12 Tips for How to Hire a Digital Marketing Agency – Firebrand

Be sure you’re ready to hire a marketing or PR firm.

In looking at hiring a marketing firm, there are some core questions that first need to be addressed. You think it’s time but are you truly in a position to manage a PR and marketing agency successfully? Are you prepared to tell people about your offering?  Are your customers happy with what you’ve built?  Do you have the time to make marketing and public relations a priority? Do you have a sales team ready to close leads?  Do you have leaders or subject matter experts that can eventually become media spokespeople? If you aren’t ready to answer yes to any of these questions, it might not be time for an outside PR or marketing agency yet. But if you are, buckle up.

Of course, it’s important to know what you want to accomplish before you set out. While your company may not yet have chosen the perfect words to describe what you do and how you do it, and while you may even still be testing market fit in multiple niches, there should already be a strong consensus among your team about your startup’s core identity and heading – and its need for a PR or marketing agency. 

Companies emerging from stealth or entering new markets may see their first priority as refining positioning, messaging, and crafting a compelling narrative that will scale with the company.  For many fast-growth companies, visibility and lead generation is paramount. For most startups, attracting additional venture capital investment or recruiting top talent also represent top objectives. Regardless, goals should be agreed upon in advance of a search to hire a marketing agency.

In choosing a marketing agency, you should also make sure you’re committed to a long-term investment in your firm. While agencies should be willing to work in project orientations, secure and allocate appropriate budgets for a continuous program. It takes time to create results and sustained effort to remain successful. Even a search for a marketing agency costs a startup time-to-market – all the more reason to find the right partner the first time through.