What Clients Want from Their Advertising Agency

Working for an advertising agency sounds like it would be a lot of fun – right. And It is. But it has its challenges too. Oftentimes, clients don’t know what they want or need, or don’t have a broad understanding of marketing and advertising principles. What they believe to be true about marketing isn’t always accurate, nor will it get them where they want to go. Our job is to communicate effectively with our clients so we can guide them to success without ignoring their beliefs.

That’s why it is not surprising that in a recent Forbes survey asking clients what they value most from their advertising agency – communication came out on top. Communication is something agencies should be really good at. At its core, marketing and advertising is communication. However, all too often, the relationship gets bogged down with deadlines and task-oriented details instead of having meaningful conversation. Communication is also the way you set and manage expectations.  Without it, an agency has little hope for the prospects of a long-term relationship with the client.

The first step with any new Momentum client is to get inside their head… understand their organization, understand their customers, and understand their culture. Going through this process helps develop the communication process and puts us in a position to develop the strategies and tactics that will be effective at generating revenue for them.

Interesting enough, in that same Forbes study, over 23% of agency clients said that media strategy was what they valued most. Compare that with ad agency responses, where only 10% felt that media strategy was important. It is critical as an agency that you understand what your clients are looking for in a relationship – not what you believe they are looking for.

Next on the list was creativity. This makes sense as clients expect their agency to come up the big idea that will cut through the congestion of ads that exist everywhere you turn. Also, on the list was the desire for their agency to help gain more consumer insights… to fine tune the focus on who their customers really are and what they want.

Completing the survey – clients want their agency to get more results with less budget. If you work at an agency, there is nothing surprising here. Everyone wants to get more for less. At Momentum, we like to say, ‘we’ll outsmart the competition, not outspend them.’ The last major item on the survey was to demonstrate quantifiable results. Momentum prides itself at providing metrics for any tactic we employ for our clients. Most important, our reports are easy to understand, provide the type of information our clients want and need, and are available regularly.

Bottom line – the first step in giving clients what they want, is to understand what they value in their relationship with you (not what you think they value).