Every agency will do an audit to win your business, but not every audit delivers what you need to know. The true value of an audit comes before they really start the audit. Asking about your goals, the business goals, and what your concerns are is crucial information for a true value-driven audit. An audit is the opportunity for both sides to align on the vision. An audit should not exist to trash talk the current agency. It should be done to understand the historicals, the current, and what that data says for the future opportunities and direction.
An audit should be less about their skill as a marketing team (having good marketing skills are minimum table stakes), and more about how they think and align with the growth of your business. In doing research about the skill of the marketing group you are talking to, you should request references from other companies they currently or have worked with, review the background of the team that will be HANDS ON with the account, and simply understand the tenure and breadth of experience with accounts that are similar enough to what you do. Similar in this case, focus on the big similarities (subscription, lead generation, ecommerce, tech, etc)
It's less about the automated reports, the faults of the current group, and the promises… while focusing on what they’re going to do in order to truly improve your business and be aligned, and also able to add to your vision. A group of nodders (yes people) will win your business but not end up being a win for your business. An excellent marketing group will take your vision and push back constructively and add to it. They shouldn't do what you say, they should take your direction and make it great. You’re hiring them not to do what you want, but to be better than you all at growing the business.
If you take one thing from this, an agency that focuses more on what your current group is doing wrong than what they can do for your brand is probably NOT going to get you the improvements you want.
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Background:
Evan Padgett - 16 years operating in-house media teams for JustFab, ShoeDazzle, and Thrive Market. 5 Additional years as COO of an ad agency managing at peak, about $10MM a month in media. Hired and worked with Kim for several years. Over $1B in media managed over a 23-year career.
Kim Wright - SEM focused media buyer with 13 years of in-platform experience and approximately $500M in total SEM managed media. Heavy experience in DTC ecommerce and automobile.
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