We’ve all been there.
A supplier makes promises via a swanky sales person who swept you off your feet. “It will all be so easy”, they said. It was love at first sight.
Brimming with excitement you signed the sales contract.
Then the problems began. You were palmed off to an under-resourced, un-caring accounts team, who seem oblivious to your specific challenges. The sales person is no longer in the picture.
How did it get to this? After championing this company to fix all of your problems, their promises have fallen flat, and so has the service.
When it comes to Digital Agencies, sadly this problem is an all-to-common occurrence.
Several issues can contribute, including complacency by senior and middle management to keep abreast of technical developments in the industry. Inefficiencies can occur at an operational level when staff aren’t trained in new platforms, or simply none are hired to adequately fulfil service deliverables. This can happen when senior team members are incentivised to sell more services without fully understanding the client’s needs, or gaps in the agency’s own service model.
So how do we know whether a Digital Agency is performing as it should? After all, you may have been with the same agency for the last 2 years and its been a long time, or never, since you have known any different.
Here is a list of clues that may confirm your hunches.
Common Digital Agency Short-Comings
1. It Takes Too Long to Get a Response About… Anything
Perhaps the most often complained issue for digital agency clients is the speed of turn-around for small but critical queries. An excuse that a service team is “busy” is never a response that you should take lying down. You, as the paying client, are entitled to a 24 hour turnaround on most queries. Even if it’s simply to say – “let me check that and I’ll come right back to you.”
2. You Never Get to Speak With an Expert
Have you ever had the impression you are being delegated a junior Account Manager who has very little topic knowledge, but who the agency has appointed to be your designated expert? If it feels like the agency has provided you an untrained, new or inexperienced team member to save on costs – it’s because they’ve done exactly that.
Sure he or she may be a nice person, but if this is causing bottlenecks in turnaround on critical information, the agency isn’t fulfilling their side of the bargain. You have hired them to be the experts, now it’s their turn to honour the deal and ensure you have the answers you need in good time.
3. Good Results Never Actually Eventuate – Or Progress Stalls
This is perhaps the most difficult question to answer when judging what went wrong on a given campaign, whether its seasonal or ‘always on.’ Was the strategy out of step with what could reasonably be expected at this time? Did the content fit the audience? Perhaps the targeting was too broad, or the message wasn’t tested before it was pushed to the masses.
All of these can add to a campaign falling short of delivering results. But the very fact that you are asking these questions is a good starting point. After all, if you don’t do a post-campaign analysis to see what can be improved next time around – things will never get better. If an agency can’t tell you with confidence how a campaign could be improved – whether its before, during or after the execution phase, this is a sign that they are not prepared to invest the resources required to see it through to success.
What To Do If This Applies To You
Step one – Talk to the highest available account liaison at the agency. There are many examples where discontented customers have expressed concerns to their agency, who have responded in kind to fix the issue. So rather than airing issues just to those within your team, you are far more likely to achieve a positive outcome if you are straight with your agency as soon as the issue recurs – no matter how early on in the relationship.
Step two – Look at your contract. Is there Service Level Agreement that enshrines the outputs from the agency to you? If so, you can call them out on this. Their service is as fundamental to you as your monthly payment is to them. So use this and communicate the shortcomings to a senior stakeholder within their team. Additionally, if you know what your severance options are, it makes it easier to negotiate for early contract release should they fail to respond adequately.
Step three – Choose an Agency that lets you liaise with their most experienced practitioners, regularly. This single point will help alleviate all three issues outlined above. Your delegated point of contact (or at least one of) should be a highly trusted advisor in all-things related to your service needs. You should feel able to go to this person for technical issues, which make up so many requests in today’s Digital Marketing interactions.
Come Speak With Us!
If you are looking for a new Digital Marketing agency, Goji Web can help across all channels. With only highly qualified digital consultants, quick turnaround and excellent returns for our customers, Goji Web is one such agency that is proud to be worth it’s salt. So come and say hello to us today.