Fancy offices and walls of awards can sometimes be so dazzling that marketers forget whey they are visiting an agency.
How to Avoid Choosing the Wrong Digital Agency in 27 Steps offers detailed advice for marketers from the pre-pitch, RFP phase through to pitching and decision-making.
The guide was developed by Indago Digital managing drector Gary Nissim.
“I’ve worked in digital marketing for over 20 years. I’ve been involved in more than 500 new business pitches and invested an incalculable number of hours in them. Every one of those pitches has started with an RFP yet, to date, I haven’t experienced a procurement process that’s perfectly hit the mark.
“Time and time again we see advertisers fall into some common traps when they look for a digital agency. It’s frustrating for both marketers and agencies, so I am hoping this guide helps ease the process and results in some perfect matches.”
The guide says to consider some key elements :
- Why change agencies? Holding an RFP, onboarding a new agency, and building a new relationship takes time and effort. Consider trying to fix the relationship with the incumbent agency before going out to an RFP.
- Do your research: know what you want and need from a new agency – what is important to your ongoing success as a partnership? Make sure you test any suggested tools and innovations during the pitch process and meet the team who will be potentially working on your account.
- Define the process: you’ll only find your perfect agency partner through an RFP if your process is defined. Make sure you ask the right questions and create a structure that yields a standardised response you can base comparisons on. Use a scorecard and consider stakeholder consistency.
“We always recommend looking past the shiny things – when you’re looking for agencies to invite to pitch, avoid the pitfall of getting bedazzled by snazzy offices, a wall of awards or claims of industry leadership,” Nissim says.
“Beware of trying to swim with the big fish too – don’t just opt for the agency with the biggest clients, thinking it means they ‘know their stuff’.
"You don’t want to become the smallest client in the tank and fly under the radar. Similarly, some clients believe that partnering with a small agency and becoming the biggest account means you’ll get excellent account service. I’ve discovered the best fit for a client is to commission an agency that works on accounts of a similar size.
“Finally, don’t think companies won’t bend the truth to win your business. The number of times I’ve heard another agency describe a cool Excel macro as ‘Artificial Intelligence’ or ‘Machine Learning’ is unbelievable. If you’re basing your decision on tools and innovations, try them out so you can ensure they do what’s promised.”
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