The Complete Guide to Finding a Marketing Agency

Did you know that the average agency-client tenure is less than three years?

For clients on the brand side, finding a marketing firm and making the wrong selection is an expensive business mistake - yet most agency-client relationships end in failure and frustration. There's a reason for that.

In the United States alone, there are over 120,000 marketing agencies. Whether they're classified as a digital marketing agency, full-service marketing agency, or public relations firm, each of these agencies has their own set of capabilities, industry expertise/focus, cultures, experience, etc. A client looking to find the right marketing agency for their brand can feel a lot like finding a needle in a haystack.

Many clients do find an agency that checks all of the boxes of their requirements on paper... that still doesn't guarantee an ideal long-term business relationship. That's because finding the ideal marketing agency partner is 50% capability and 50% chemistry.

How can clients avoid the pitfalls of starting and ending agency relationships, while getting the most value for their business in the long run?


What’s inside this guide & interactive workbook…

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Part I | Planning for a Marketing Agency

In Part I, you will learn:

  • Why brands look to marketing agencies

  • Whether or not a marketing agency makes sense for you

  • Why brands fire marketing agencies

  • How to budget for a new marketing agency relationship

  • The different cost structures of an agency relationship

Part II | Navigating the Agency Selection Process

In Part II, you will learn:

  • How to build and narrow your list of potential agency partners

  • The pros and cons of each agency search method

  • The difference between specialist marketing agencies and generalist marketing agencies

  • What you need to know about Requests for Proposals (RFPs)

  • Alternatives to the traditional RFP process

Part III | Onboarding a Marketing Agency

In Part III, you will learn:

  • Statistics about the agency-client relationship

  • The roles and functions within the agency-client relationship

  • How to address the common problems in the agency-client relationship

  • How to establish effective communication with your new marketing agency

  • How to onboard a new marketing agency