Let’s face it, if you’re instructing a design company or marketing agency you’re looking for one thing – to boost sales! Whether you’re an existing business struggling with a change in the market, or a business start-up, you need a solution to take your business to the next level.
Here’s the problem, too many agencies out there provide either marketing or design. Successful campaigns are the result of a collaboration between design and marketing. Without marketing design is meaningless, it will fail to communicate the right messages and win over the audience. Similarly, marketing without good design will lack impact and the ability to engage with the target market.
Strategy wins every time.
We get many clients coming to us having suffered from a poor return on investment. We spend time getting to know their business and market. Only when we tease out all of these things do we start to look for a solution. It may take an hour, it may take five hours but this step is crucial to any marketing campaign.
If you’re looking to appoint a design or marketing agency they should be asking you lots of questions. They should be enthusiastic about your product and service – simply put, they need to ‘get it’.
Experienced design and marketing agencies will have done some research into your market ahead of a meeting. They will know exactly what questions to ask and should demonstrate a basic understanding of your market and current challenges. When asked about your business you should find they’re able to listen and also contribute to uncover everything they need to know in order to offer a solution.
The following is a list of questions to help you gauge how switched on your agency is:
1. Who is your market? This should be followed by a series of questions on their age, gender, interests, income and so on.
2. Who is your ideal customer? Again, you should be prompted by further questions such as why they would be better for your business and whether you have experience in this market.
3. What challenges does your business face? Remember, experienced agencies will listen but also ask industry specific questions to extract further information. A good follow up to this question for an online retailer would be – ‘and how will you compete against ebay sellers with lower profit margins’.
4. What is your main objective for your business this year? This is an important question to help prioritise marketing activities.
5. What do you believe needs to change in order to achieve your objectives? You know your business better than anyone, your understanding coupled with their marketing knowledge will create change.
6. Do you have a budget? Be careful, this question certainly needs a follow up! Experienced designers and marketing companies will determine your budget from the work required to make your business a success. For example, they may ask how much a sale is worth? How many sales you need to turn a profit? This should be the basis of calculating any marketing campaign. Simply asking your budget should set alarm bells ringing.
7. Why should people choose to do business with you? Great question and this needs some real consideration. How do you win over competitors? Is it price, quality, experience, qualifications, guarantees, flexibility, choice? Look carefully at your competitors and be critical to identify exactly what your usp’s are.
If you’re not asked the right questions from your marketing or design agency then your campaign will fail. Good designers work in collaboration with marketing people to create strategic design work that communicates directly with their target market. It’s designed with purpose to achieve a very specific outcome.
If you think your marketing collateral isn’t working then take a good hard look at your business and how you are communicating. Google your competitors and see what they’re offering, question your product, service and why people should use you. When you’ve done this speak to a few agencies to find one that asks the right questions, and understands the importance of bringing together design and marketing to boost business.
If you’re looking for a design and marketing agency in Newcastle upon Tyne why not pop into our offices. We offer FREE consultancy. We also work with many clients throughout the North East and UK, call us now on 0191 226 7321.