How Can We Help?

Outside marketing agencies work across a wide array of industries. They are able to bring practices and experiences gleaned from other companies to you, their client. Their one focus? The success of your project.

So when do you know it’s time bring one in to support you in marketing your event? We checked in with planners and top marketing agencies around the country to find out the dos and don’ts of calling in the troops. Here’s what we found.

Why Hire?

When you don’t have the internal resources or expertise to dedicate to a project while also doing your “normal job,” it’s time to get outside help, says Jon Achenbaum, global chief marketing officer for Bayer HealthCare, Diabetes Care.

Achenbaum recently brought New York-based Barkley Kalpak Associates Inc. (BKA) in for the company’s annual leadership conference.

“They helped plan and design the meeting agenda and were responsible for coordinating the meeting logistics. They also planned, designed and implemented all of the meals, parties and social group fun activities, and identified and contracted the required resources to support all of the social activities of the meeting,” he says. “Having BKA as partners to develop and run our annual leadership conference makes our internal team’s job easier, more fulfilling, and yields great results.”

Hiring an outside marketing agency also brings a fresh perspective, creativity and expertise in producing a brand experience, adds Angela Stassi, BKA’s marketing manager.

For example, when a client approached the event design and production company looking for an innovative and fresh approach to launch its new marketing materials to its national sales team, BKA knew exactly what to do.

“In a huge departure from the typical talking head or PowerPoint slide approach, we made marketing materials a whole lot sexier and created an interactive fashion show experience,” says Stassi. “The stylish show featured New York City runway models, but then we turned the experience on its head by making the marketing materials — carried and worn as fashion accessories — the focus of the show.”

Mark Baltazar, CEO and head of creative and communications strategy for marketing and communications agency Broadstreet in New York, adds that outside marketing agencies are another extension of your team sitting at the table with you.

“You have additional people that can help strategize how you are going to communicate and what needs to be communicated,” he says. “You are getting a much more blended and integrated program when you do that.”

The sooner you bring in an outside marketing agency the better, says T.J. Martin, executive vice president of sales for Cramer, a Norwood, Mass.-based digital marketing and event solutions firm.

“When you are first starting to conceive it, you have the opportunity to qualify what a particular agency brings to the table,” he says. “The more time that they have to work with you and to strategize your program, the more they are going to really make a true impact.”

Of course, you don’t need to bring in an outside marketing agency on every event. “If it’s an internal audience and the content is really not meant to be an overly produced program, you don’t necessarily need to bring in an outside marketing agency to deal with those more tactical programs,” says Martin.

On the other hand, says Baltazar, “If you’re not bringing your partners in and doing all that you can for your event or program, then you have to ask yourself, How important is it?”

Get What you Give

For those interested in hiring outside marketing agencies, communication and collaboration are a few things you should expect out of your new partner.

“Expect them to ask the right questions about your brand, your objectives and your goals,” says Stassi. “Once that’s sorted out, they should have a clear process in place (complete with deliverables and deadlines), they should be fiscally responsible with your budget — and of course wildly creative.”

Also expect as much as you are willing to give. “The more information our clients give to us, the more they are up front, and the more they are willing to take the time, the more they are going to get out of it,” says Baltazar. “You get back what you put in. If you want everything out of your marketing agency, then you have to give them everything so they can do the job.”

Finally, don’t expect your new partners to be mind-readers. “View this as a partnership and meet them halfway in providing them with the proper groundwork,” says Stassi. “Keep the guess work out of it — that will yield the best results.”

Working with Marketing Agencies: Five Tips

Don’t take their word for it. When it comes to finding the right outside marketing agency to fit your needs, look for referrals and check industry publications and websites, recommends BKA’s Angela Stassi.

But can you stand them? Meet with the people who are going to be doing your project, says Mark Baltazar of Broadstreet: “Everybody can create good programs, events and marketing material. You are going to be spending three days, three months and three years with that team. You not only want to like them, you want to trust them, respect them, and lean on them and know they are going to respond.”

Know thyself (and thy objectives). Be clear in your objectives within your organization and then communicate them to the agency. “Identify your key decision makers to the agency and be clear about budget parameters,” says Stassi. “You’ll find that when those areas are defined ahead of time, it leaves more room for creativity and for the agency.”

Search early and often. Take the time to find the companies you like — before you need them. If you have to find them when you’re starting the project, it’s too late.

It’s all about casting. “I was a theater director for a long time and the most important job was casting the show. If you put great actors in the roles, your job as a director was 90 percent done,” says Baltazar. “Apply that to hiring outside marketing agencies. It’s about casting the right agency for what you are going to do. And that takes effort, but you get massive returns on that effort.”