A marketing company with experience in brand management will put your company on the map and help your brand stay relevant. Although internal processes are critical to your company, a strong brand image sends a powerful message to potential employees, potential clients, and your rivals. There is no doubt that developing your brand will benefit you whether you are a brand new start-up or a business with a history.
The thing is, there are so many marketing companies out there, all promising you the world. So how do you separate the good from the bad? How do you choose the right marketing company for your business?
Let’s take a look.
Have knowledge and understanding of your brand
This one sounds a little odd. After all, you started, and you run your business – of course, you have in-depth knowledge and understanding of your brand, right?
Well, not always.
You see, the thing is that business and branding, while obviously closely linked, are also completely separate. Your business is what you do, what you sell, what you provide. Your brand is how other people perceive your business.
To find the right marketing company, you need to know how other people perceive your business or how you want people to perceive your business. A good marketing agency can help you to develop that understanding and knowledge of that brand and tease elements out that you may not have initially considered, but you need to have some to start with. But, as great as it would be if they were, a marketing company is not a mind reader.
Consider what you are hoping to get out of your relationship and what you need
Before finding the right marketing company for your needs, you must first determine what those needs are. This may be more difficult than it seems. When it comes to business objectives, everyone would agree that profit is the most significant. However, marketing objectives can differ depending on the type of company you operate.
If, for example, you are a brand new start-up company, your main objective is likely to be raising awareness of your brand and want a marketing company to help you with this. This is a different relationship and needs an established brand that wants to use marketing to increase sales or have an overhaul of their website or marketing campaign.
You also need to determine what you want your marketing company to do. Do you want them to redesign your brand and logo completely, or do you want them to manage your social media platforms and digital marketing campaigns? You need to ensure that the marketing company you go for is experienced and successful in that field, such as Fusion Marketing.
Do you want a local, national or global marketing company?
This is one of the first questions you can ask yourself while hunting for your ideal marketing company. Â If you feel like informal chats over coffee will be a better way to build a close and trustworthy relationship with your marketing company, a local one may be the best choice.Â
However, if that is not something that bothers you too much and you are happy to communicate by video conference, email or phone, a national company gives you much more scope and choice. Fusion Marketing is based in Michigan but is happy to take on clients from anywhere.Â
Check out their own branding and marketing
We are jumping ahead a couple of steps here now and assuming you have done all of the above and have searched online for the sort of marketing company you want, and have now landed on their company website.Â
There is no better way to see how a marketing company handles marketing and branding than by looking at their own website. After all, if theirs is unprofessional, uninviting, and just doesn’t work, it is probably not a very good marketing company! Therefore, treat their website as their portfolio.
Some of the things to take note of include:
- A website that is relatively high in the ranking for your search terms
- A website that is easy to navigate
- A website that loads quickly
- A clear logo
- Shows you exactly what it is they provide and how they offer value
- Not stuffed full of irrelevant content
- Decent graphics
- Clear information structure
If any of those are missing, move on. They won’t be a good marketing company.
You also need to ensure that they offer the service that you need. Remember above we said you need to know what you want out of the relationship. Well, this is where you need to make sure they can give you what you want. If you are hoping for a company specializing in search engine optimization and content creation, a company that only mentions website design is probably not the one for you. Here at Fusion Marketing, we offer a range of marketing solutions and specialties.Â
Check them out
This is where you need to get your detective head-on and do your research and digging. A company can have an all-singing, all-dancing website that promises the world, but what their past customers say about them can be completely different. So first, find them on social media – any self-respecting, decent marketing company will have an active presence on all of the main platforms, so if they don’t, that should be a huge red flag. Then, have a look at what other people say about them in social media reviews and search for company hashtags. You can also ask people in your industry in networking groups if they have recommendations or have heard of particular agencies and firms.
Finding a marketing company to handle your requirements and get your brand on the map should be a process you spend plenty of time on. Of course, we recommend getting in touch with us at Fusion Marketing to see how we can help you with your marketing strategy.
