Are you feeling frustrated with your ad agency? Do you feel like you’re not getting the results you want from your advertising efforts, despite investing time and money into your campaigns? If you’re experiencing any of the following signs, it might be time to consider finding a new advertising agency to partner with.
- Are you getting weekly marketing reports from your ad agency?
- Are you having weekly on camera meetings with your ad agency?
- Is your ad agency providing you with a high level strategy?
- Are you not seeing any growth in your revenue, even though your ad agency says your ads are going well?
- Is your ad agency investing in and using expert marketing software and tools?
1. Are you getting weekly marketing reports from your ad agency?
Regular communication and reporting is an important aspect of working with an ad agency. You should expect to receive weekly, or at least biweekly, reports on the performance of your ads.
These marketing reports should include key metrics such as clicks, cost-per-click, conversions, cost-per-conversion, overall performance compared to the previous reporting period, and any additional insights or recommendations for improvement.
If you’re not getting regular reports from your ad agency, it could be a sign that they are not adequately monitoring or managing your campaigns.
To ensure that you are receiving the level of communication and reporting you need from your marketing partner, it’s important to set clear expectations with your ad agency at the outset of your working relationship.
You should discuss how often you can expect to receive reports, what types of information you want to see included, and any specific metrics or KPIs that are important to your business.
Keep in mind that it is a very common practice for ad agencies to skew data and hide information from reports to make the results look more favorable. If the reports are very short, have been edited, and only contain information on “winning” campaigns, it can be a sign you are not getting all the information.
If your ad agency is not meeting your expectations in this regard, it may be time to consider finding a new partner.
2. Are you having weekly on camera meetings with your ad agency?
Regular check-ins with your ad agency are important for staying up-to-date on the progress of your campaigns and addressing any questions or concerns you might have. These meetings should be held over video conferencing so that you can see and speak with your ad agency team face-to-face.
If you’re not having regular meetings with your ad agency, or if your meetings are infrequent or rushed, it could be a sign that they are not fully invested in your success.
Lack of communication and regular meetings with your outsourced marketing team can also lead to a more distant relationship.
In order to make the most of your meetings with your ad agency, it’s important to come prepared with a list of questions or topics you want to discuss. You should also be sure to allocate enough time for a meaningful conversation, and to follow up on any action items or next steps that are agreed upon.
At Karizma Marketing, we use Asana to take all our client meeting notes. We then add subtasks within the project management tool and assign responsible parties and due dates to each task. This helps everyone on our marketing team, as well as our clients’ teams, stay accountable to what has been agreed upon. Writing down what was discussed in your meeting is a great way to ensure follow-through and forward progress.
If you’re not feeling like you’re getting the support or attention you need from your ad agency, it may be time to consider finding a new partner.
3. Is your ad agency providing you with a high level strategy?
A good advertising agency should be more than just a vendor – they should be a strategic partner that helps you achieve your business goals.
This means they should be providing you with high level strategy and expert data-backed insights to help you make informed decisions about your advertising efforts.
This could include market research, competitive analysis, data analysis, website optimization tips, and recommendations on targeting, messaging, and how to increase your overall revenue.
If you feel like your ad agency is just executing tactics without any larger strategic vision, it may be time to look for a new partner.
Or if you feel you are giving them all the promotion ideas, creatives, and copy for ads, this could mean they aren’t qualified to give you high level marketing advice to grow your business.
To ensure that you are receiving the strategic guidance you need from your ad agency, it’s important to discuss your business objectives and priorities with them at the outset of your relationship.
You should ask them to provide you with a clear plan or roadmap for achieving your goals, and to share any relevant data or insights that can inform your decision-making. Let them know you thrive on them providing you data-backed ideas to help grow your online sales.
If your ad agency is not providing you with the strategic guidance you need, it may be time to consider finding a new partner. Or if you feel you are constantly taking the lead during your meetings with them and they are always in the passenger seat simply implementing your ideas, you may get better advertising results with a more strategic marketing partner.
4. Are you not seeing any growth in your revenue, even though your ad agency says your ads are going well?
Ultimately, the success of your advertising efforts should be measured by the impact on your bottom line.
It’s important to have open and honest conversations with your ad agency about why this might be the case, and to consider whether there might be a better approach to achieving your business objectives.
If you still feel like they are not directly addressing your concerns and that the numbers are just not adding up, it definitely would be a good idea to have a 3rd party ad agency step in and do a marketing audit to evaluate the quality of the work done and provide you with an honest opinion of how your ads are performing.
If your ad agency is telling you that your campaigns are performing well, but you’re not seeing any growth in your revenue, it could be a sign that something is not quite right.
There could be a variety of reasons why your ad campaigns are not translating into increased revenue, such as a misalignment with your target audience, ineffective messaging, or a lack of focus on conversion optimization. It could also be that your marketing firm is making technical errors or not running enough ads, ad groups, or similar, which is very common in the advertising industry. To address these issues, it’s important to work closely with your ad agency to identify any areas for improvement, and to consider testing different marketing strategies and offers. Keep in mind the areas that need improvement can often be outside of the ad agency’s control or scope. If your website is not converting, you are out of inventory, you don’t launch products often enough, or you have a very low customer return rate or average order value, it could be a problem with the business itself and not the ad agency. You should also be sure to track and analyze your results carefully, and to regularly review and adjust your approach as needed. Make sure to follow up with your ad agency on the work that has been done and what the results of their efforts have been. This will help keep them accountable to making the necessary adjustments in your account so that it can perform better. If you feel like your ad agency is not taking a proactive or analytical approach to improving your results, it may be time to consider finding a new partner. Or if you have expressed concerns multiple times with your marketing agency and they still have not made changes you agreed to, it definitely would be a sign that you should start interviewing other ad agencies.
5. Is your ad agency investing in and using expert marketing software and tools?
In today’s digital world, it’s important for ad agencies to stay up-to-date with the latest marketing software and tools. This could include tools for tracking and analyzing performance, creating and optimizing ads, spying on competitors, or automating certain tasks.
If your ad agency is not investing in professional marketing software and tools, it could be a sign that they are not fully equipped to deliver the best possible results for your business.
Remember, what you pay your ad agency isn’t always a reflection of the quality of work or results you will get, but if an ad agency is charging a price that seems too good to be true, it likely is. This is because marketing software, tools, and experts are not cheap. If you want the best team and best chance for success with your ads, you need to choose a marketing agency that invests in digital marketing experts who use the latest technology and software to get you the best results possible.
To ensure that you are receiving the benefits of expert marketing software and tools, it’s important to ask your ad agency about their technology stack and how they are using these tools to support your campaigns. Write down the names of the software they are using and research them online to see if they are considered professional tools. If they don’t name any software, or only use free marketing software, it would be a huge red flag.
You should also consider whether there are any specific tools or platforms that you would like them to use, and to discuss any additional resources that may be necessary to support your objectives. At our agency, our largest expense outside of labor is software.
It could be a good idea to research the most popular marketing tools ad agencies use before asking your agency which ones they use daily for their clients. That way you go into the conversation with an idea of what tools they should be using.
If you feel like your ad agency is not staying up-to-date with the latest technology or is not using the most effective marketing tools and software for your business, it may be time to consider finding a new partner. It is hard to compete in the online space with other businesses that are taking advantage of the most up-to-date marketing tools.
Conclusion
In summary, if you’re experiencing any of the above red flags, it might be time to consider finding a new advertising agency to partner with.
An experienced marketing team can help you achieve your business goals and grow your revenue while also saving you wasted ad dollars.
Remember, it’s not just about the return on ad spend that you make while working with an ad agency. There are so many other benefits you can measure, such as brand reach, awareness, strategies, increased revenue from their ideas and guidance, time saved, marketing dollars saved, increased traffic, work done for you so you can spend your time in other areas of your business, and so much more.
Don’t be afraid to shop around and find an agency that truly aligns with your needs, objectives, and overall vision for your business. As you interview ad agencies, be weary of any agency that quotes you and agrees to work with you without first analyzing your data. Also steer clear of any ad agencies that promise specific results or returns, charge a percentage of sales, doesn’t provide reporting, and doesn’t meet face-to-face regularly with their clients.
To find a good ad agency, you should conduct thorough research, ask for references and case studies, and assess their capabilities and fit with your business. You can also ask other business owners in a similar industry at a similar revenue tier if they have a good agency they would recommend. Oftentimes marketing tools have partner programs that highlight their top performing agency partners. That too could be a good place to start your research. An example of this would be the Klaviyo Partner Program or the Shopify Partner program for example.
You should also be clear about your expectations and goals, and be willing to invest the time and resources necessary to achieve success. So much of an ad agency’s success depends on the overall health of the business and the business’s willingness to implement suggested strategies quickly. If you don’t have time to work with your ad agency and give them what they need, make sure you have someone on your team who can.
The right ad agency can be a valuable asset to your business, worth 10 times more than you are paying them.
If you are experiencing problems with your current ad agency, you should be proactive in addressing any issues and seeking solutions, and be open to considering alternative approaches or partners. We provide complimentary discovery calls with marketing audits if you are finding yourself in this situation and would like another agency to provide you with honest feedback on the performance of your marketing efforts.
By following these steps, you can improve your relationship with your current agency or find the right ad agency for your business and achieve the results you are looking for.
