As featured in Crain’s: 5 Tips to Hiring the Right Ad Agency by Laura Sheridan, Guest Blogger

5 Tips to Hiring the Right Ad Agency

By Laura Sheridan, President, Viva La Brand

Hiring the right ad agency is key to achieving your marketing goals. Hiring the wrong ad agency can lead to a waste of time, money and lost sales.

How do you ensure you hire the right creative partner? Follow these five steps.

Step #1: Remember it’s business

Too many clients hire an ad agency because they like the head account person or creative director.

Sure, chemistry is important. But, hire an ad agency for their experience, capabilities and results.

Are they passionate about your business? Do they have a track record of solving problems like yours?

Step #2: Think future

Before you start conducting research to find potential ad agency partners, make a list of your marketing needs.

Does it include everything on your wish list for today and for the future? Push yourself to imagine what you might want to do with your online marketing program, website, social media initiatives, videos, etc.

Meet with your management team to ensure you understand all of the marketing needs of your organization. Your goal is to identify the optimal ad agency partner for today and for the next several years.

Step #3: Be direct

If you have a budget, share it during your initial conversation with ad agencies.

If you have an unusual decision-making process, tight timetable or creative approach you love or hate, be sure and mention it during an early discussion with potential partners.

The more you share about your business, processes, and expectations early on, the better.

Step #4: Take your time

You’ve waited this long to have an ad agency, don’t rush the process to find the right one.

Ask candidates to complete a request for proposal (RFP) including detailed cost and time estimates for each project. Require that ad agency representatives that attend your “pitch” meetings are the same people who would work on your business. (Many ad agencies have business development people who you manage the RFP process and then you never see them again.)

Ask ad agencies to present relevant case studies and importantly, the results of their work. Call references. Ask a lot of questions.

Step #5: Take a test drive

Start working together on a project basis.

You’ll never know if an ad agency is the optimal fit until you work together on a real project for your business. Sure, they’ll be hiccups as you get to know each other’s style, but you’ll get a flavor for their project management process, how they handle feedback, their responsiveness and creative product, and importantly, the results.

Hiring an ad agency is an important business decision. It should be made only after you’ve done your research, compared multiple proposals and then sampled the leading candidate’s work by hiring them for a discreet project. Do it right and the “winner” will help contribute to your business success.