Are you looking to take your marketing strategy to the next level, but need help?
Choosing a marketing agency in Tulsa for your business comes with a lot of responsibility and risk if you get it wrong. As your business grows, your strategy should, too.
Knowing how to find the best fit for your needs can feel like turning a hula hoop 90 degrees with your feet. Luckily, if you feel like you need some help, you’ve found yourself in the right place.
Keep reading for the best tips to help you find the right marketing agency for your business.
1. Know Your Goals and Budget
Before you can find the right marketing agency in Tulsa for your business, you must first understand your business and what you want to achieve going into this partnership.
What type of campaigns are you looking to create? Who are you trying to target? What is currently working for your business, and what isn’t?
Before setting up any meetings, make sure to have a clear understanding of things like:
- Your projected revenue
- Your target audience
- The average value of each customer
- The channels that bring you the most leads
- How much money you are willing to spend on your marketing efforts
Meeting with any of your marketing agency options without knowing your most basic business goals and objectives can lead to miscommunication and could delay finding the right fit for you.
Also, having a clear idea of the amount of money you are willing to spend to achieve those goals will make it much easier to find an agency that meets all your needs.
Drafting SMART Goals
A great way to let agencies know exactly what you are trying to achieve with their services is to come prepared with a list of goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). The right marketing agency will work with you to help you achieve your goals; all you have to do is tell them exactly what you want!
Let’s take a look at an example:
One of your main goals is to improve your business’s online presence. You could go into the meeting and tell a marketing agency, “I want to gain followers on Instagram,” or “I want to gain 10,000 quality followers on my Instagram account by October.”
The former leaves way too much room for interpretation, while the latter gives the potential marketing company in Tulsa something to strive for. With a goal like the latter, the agency’s team will be able to craft a clear and realistic proposal for you and therefore help you achieve your objectives.
2. Do Your Research and Ask for Referrals
Once you have a defined idea of your goals, objectives, and budget, you should take some time and do some research to find what types of marketing agencies are available in your area. A simple online search using strategic keywords like “marketing Tulsa,” “advertising agency in Tulsa,” etc., can give you a lot of insight into the marketing companies available.
After finding a couple of options, look at their websites and see if their services could work for your business. A marketing agency’s website can tell you a lot about how they operate their business; if their website is slow, aesthetically unpleasing, and does not show much information, you might want to move on and look for better options.
If an online search is not working out, talk to people you know and ask if they can refer you to any good marketing companies in the area. If someone you trust has already worked with a certain marketing company and has good things to say about it, it might be worth your time to schedule a consultation.
3. Ask What They Can Do For You
With so much competition, choosing a marketing agency will ultimately come down to what they can do for you that other agencies can’t. Figure out what type of agency you need, and see how the agencies in your area compare. Some agencies you might see in Tulsa include full-service agencies, digital agencies, and social media agencies.
Full-Service Agencies
Full-service agencies like Sooner Marketing Solutions will provide all the services you could need to bring your marketing efforts to the next level. From SEO and PPC services to social media management and video marketing, these agencies will offer many different solutions to tackle any of your marketing goals.
Full-service agencies are the one-stop shop for marketing solutions. They are a great place to start if you are unsure what type of agency might work for you because they will provide you with a solution for any marketing problem.
Digital Agencies
Digital agencies, on the other hand, focus mostly on digital advertising. Although their services can also include SEO, social media management, and PPC, they will not be able to help you out if you are also looking for services that are not solely web-based.
Social Media Agencies
As the name suggests, social media agencies focus on creating strategies and solutions for all of your social media needs. Although these can be great if you need social media-focused marketing, they can be very limiting if you want other services and might even lead you to have to hire multiple marketing teams.
4. Look Up Reviews and Testimonials
After picking a few options from your research, take some time to look for reviews and testimonials from their past clients. Even if you were referred to a certain agency, it is always good to see what other current and past clients think about the agency’s work.
If you can’t find any reviews and testimonials online, reach out to the agency and ask if they have any they can show you. If none are available online and the agency does not let you see what they have, you might want to move on and find an agency that is willing to provide more transparency.
Also, if there are a few reviews and testimonials online (on pages that are not the agency’s website), but many are negative, try to dig deeper. If you can, reach out to the owners of those reviews and ask why they rated the agency low.
5. Consider Industry Expertise
Working with a marketing agency that understands your niche can be very beneficial. If an agency is already familiar with the industry jargon and best practices, it might save you and them a lot of time trying to develop a strategy that works.
If a Tulsa marketing agency caught your eye, it might be worth sending them an email and asking if they have experience and expertise in your industry. If not, ask them if they have any suggestions for your business.
Although specific industry expertise can be a great asset to a company, lacking it should not be a big deal if the team is willing to learn and research everything necessary to bring your marketing efforts to the next level.
Furthermore, if the agency does have extensive expertise within your niche, make sure to talk to them and ask if they have worked with any of your competitors. Although the right agency should be able to create unique work for each of their clients, it is still worth asking to avoid any conflict of interest.
6. Study the Agency’s Portfolio
Another great way to get an idea of how an agency works is by looking at their work for some of their clients. Many reputable marketing agencies will have their portfolios available on their website. If they don’t, send them an email and ask to see some of their work.
Like testimonials, if an agency is not willing to send you their portfolio, it can be a huge red flag. The right agency will be proud of the work they have created for clients, so they should be happy to let you take a look.
Some of the things you should pay close attention to when studying an agency’s portfolio are:
- Creativity
- Relevance
- Ability to connect with the target audience
- Style
- Professionalism
- Range
- Aesthetics
- Copywriting
- Consistency
- Quality
Look at a few examples of campaigns created by the agency. See how they compare and see if the agency consistently delivers top-notch work. If the agency works a lot with your niche, pay close attention to those campaigns.
7. Evaluate Communication Skills
Like any partnership, harmoniously communicating with your marketing team is essential to success. When you first start reaching out to potential agencies to hire, pay close attention to how they handle their communication.
Do they reply to your emails and calls promptly? Are they always polite and pleasant? Are they able to communicate ideas and suggestions successfully?
Find out which lines of communication the agency generally uses, and evaluate if they are a good match for your business.
Furthermore, take a few minutes and go through their social media accounts. Look at how they reply to comments on their posts, tweets, etc. Many people often overlook this, but it might give you a lot of insight into how the agency could handle communication with your clients after launching a campaign (especially if one of the services you seek is social media management).
8. Get to Know Their Process
Many different people work together to ensure your campaigns run smoothly in an agency. To ensure that an agency is truly the right fit for you, set up a meeting and ask to meet some of the people on the team. Getting to know this team can help you better understand how the agency works as a whole.
Ask everyone questions about how they work and how they will approach your account if you become a client. Make sure to ask everything necessary to leave the meeting with a clear idea of how the agency will approach your campaigns and help you reach your goals.
Remember, agencies want you to become their client! They should be more than happy to let you in on their process, so you have peace of mind knowing that your marketing efforts are in the right hands.
9. Ensure They Have a Clear Understanding of Your Brand
After a few meetings, an agency should have a pretty clear idea of your business’s brand and marketing goals. If the agency looks promising, ask them to give you a few suggestions of how they would approach your pain points. If possible, ask to see some mockups.
The right agency will be able to translate your goals and objectives into a campaign beautifully while simultaneously keeping your brand identity alive.
If you feel like the agency still does not have a clear understanding of what you are trying to achieve, it might be worth it to keep your options open and continue looking for an agency that listens and makes suggestions that will benefit your business.
Even though an agency has several clients, they should still be willing to give you the attention and service you deserve. After all, you are trusting them with a huge part of your business.
Working With the Right Marketing Agency in Tulsa
Now that you know some of the things you should consider when finding a marketing agency in Tulsa, choosing the right fit for your needs will be easy. Remember to look up reviews, analyze potential agencies’ websites and portfolios, and always ensure that your chosen agency has a clear understanding of your goals and needs.
If you’re tired of interviewing agencies that don’t get your marketing vision, you’ve come to the right place. Sooner Marketing Solutions can help bring your business to the next level. Request a consultation today and let’s get started!
