Sooner or later the day will come when you just won’t have time to take care of all your marketing needs because you’ll be so busy globetrotting and taking care of your customers. So, who do you turn to when you have to get that big promotion rolling? We’ve already talked about how a graphic designer can help you out. There is also another alternative which works well for business people who don’t feel they have a flair for marketing.

An advertising agency can provide you with everything you need in order for your large (or small) promotions to be highly successful. Ad agencies are considered full service providers. In other words, an agency will handle everything from coming up with marketing and promotional strategies to putting together the tools and setting the plan in motion. What I’ve found in the past is that smaller businesses shy away from agencies for many different reasons – the number one being cost, the second being fear the agency will think their business is too small to work with. Yes, some agencies will be expensive to work with, and yes, some agencies will work only with large corporations. However, the majority of agencies are worth every penny and will work with businesses of all sizes. One more word on cost…when you sit down and calculate how much time you will spend researching, writing, laying out, printing, and taking care of all the details of your promotion, you will find that you may actually save money by working with an agency.

First things first – you need to find an agency that you are comfortable with. Ask around. Talk to big companies and small businesses. Talk to local printers to find out who they work with most frequently, and who they would recommend. Then, set up an initial meeting with the agency – a “get to know you” meeting.

The agency will assign a project manager to your business. This will be your main contact and the person you will give direction to. Again, it’s very important for you to feel comfortable with this person or your agency experience can become more expensive than it needs to be due to lack of understanding or communication.

When working with your project manager it’s very important to be honest about your budget. Along with your budget for your promotion, you need to give your project manager a good idea of what the end goal of the promotion is to be. You can use whatever you want for a benchmark be it sales, awareness, or leads generated.

Your project manager will ask you questions about your corporate philosophy and image, your current promotional tools, a copy of your marketing strategy and business plan (if you already have them prepared), and your corporate vision. Usually around two weeks after your meeting, the project manager will return with a “pitch”, an idea that the agency has come up with. At this time, you will also be presented with an initial budget for the project.

Working with an agency can be a very rewarding, positive learning experience.