Key ingredients to a successful partnership

Like making Grandmother’s crowd-pleasing cake recipe, many ingredients need to be gathered and mixed together in just the right way before the culinary masterpiece can be considered complete. The relationship between an agency and a business can be treated in a similar way. Sifting through the ins-and-outs of the digital space today can be extremely difficult for those individuals who were not surrounded by technology as they were growing up. Some Baby Boomer and Gen X individuals often struggle to adapt to an ever-changing industry. The fastest way to receive news is no longer through the nightly newspaper delivered to one’s home. Rather, websites that are constantly being updated with relevant information, along with social media channels that can give a user updates in seconds, are becoming the norm. With constantly changing technology, updating a website can be taxing and time-consuming for a business. And, further to our culinary metaphor, it’s definitely not in a box bought straight off the shelf.

An agency can help a company grow from simply existing on the Internet to contributing valuable content that is being read and shared. There are many ideas that an agency can, and should, bring to the table in order to better their client’s presence on the web. Here are five key ingredients that each customer should expect to receive when engaging in a partnership.

1.  Strategic Thinking

Strategic thinking is essential before any design can begin. In order to create the most effective website or campaign for your target market, a strategy must be put into place to properly align goals with deliverables. This is the period of time in which the client has a large voice in saying where the issues lie within the company and the ways in which an agency can help to alleviate those issues.  For example, a company may have a major issue internally with managing the number of customer calls coming in daily. By voicing this concern and need for a solution, an agency can and should be able to brainstorm ideas in which this issue could be fixed. Adding a social media presence and a contact form on the website could give customers a different way to reach the company and still get their questions answered in a timely fashion.

2.  Positive Attitudes

A pinch of positivity will go a long way when dealing with tough situations and tight deadlines. With a trusting and honest relationship, the client can expect that said agency will get things completed. Cultivating an encouraging environment helps keep everyone focused on solving collaboratively. How you manage through unforeseen roadblocks can define your success, and the outcome.

Need we say more?

3.  Timeliness of Work

A project plan is the first step in determining and setting deadlines for a project. With a plan in place, an agency can begin creating its masterpiece.  Timelines can slip if both client and agency do not meet deadlines. Therefore, it is essential that this piece of the recipe be precisely executed.

4.  Responsiveness

In today’s world, all digital aspects of a brand should be adaptive to any form factor thrown its way. A website that is not compatible on a Samsung Galaxy, iPhone, Mac Mini, iPad and Dell monitor (just to name a few) will not only give a poor user experience, but will also deter Google from giving the website a high ranking on its search engine. The latter should be a terrifying thought, given the influence of Google recently.

We, as a digital marketing agency, understand the time and effort needed to make a brand thrive in the industry today. A company that has the ability to trust an agency with a huge endeavor such as updating, or even beginning, a brand’s presence will be able to see great improvements in that space.

5.  Reporting Analytics

Once the cake is served – or in this case – the website is launched and the campaign has begun, it is time to see how people react. Analytics are a big part of this, which can be calculated or gathered in many ways. In the digital space, many people use Google Analytics. There are ways to gather analytics while using traditional media as well.

A smart partner will take these analytics and determine how they can improve what is currently being advertised online or offline. With a new campaign, an agency can take the analytics gathered from previous campaigns and use them to make the new ads more successful and engaging.

At Imaginuity, we strive to help the client grow, but also to create a partnership that will last over the course of a campaign, launch and beyond. With a pinch of trust and a whole lot of planning, a strong, lasting partnership can form.

About the author:

Imaginuity

For over 20 years, Imaginuity has been combining imaginative thinking and innovative technology to create transformative results for our clients, their customers, and our people. Our services and platforms manage complexity to improve marketing outcomes.