Helping Brands Find their Perfect Agency through Custom Marketing Agency Search

How do Marketers find Agencies?

Client-side marketers work to deliver the best results for their brand and company. While most marketing teams have a diverse set of skills and experiences, there are typically gaps where the team does not have the capacity to execute all of the critical marketing initiatives or the capability to accomplish a specific marketing discipline. This is where marketing agencies can provide support - serving as extra “arms and legs” to act as an extension to the internal marketing team.

The question is: how do you find the right marketing agency? 

Most marketers take the referral route when searching for an agency partner by asking current and former colleagues which agencies they worked with in the past. The problem with this approach is that, generally, people’s networks are limited and agencies change rapidly, leaving out a range of opportunities to consider. 

How can we be sure all of the potential agency partners that might be a good fit are being considered? If you turn to Google, thousands of agencies will pop up, each claiming to be the best at everything. How can we trust them? 

In-Network Search

This is where a partner like Setup comes in. Our process begins by working with the client to write a brief outlining details about the company, team, technologies, timeline, and marketing challenges. From there, Setup typically floats the brief to our pre-vetted network of potential agency partners to see if any of them are a perfect fit to solve the outlined challenges. We then introduce a handful of qualified agencies to the client directly to see which has the best chemistry and approach. This service costs the client nothing, since the agencies pay a monthly fee to be introduced to potential clients.

Custom Agency Search

If none of the Setup network of agencies is a perfect fit to solve the marketing challenges outlined in the brief - or the client wants to consider a MUCH wider pool of agencies - then we conduct a Custom Agency Search to find the perfect agency from a huge pool of agencies that are narrowed to a short list of Finalists who pitch for the client’s business.

The Custom Agency Search begins with the same brief that outlined the client’s marketing challenges. From there, Setup conducts the process to narrow the pool of potential agency partners from hundreds to a handful of final pitches, and ultimately help the client select the best agency partner for their needs. 

That’s the high-level description, but there are of course a lot more details involved. Keep reading to learn more about how Setup finds you the perfect marketing agency!

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Here is the process that Setup uses to find the perfect agency through our Custom Agency Search service:

• Discovery

  • Our Discovery phase focuses on understanding the client’s business, key metrics about how a successful agency relationship will drive results, and understanding the needs of the various client-side stakeholders who will be leveraging the agency services. 

  • The main output of this phase is an Ideal Agency Profile that all client-side stakeholders align on and approve. 

  • At this stage, Setup is ready to find a bunch of agencies who look like that Ideal Agency Profile!

• Long-List Identification

  • Setup now begins to find and vet potential agencies for capability, relevant experience, and any other key factors identified during the Discovery phase. 

  • We aim to narrow a list from the universe of potential partners (100s+) to a Long List (up to 25) of agencies that are all capable of handling the client’s business. 

  • During this phase, Setup makes initial contact with the agency candidates to ensure they meet the criteria to receive the RFI (Request for Information).

• Short-List Narrowing (RFI)

  • Setup works with the client to compose a set of RFI questions designed to differentiate the agencies from each other, with the goal of narrowing the Long List down to the top 8-10 potential agency partners. 

  • Setup handles all communication with the agencies to keep the process fair and unbiased, while also protecting the client’s valuable time. 

  • Once the agencies respond to the RFI questions, Setup creates a Scorecard and compiles a report to easily compare responses side-by-side, all to help the client evaluate responses. Setup will score all of the agencies and help the clients complete a similar exercise. 

  • Setup now notifies the agencies who are not invited to move forward and provides feedback to each of them. Additionally, Setup invites the 8-10 Short List agencies to move to the next round.

• Selection of Finalists (RFP)

  • At this stage, Setup creates the RFP (Request for Proposal) documentation, collaborating with the client to craft a relevant assignment so the agencies can demonstrate their thinking and approach in addition to sharing more details and examples about previous relevant work. 

  • We distribute the RFP to the Finalist agencies with clear guidelines for responding within a specific timeline. 

  • Upon gathering the Short List agencies’ RFP responses, Setup creates another Scorecard and compiles another report to easily compare responses side-by-side, all to help the client evaluate responses. We will again help the client with their evaluation, reminding them along the way about all the key points identified during Discovery about their ideal agency partner. 

  • Setup now notifies those agencies who are not invited to move forward and offers feedback to each of them. We also notify the 3-4 Finalist agencies to move to the final round.

• Agency Visits | Chemistry Checks

  • A key step in our Setup process is to facilitate agency visits for the client to meet the potential partners in person, see their offices and get a general idea of what it would be like to work together. 

  • Setup arranges all scheduling and sets clear expectations for the agency visits to allow for this critical 1:1 time between the client and each of the Finalist agencies. 

  • Setup creates another Scorecard to evaluate the visit and gauge the chemistry with each agency.

• Selection of the Final Agency

  • Setup coordinates final agency pitch meetings (in-person or virtual video) for each Finalist agency to present their RFP response and proposal. 

  • We work with the client’s selection committee to develop a final customized Scorecard to evaluate the final pitches. Setup provides our unbiased recommendation based on our experience and the entire process. 

  • Now the client picks the winning agency after meeting with the Finalists! 

  • Setup notifies the agencies who did not win the business and offers detailed feedback - a hugely valuable step for those agencies. 

  • And finally, the client and their newly chosen agency get started working together, with the full support of their colleagues and stakeholders after engaging in this extremely thorough process. 

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Custom Agency Search is a growing part of Setup’s business, and we take pride in our ability to find and include the best, relevant agencies in a search for any client. We stay on the pulse of what’s happening in the agency space and on the marketing teams of client-side marketers. Throughout this process, we bring rigor and deep experience, and we aim to have everyone walk away from the process with a positive impression of each other. 

Does Custom Agency Search sound right for you? Reach out to us here.