identity in new genres or market segments. Here are a few helpful tips to guide you in choosing the most effective advertising agency for your industry.
- Research the agencies main focal points and clients. This can give you an inside look on many things such as the level of brand awareness that the agency can deliver, the results you can expect and in most cases, the amount of exposure you can expect to gain. Do you see many commercials or print ads for the clients they represent? This is a direct result of their efforts.
- While reading reviews on a company is usually an effective way to establish the creditability of a company, when it comes to advertising agencies, this may not be the case. It is a wide and common misconception that all advertising produces results. Keep in mind that while you are hiring an agency to represent your brand, this does not necessarily mean that it will guarantee an increase in sales conversions. This is mainly up to you. There are too many factors that must be considered when it comes to sales conversions, most of which are internal to your company. An advertising agency cannot guarantee you sales, however, an effective agency can always guarantee your exposure, which should in most cases, lead to an increase in leads. It is then your job to turn those leads into viable sales.
- Proper representation of your brand is vital to the success of any advertising campaign. As you interview various agencies, take notice to the questions they are asking you. An effective agency will need to get an inside look into your products, brand and company structure, as well as your intended target market to endure that you are targeting the right sources. Additionally, they will need to do their fair share of market research as well. In light of this, the questions they ask you should cater to such – giving them the tools they need to perform laser-targeted research to showcase your brand to right audience.
- Does the agency offer support? If so is it one contact working on your campaigns or do you have a team of people to contact with questions, ideas and information?
While not every advertising agency operates like those showcased in the movies or on TV shows – you should never feel like you are on the back burner, so to speak. Your agent should showcase respect and interest at all times and treat your brand as if it is their own – marketing smartly and wisely. Remember, the goal is to raise brand awareness for your target market segments first and the rest of the world secondary. By doing so, you have a greater chance to increase sales conversions and most importantly, study market trends that can be affecting your sales conversions accordingly.
We are in the age of technology. With that being said, as a business owner you should think outside the box at all times, even if you fully intend to have an advertising agency execute the campaign. While most businesses are only familiar with print advertising, you can successfully raise brand awareness and in turn, sales conversions, by implementing multiple campaigns to ensure you reach your market segments. This includes print ads, video and TV commercials, mobile marketing, email marketing and of course, website campaigns. Never underestimate the power of PPC marketing. There are plenty of diligent online marketers out there that are willing to help you gain exposure and brand awareness without being a part of your in-house team. Effective advertising agencies will surely present various options to you, some including these suggestions, some giving you even more ideas – these are qualities of an effective and reliable agency. How does yours match up?
