4 Ways Clients Can Better Help Their Agencies

You have picked the agency you think will take your PPC accounts to a new level. You are ready for the next steps and the excitement is real. How do you make sure you get the most out of the relationship you are starting? By following these 4 tips, you can be confident you are doing everything in your power to be a good client which will go a long way towards success.

1) Have Clear Goals

When starting with an agency, it’s important to know what you want to get out of the situation. Whether the goal is to reduce CPA or more specifically have a CPA less than $10.00, it’s important to know what you want. I am not saying you have to have specific KPI goals coming in (although great if you do) but goals whether created or brought in need to be clear and concise. Your agency will need to know what the most important KPI is to you as well as what the margin of attainment to the goal is acceptable. The goal can be revisited, but the expectation should be clear at all times.

2) Be Responsive

Know that during this relationship there will be expectations that go both ways. Not only will you expect work to be done, reports to be discussed and strategies to be presented, the agency will expect things from you. You may need to:

Approve ad copy
Provide creative for Display ads
Give approval of strategy

Being responsive to these requests is vital to making things move along in the process, as well as eliminating frustration on the part of your account manager. I have seen tasks be delayed for weeks because of an unresponsive client. Even if you need time to consult with someone else on your team, a quick response stating this will go a long way. The less time spent wondering why a response hasn’t come or when it will come is a good thing.

Project management tools like Basecamp help to keep the communication moving forward.

Image of Basecamp — Communication via Basecamp

3) Provide Feedback

Hanapin may be unique in that we request feedback from our clients on a monthly basis. We have a formal process, but also we will reach out informally from time to time. Usually, this is when we feel there is something going on but can’t quite put our finger on it. We know we need to be proactive to figure out what is going on. 99% of the time we get honest feedback that helps us uncover the issue and put together a plan to move forward. We are not mind readers. All of our clients are unique and without open, honest communication and feedback teamwork can suffer. Providing feedback when asked or when the feeling moves you is important for a healthy client-agency relationship.

4) See Your Agency As A Partner

Speaking of working as a team, you should see your agency as YOUR team! They are there as an extension of your internal marketing department and should be treated as such. An adversarial relationship does nothing for the work that will be produced but it will make for an unpleasant situation for all involved. The agency isn’t there to undermine you or intentionally provide poor results. Keep in mind that poor results for you mean poor results for an agency. We all know if a client isn’t happy with any aspect of the relationship whether it is communication, responsiveness or performance, they may not stick around long. Knowing we are all in it together can go a long way to help make a successful client-agency relationship.

In Conclusion

Choosing and starting with an agency is an exciting time. Making the most of that relationship can go a long way in moving your business forward. Following the 4 steps outlined above will put you on the right path to being a good client and will help your endeavor be a successful one.