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 Bonjour Millionaire, Was sharing my agency list on Sunday too much? Didn’t think so. 🧛♀️🧛♀️🧛♀️🧛♀️🧛♀️🧛♀️ The right agency partners are out there. If you work it right... Was this email forwarded to you? Sponsored by Vibe.co I'd like to please flag this guide to lifecycle marketing. ON THIS EPISODE OF GO-TO-MILLIONS Are your agency partners working for or against you?Back in my agency days, I went on a trip to Cape Cod. It was IDYLLIC. Blue skies. Lighthouses. Breezy enough to wear a summer knit without looking melodramatic. I was eating clam chowder, IN A BREAD BOWL. Life was as it should be. I checked Slack. Where a client was ATTACKING me, because someone on my team responded to a project update I sent with a 🩷 emoji. Apparently, the client found this response sent in appreciation to be “completely unprofessional” and “off-putting.”  Now that I’m on the brand side, I have a little more empathy for this emoji-hating former client of mine. A tiny bit. Just kidding, she's a freak. Clearly, this wasn’t a great fit. Raw technical skills aren’t the only things that matter when picking a partner. Compatible working styles and culture are just as critical. It goes BOTH ways. At an agency, the jobs you turn down are just as important as the jobs you take. On the brand-side, an objectively great agency can be a terrible match. Especially if you’re weird about emojis.  READ THIS BEFORE YOU MAKE ANY DECISIONS ABOUT AGENCY PARTNERS🧛♀️ Know thy team. Before you can select an agency partner, you need to know what kind of client you are. 🧛♀️: What are you trying to achieve? Be specific. An agency can’t be successful, if you don’t have a clear assignment. 🧛♀️: How will you measure success? Don’t just say $$$. Give metrics and a timeframe. The agency should set you straight, if you’re being unrealistic, but come with something. Don't forget to put in a performance sweetener. Those make people try. You want your agency to try. The reward for them shouldn't just be not getting fired that month. MAKE THEM JUMP. 🧛♀️: Who’s going to work with the agency? Get them involved in the selection process. More on that in a bit. 🧛♀️: What do they need/expect from the agency? Don’t assume. ASK. 🧛♀️: How much time/budget can you put into this partnership? This is collaboration, NOT outsourcing. You need bandwidth to manage and get the most out of additional expertise and support. Be real, honest, 🧛♀️ You don’t need an agency for everything. Agencies should bring something to the table that your brand can’t (or doesn’t want to) do on its own. We are chasing efficiency, not removing responsibility. Your agency is an extension of you. If your brand’s persnickety about creative and your in-house team will struggle to approve anything from an outsider, you DON’T need a creative agency. Maybe you need a freelancer that has taste that you wish you could hire full time but they are too expensive. Those are my favorites. Or, maybe you might need an agency for podcasting or something else that your team doesn't know how to do perfectly and you don't have the headcount for. 🧛♀️ Shop around. Never think 1 agency is the end-all, be-all. Ask your contacts. Consult my agency list. Look at other brands agencies have worked with. Shop around until you find an agency that can deliver the results you need in the WAY that aligns with your team’s priorities and culture. Some agencies are slow as turtles and build a deck every time. That might be what your brand needs for ideas to fully metabolize. Other agencies move fast, which works well when your team’s small, agile, and needs to get shit done yesterday. 🩷 Fit encourages results. Everyone thinks results are the most important thing… Until someone on the team gets yelled at over emoji use. I love results, but I prefer to get them without dealing with jerks. Life’s too short. We're too talented to deal. Before you sign with an agency, pay close attention to how they communicate with your team. Do emails, meetings, in-person interactions, etc. feel respectful, productive, and organized? Listen to what people are saying and NOT SAYING. Does this potential agency partner match your pace and tone, or do you feel out of sync? Everyone’s on good behavior during the courtship phase, so if you’re already feeling that’s something’s off, trust your gut and move on. There are other agencies in the sea. 🧛♀️ Don’t do this alone. Same advice I gave on tech stacks: don’t decide on an agency alone, even if you have the power to do so. Take the time to sell new partners internally. Invite the person with the most authority into the process from the beginning. Talk to the account manager and other team members who will work with a potential agency. Listen to their concerns and be open to their knowledge. Nobody wants to be told how to do their job by someone who doesn’t know what their job entails. 🧛♀️ No new agencies after October 15th. BCFM’s almost here. SKIMS, Vuori, and Glossier Walk Into a Workshop... Ok, not literally. BUT they all trust Elevar before BFCM because they know great creative is only as good as the data behind it. So I asked Andrew Clay (Thrive Causemetics) and Chintan Mehta (Elevar/Audiense) to show us how they pressure-test their data before making the biggest ad decisions of the year. No pressure! Can't wait! GO-TO-MEME Next time you're considering a new agency, ask me. Forever an email away. I may like them. Or, you know, I may not...  Buyer beware, | ||||||||
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