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5 Ways to Get the Most Out of
Your Agency
And how to avoid getting burned
Paxton Gray
CEO | 97th Floor
/PaxtonGray
@PaxtonMGray
Brands we work with
seo
Keyword Research
Link Building
Technical SEO
Reputation
Management
advertising
Social
Search
Programmatic
Retargeting
creative
Copywriting
Graphic Design
Interactives
Content Marketing
cro
Multivariate Testing
Heat Mapping
Landing Page Design
Analytics
How can I be sure I’m
hiring the right agency?
How can I be sure I’m
hiring the right agency?
Will this agency take
work off my plate or
add more?
How can I be sure I’m
hiring the right agency?
Will this agency take
work off my plate or
add more?
How can I know the
agency will do what
they say they will?
What has been your experience working with marketing agencies?
Poll
I haven’t worked with agencies
I’ve had pretty bad experiences in the past
Good not great, I’m open to suggestions
Excellent, I love working with agencies
I work at an agency!
Return on Agency Spend =
Return on Agency Spend =
Agency
Value
Return on Agency Spend =
Agency
Value
Agency
Cost
-
Return on Agency Spend =
+ Results
+ Innovation
+ Capability
Agency
Value
Agency
Cost
-
Return on Agency Spend =
+ Results
+ Innovation
+ Capability
- Agency Fee
- Time
- Integration
Complexity
Agency
Value
Agency
Cost
-
Return on Agency Spend =
+ Results
+ Innovation
+ Capability
- Agency Fee
- Time
- Integration
Complexity
Agency
Value
Agency
Cost
-
Return on Agency Spend =
+ Results
+ Innovation
+ Capability
- Agency Fee
- Time
- Integration
Complexity
Agency
Value
Agency
Cost
-
Tip #1
Goal and SOW
Alignment
Be very clear about
what you want.
Deliverable, goal-based, or
hourly contracts?
Deliverable-Based Goal-Based Hourly-Based
You wish to be solely accountable for the strategy
and results
Agency should have more skin in the game Most flexible, option to scale up and scale down
quickly
Great when bandwidth is the primary issue Great when looking for strategy Least level of accountability on the agency
Generally lower cost, less chance of success. Typically requires higher budgets, higher chance
of success
Danger of going over budget, make sure the
agency has a quick feedback mechanism on hour
usage
Your procurement team requires all vendor
agreements must be based in deliverables or
hourly figures
You have the personnel and expertise to act on
the optimizations given by your agency
Your business doesn’t have enough historical data
to create a reasonable goal
You have a reliable source of historical data you
can trust to form accurate goals
SOW Formats
The pros and cons of goal setting contracts
vs. deliverable based contracts.
Aligning Goals With Work to
Guarantee Success
/PaxtonGray
What happens if KPIs are not
met?
What happens if KPIs are not
met?
- Performance Based SOW:
What happens if KPIs are not
met?
- Performance Based SOW:
- % refund or bonus based on
% of goal complete
What happens if KPIs are not
met?
- Performance Based SOW:
- % refund or bonus based on
% of goal complete
- Caps on both ends
What happens if KPIs are not
met?
- Performance Based SOW:
- % refund or bonus based on
% of goal complete
- Caps on both ends
- Ideally focused on 1 main KPI
What happens if KPIs are not
met?
- Performance Based SOW:
- % refund or bonus based on
% of goal complete
- Caps on both ends
- Ideally focused on 1 main KPI
- KPI should be as closely tied to
revenue as possible.
Tip #2
Know Exactly What
You Need
Before you hire, know
what you want.
5 Secrets to Getting the Most Out of Agencies (& How to Avoid Getting Burned)
Questions For Yourself to Prepare Your Search:
- What is my company goal?
- What is my marketing goal?
- What are my channel goals?
- Where will an agency to fit into my channel/marketing/company goals?
Questions For Yourself to Prepare Your Search:
- What is my company goal?
- What is my marketing goal?
- What are my channel goals?
- Where will an agency to fit into my channel/marketing/company goals?
KPIs
- How will you measure the relationship?
- What #s will you look at to know if things are going well?
- What are the current baselines for those KPIs?
Questions For Yourself to Prepare Your Search:
- What is my company goal?
- What is my marketing goal?
- What are my channel goals?
- Where will an agency to fit into my channel/marketing/company goals?
KPIs
- How will you measure the relationship?
- What #s will you look at to know if things are going well?
- What are the current baselines for those KPIs?
Relationship
- How do you want to communicate?
- How do you expect reporting will work?
- Are you looking for foot soldiers, strategists, or something in between?
Know What To Ask
Questions For Your Agency:
- How long have you been in business?
Questions For Your Agency:
- How long have you been in business?
- How many people will be working on my account?
- Who will be working on my account?
Questions For Your Agency:
- How long have you been in business?
- How many people will be working on my account?
- Who will be working on my account?
- What makes your agency different?
Questions For Your Agency:
- How long have you been in business?
- How many people will be working on my account?
- Who will be working on my account?
- What makes your agency different?
- How will you help us achieve our goals?
- Why do you recommend that strategy?
Questions For Your Agency:
- How long have you been in business?
- How many people will be working on my account?
- Who will be working on my account?
- What makes your agency different?
- How will you help us achieve our goals?
- Why do you recommend that strategy?
- How will the work be executed?
Questions For Your Agency:
- How long have you been in business?
- How many people will be working on my account?
- Who will be working on my account?
- What makes your agency different?
- How will you help us achieve our goals?
- Why do you recommend that strategy?
- How will the work be executed?
Ask For References
Questions For Your Agency:
- How long have you been in business?
- How many people will be working on my account?
- Who will be working on my account?
- What makes your agency different?
- How will you help us achieve our goals?
- Why do you recommend that strategy?
- How will the work be executed?
Ask For References
What To Look For:
- Happy employees and solid culture
Questions For Your Agency:
- How long have you been in business?
- How many people will be working on my account?
- Who will be working on my account?
- What makes your agency different?
- How will you help us achieve our goals?
- Why do you recommend that strategy?
- How will the work be executed?
Ask For References
What To Look For:
- Happy employees and solid culture
- Much larger fulfillment team than sales team
Questions For Your Agency:
- How long have you been in business?
- How many people will be working on my account?
- Who will be working on my account?
- What makes your agency different?
- How will you help us achieve our goals?
- Why do you recommend that strategy?
- How will the work be executed?
Ask For References
What To Look For:
- Happy employees and solid culture
- Much larger fulfillment team than sales team
- Honesty and competency
/PaxtonGray
Tip #3
Make Them
Believers
Believers
go the extra mile.
5 Secrets to Getting the Most Out of Agencies (& How to Avoid Getting Burned)
How to make them believers
- Give the team space to learn about your company, where you’ve been, what
you’re doing as an organization, and where you’re planning on going.
How to make them believers
- Give the team space to learn about your company, where you’ve been, what
you’re doing as an organization, and where you’re planning on going.
- Introduce them to people they may not be working with directly. The more
people they know, the more they’ll feel like the know your company and the
more they’ll understand how their work impacts others.
How to make them believers
- Give the team space to learn about your company, where you’ve been, what
you’re doing as an organization, and where you’re planning on going.
- Introduce them to people they may not be working with directly. The more
people they know, the more they’ll feel like the know your company and the
more they’ll understand how their work impacts others.
- Show them behind the scenes. Show them how the company operates and how
it’s organized. This context will help with future ideas they may bring to the table.
How to make them believers
- Give the team space to learn about your company, where you’ve been, what
you’re doing as an organization, and where you’re planning on going.
- Introduce them to people they may not be working with directly. The more
people they know, the more they’ll feel like the know your company and the
more they’ll understand how their work impacts others.
- Show them behind the scenes. Show them how the company operates and how
it’s organized. This context will help with future ideas they may bring to the table.
- Where applicable, get your marketing team trying your product or experiencing
your service.
5 Secrets to Getting the Most Out of Agencies (& How to Avoid Getting Burned)
5 Secrets to Getting the Most Out of Agencies (& How to Avoid Getting Burned)
5 Secrets to Getting the Most Out of Agencies (& How to Avoid Getting Burned)
When getting external help, do you prefer to hire multi-disciplined agencies,
single-disciplined agencies, or consultants.
Poll
Multi-disciplined agencies
Single-disciplined agencies
Consultants
Either, I just want results
I prefer to hire employees vs external help
Tip #4
Trust Is The Ultimate
Discount
When you have mutual
trust:
- results improve
When you have mutual
trust:
- results improve
- ego goes out the door
When you have mutual
trust:
- results improve
- ego goes out the door
- agency costs go down
When you have mutual
trust:
- results improve
- ego goes out the door
- agency costs go down
- mental investment goes up
When you have mutual
trust:
- results improve
- ego goes out the door
- agency costs go down
- mental investment goes up
- stress goes down
5 Secrets to Getting the Most Out of Agencies (& How to Avoid Getting Burned)
When you have mutual
trust:
How do you build
mutual trust?
- results improve
- ego goes out the door
- quarterly reviews become
celebrations
- agency costs go down
- mental investment goes up
- stress goes down
When you have mutual
trust:
- regular calls should be organic
discussions rather than formal
meetings
How do you build
mutual trust?
- results improve
- ego goes out the door
- quarterly reviews become
celebrations
- agency costs go down
- mental investment goes up
- stress goes down
When you have mutual
trust:
- regular calls should be organic
discussions rather than formal
meetings
- speak up when something is out
of place
How do you build
mutual trust?
- results improve
- ego goes out the door
- quarterly reviews become
celebrations
- agency costs go down
- mental investment goes up
- stress goes down
When you have mutual
trust:
- regular calls should be organic
discussions rather than formal
meetings
- speak up when something is out
of place
- allow your agency the space to
provide input
How do you build
mutual trust?
- results improve
- ego goes out the door
- quarterly reviews become
celebrations
- agency costs go down
- mental investment goes up
- stress goes down
When you have mutual
trust:
- regular calls should be organic
discussions rather than formal
meetings
- speak up when something is out
of place
- allow your agency the space to
provide input
- spend some time in person
How do you build
mutual trust?
- results improve
- ego goes out the door
- quarterly reviews become
celebrations
- agency costs go down
- mental investment goes up
- stress goes down
5 Secrets to Getting the Most Out of Agencies (& How to Avoid Getting Burned)
Tip #5
Expect & Foster
Innovation
A good agency should be
bringing new ideas.
How To Foster
Agency Innovation
How To Foster Agency
Innovation:
- Find an agency that is known to
do boundary-pushing work
How To Foster Agency
Innovation:
- Find an agency that is known to
do boundary-pushing work
- Make the agency aware of your
marketing stack
How To Foster Agency
Innovation:
- Find an agency that is known to
do boundary-pushing work
- Make the agency aware of your
marketing stack
- Make the agency aware of larger
goals, beyond the work they’re
doing
How To Foster Agency
Innovation:
- Find an agency that is known to
do boundary-pushing work
- Make the agency aware of your
marketing stack
- Make the agency aware of larger
goals, beyond the work they’re
doing
- If they’re not bring new ideas at
least quarterly, ask for them
How To Foster Agency
Innovation:
- Find an agency that is known to
do boundary-pushing work
- Make the agency aware of your
marketing stack
- Make the agency aware of larger
goals, beyond the work they’re
doing
- If they’re not bring new ideas at
least quarterly, ask for them
- Continue to build rapport and
your agency will be thinking
about you regularly, which is
where the ideas are born
5 Secrets to Getting the Most Out of Agencies (& How to Avoid Getting Burned)
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
Objectives
✅ ✅ ✅ Increase Organic Traffic
✅ ✅ ✅ Increase MQLs
✅ ✅ ✅ Build eFileCabinet’s Brand
97thfloor.com/proposal
/PaxtonGray
5 Secrets to Getting the Most Out of Agencies (& How to Avoid Getting Burned)

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5 Secrets to Getting the Most Out of Agencies (& How to Avoid Getting Burned)

  • 1. 5 Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Agency And how to avoid getting burned
  • 2. Paxton Gray CEO | 97th Floor /PaxtonGray @PaxtonMGray
  • 4. seo Keyword Research Link Building Technical SEO Reputation Management advertising Social Search Programmatic Retargeting creative Copywriting Graphic Design Interactives Content Marketing cro Multivariate Testing Heat Mapping Landing Page Design Analytics
  • 5. How can I be sure I’m hiring the right agency?
  • 6. How can I be sure I’m hiring the right agency? Will this agency take work off my plate or add more?
  • 7. How can I be sure I’m hiring the right agency? Will this agency take work off my plate or add more? How can I know the agency will do what they say they will?
  • 8. What has been your experience working with marketing agencies? Poll I haven’t worked with agencies I’ve had pretty bad experiences in the past Good not great, I’m open to suggestions Excellent, I love working with agencies I work at an agency!
  • 10. Return on Agency Spend = Agency Value
  • 11. Return on Agency Spend = Agency Value Agency Cost -
  • 12. Return on Agency Spend = + Results + Innovation + Capability Agency Value Agency Cost -
  • 13. Return on Agency Spend = + Results + Innovation + Capability - Agency Fee - Time - Integration Complexity Agency Value Agency Cost -
  • 14. Return on Agency Spend = + Results + Innovation + Capability - Agency Fee - Time - Integration Complexity Agency Value Agency Cost -
  • 15. Return on Agency Spend = + Results + Innovation + Capability - Agency Fee - Time - Integration Complexity Agency Value Agency Cost -
  • 16. Tip #1 Goal and SOW Alignment
  • 17. Be very clear about what you want.
  • 19. Deliverable-Based Goal-Based Hourly-Based You wish to be solely accountable for the strategy and results Agency should have more skin in the game Most flexible, option to scale up and scale down quickly Great when bandwidth is the primary issue Great when looking for strategy Least level of accountability on the agency Generally lower cost, less chance of success. Typically requires higher budgets, higher chance of success Danger of going over budget, make sure the agency has a quick feedback mechanism on hour usage Your procurement team requires all vendor agreements must be based in deliverables or hourly figures You have the personnel and expertise to act on the optimizations given by your agency Your business doesn’t have enough historical data to create a reasonable goal You have a reliable source of historical data you can trust to form accurate goals SOW Formats
  • 20. The pros and cons of goal setting contracts vs. deliverable based contracts. Aligning Goals With Work to Guarantee Success /PaxtonGray
  • 21. What happens if KPIs are not met?
  • 22. What happens if KPIs are not met? - Performance Based SOW:
  • 23. What happens if KPIs are not met? - Performance Based SOW: - % refund or bonus based on % of goal complete
  • 24. What happens if KPIs are not met? - Performance Based SOW: - % refund or bonus based on % of goal complete - Caps on both ends
  • 25. What happens if KPIs are not met? - Performance Based SOW: - % refund or bonus based on % of goal complete - Caps on both ends - Ideally focused on 1 main KPI
  • 26. What happens if KPIs are not met? - Performance Based SOW: - % refund or bonus based on % of goal complete - Caps on both ends - Ideally focused on 1 main KPI - KPI should be as closely tied to revenue as possible.
  • 27. Tip #2 Know Exactly What You Need
  • 28. Before you hire, know what you want.
  • 30. Questions For Yourself to Prepare Your Search: - What is my company goal? - What is my marketing goal? - What are my channel goals? - Where will an agency to fit into my channel/marketing/company goals?
  • 31. Questions For Yourself to Prepare Your Search: - What is my company goal? - What is my marketing goal? - What are my channel goals? - Where will an agency to fit into my channel/marketing/company goals? KPIs - How will you measure the relationship? - What #s will you look at to know if things are going well? - What are the current baselines for those KPIs?
  • 32. Questions For Yourself to Prepare Your Search: - What is my company goal? - What is my marketing goal? - What are my channel goals? - Where will an agency to fit into my channel/marketing/company goals? KPIs - How will you measure the relationship? - What #s will you look at to know if things are going well? - What are the current baselines for those KPIs? Relationship - How do you want to communicate? - How do you expect reporting will work? - Are you looking for foot soldiers, strategists, or something in between?
  • 34. Questions For Your Agency: - How long have you been in business?
  • 35. Questions For Your Agency: - How long have you been in business? - How many people will be working on my account? - Who will be working on my account?
  • 36. Questions For Your Agency: - How long have you been in business? - How many people will be working on my account? - Who will be working on my account? - What makes your agency different?
  • 37. Questions For Your Agency: - How long have you been in business? - How many people will be working on my account? - Who will be working on my account? - What makes your agency different? - How will you help us achieve our goals? - Why do you recommend that strategy?
  • 38. Questions For Your Agency: - How long have you been in business? - How many people will be working on my account? - Who will be working on my account? - What makes your agency different? - How will you help us achieve our goals? - Why do you recommend that strategy? - How will the work be executed?
  • 39. Questions For Your Agency: - How long have you been in business? - How many people will be working on my account? - Who will be working on my account? - What makes your agency different? - How will you help us achieve our goals? - Why do you recommend that strategy? - How will the work be executed? Ask For References
  • 40. Questions For Your Agency: - How long have you been in business? - How many people will be working on my account? - Who will be working on my account? - What makes your agency different? - How will you help us achieve our goals? - Why do you recommend that strategy? - How will the work be executed? Ask For References What To Look For: - Happy employees and solid culture
  • 41. Questions For Your Agency: - How long have you been in business? - How many people will be working on my account? - Who will be working on my account? - What makes your agency different? - How will you help us achieve our goals? - Why do you recommend that strategy? - How will the work be executed? Ask For References What To Look For: - Happy employees and solid culture - Much larger fulfillment team than sales team
  • 42. Questions For Your Agency: - How long have you been in business? - How many people will be working on my account? - Who will be working on my account? - What makes your agency different? - How will you help us achieve our goals? - Why do you recommend that strategy? - How will the work be executed? Ask For References What To Look For: - Happy employees and solid culture - Much larger fulfillment team than sales team - Honesty and competency
  • 47. How to make them believers - Give the team space to learn about your company, where you’ve been, what you’re doing as an organization, and where you’re planning on going.
  • 48. How to make them believers - Give the team space to learn about your company, where you’ve been, what you’re doing as an organization, and where you’re planning on going. - Introduce them to people they may not be working with directly. The more people they know, the more they’ll feel like the know your company and the more they’ll understand how their work impacts others.
  • 49. How to make them believers - Give the team space to learn about your company, where you’ve been, what you’re doing as an organization, and where you’re planning on going. - Introduce them to people they may not be working with directly. The more people they know, the more they’ll feel like the know your company and the more they’ll understand how their work impacts others. - Show them behind the scenes. Show them how the company operates and how it’s organized. This context will help with future ideas they may bring to the table.
  • 50. How to make them believers - Give the team space to learn about your company, where you’ve been, what you’re doing as an organization, and where you’re planning on going. - Introduce them to people they may not be working with directly. The more people they know, the more they’ll feel like the know your company and the more they’ll understand how their work impacts others. - Show them behind the scenes. Show them how the company operates and how it’s organized. This context will help with future ideas they may bring to the table. - Where applicable, get your marketing team trying your product or experiencing your service.
  • 54. When getting external help, do you prefer to hire multi-disciplined agencies, single-disciplined agencies, or consultants. Poll Multi-disciplined agencies Single-disciplined agencies Consultants Either, I just want results I prefer to hire employees vs external help
  • 55. Tip #4 Trust Is The Ultimate Discount
  • 56. When you have mutual trust: - results improve
  • 57. When you have mutual trust: - results improve - ego goes out the door
  • 58. When you have mutual trust: - results improve - ego goes out the door - agency costs go down
  • 59. When you have mutual trust: - results improve - ego goes out the door - agency costs go down - mental investment goes up
  • 60. When you have mutual trust: - results improve - ego goes out the door - agency costs go down - mental investment goes up - stress goes down
  • 62. When you have mutual trust: How do you build mutual trust? - results improve - ego goes out the door - quarterly reviews become celebrations - agency costs go down - mental investment goes up - stress goes down
  • 63. When you have mutual trust: - regular calls should be organic discussions rather than formal meetings How do you build mutual trust? - results improve - ego goes out the door - quarterly reviews become celebrations - agency costs go down - mental investment goes up - stress goes down
  • 64. When you have mutual trust: - regular calls should be organic discussions rather than formal meetings - speak up when something is out of place How do you build mutual trust? - results improve - ego goes out the door - quarterly reviews become celebrations - agency costs go down - mental investment goes up - stress goes down
  • 65. When you have mutual trust: - regular calls should be organic discussions rather than formal meetings - speak up when something is out of place - allow your agency the space to provide input How do you build mutual trust? - results improve - ego goes out the door - quarterly reviews become celebrations - agency costs go down - mental investment goes up - stress goes down
  • 66. When you have mutual trust: - regular calls should be organic discussions rather than formal meetings - speak up when something is out of place - allow your agency the space to provide input - spend some time in person How do you build mutual trust? - results improve - ego goes out the door - quarterly reviews become celebrations - agency costs go down - mental investment goes up - stress goes down
  • 68. Tip #5 Expect & Foster Innovation
  • 69. A good agency should be bringing new ideas.
  • 70. How To Foster Agency Innovation
  • 71. How To Foster Agency Innovation: - Find an agency that is known to do boundary-pushing work
  • 72. How To Foster Agency Innovation: - Find an agency that is known to do boundary-pushing work - Make the agency aware of your marketing stack
  • 73. How To Foster Agency Innovation: - Find an agency that is known to do boundary-pushing work - Make the agency aware of your marketing stack - Make the agency aware of larger goals, beyond the work they’re doing
  • 74. How To Foster Agency Innovation: - Find an agency that is known to do boundary-pushing work - Make the agency aware of your marketing stack - Make the agency aware of larger goals, beyond the work they’re doing - If they’re not bring new ideas at least quarterly, ask for them
  • 75. How To Foster Agency Innovation: - Find an agency that is known to do boundary-pushing work - Make the agency aware of your marketing stack - Make the agency aware of larger goals, beyond the work they’re doing - If they’re not bring new ideas at least quarterly, ask for them - Continue to build rapport and your agency will be thinking about you regularly, which is where the ideas are born
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  • 86. Objectives ✅ ✅ ✅ Increase Organic Traffic ✅ ✅ ✅ Increase MQLs ✅ ✅ ✅ Build eFileCabinet’s Brand