Choosing an Ad Agency

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A company with an annual budget of more than $500,000 allotted to advertising should consider employing an agency to facilitate its advertising needs.

Adweek and Advertising Age are two magazines that thoroughly cover the advertising industry. These sources, combined with some helpful hints may help narrow the range of what you should be looking for and clarify how to evaluate what you've seen.

Ten Questions to Ask Yourself Before Hiring an Ad Agency:

• Are we more interested in creativity or in short term market share results?
• Does our agency need a media-buying capability or will we handle that separately?
• Do we want to pay our agency a flat fee or a percentage of our budget?
• Are we looking for a particular campaign or for a company?
• How important is it to have regular access to the head of the agency we choose?
• Which medium do we need our agency to handle?
• Do we need our agency to handle existing projects only or new product launches as well?
• Does it matter if our agency is conveniently located?
• Do we want a company with a particular philosophy or one that is willing to work with the philosophy of its clients?
• Whom do we want to be in charge?

Evaluate Each Agency by Asking the Following:

• Does it understand our company's objectives?
• Does it address our company's objectives?
• Does it have the necessary credentials and experience?
• Does it have a knowledge of our business?
• Does it have an interest in our business?
• Does it have a knowledge of our competitive situation?
• Does it present sound marketing strategies?
• Does it present clear, creative solutions?
• Does it have good internal resources?
• Does it have a strong account management team?
• Can we work together?

Source: Small Business Reports

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