Think about hiring a new advertising agency to boost your sales but don’t know where to start?
Don’t worry, you’re not alone.
The good news is that you made it here to educate yourself and avoid the common pitfalls.
Too many business owners go into the process of hiring a marketing agency without the right knowledge to make a good choice.
Not only do they not know marketing, but they also may not even know what they really want out of a Facebook ad agency.
What ends up happening is a costly trial and error process, where they use expensive mistakes as a learning experience.
Often, they won’t actually get the right agency for the job until the third or fourth try, wasting valuable time and money in the process.
With years of experience working running a Facebook ad agency, I am going to help you find the right marketing services with a few simple rules to follow.
Table of Contents
Find an Agency with the RIGHT Experience
There are loads of Facebook marketing companies out there, but not all of them are going to be the right fit for you.
Agencies specialize in a particular marketing niche and you need to find the one that is best at the type of marketing you want.
Even if you are sure you want to run Facebook ads, that isn’t niche enough.
Facebook ads for eCommerce, lead generation or online course sales with a webinar funnel will all be different in terms of messaging and strategy.
You want someone with proven expertise in the EXACT type of business you have.
While there are honest agencies that will turn you away if they don’t think you are a good fit, there are way more who will take you on regardless of their experience in your niche.
Ask for concrete examples of past success in the form of case studies.
These should show you how they have succeeded with the type of campaigns you actually need.
Educate yourself enough to ask good questions and dig deeper into their knowledge before you commit.
The last thing you want is an agency that is hoping to learn as they go while using up your marketing budget!
Don’t Get Stuck With a Newbie
I hear this horror story all too often.
A business owner contacts an agency and speaks to a real pro.
They have all the right knowledge and experience to get the job done right.
Then, once the cash clears the bank account, a newbie or even cheap freelancers get put on the account. Not good.
The question that the business owner has failed to explicitly ask is who they will be working with on a day to day basis.
This bait and switch of a pro to an agency newbie is common.
After the top marketers at the agency have sold you on their skills, they hand you over so they can focus on bigger clients or making more sales.
Everyone needs to start somewhere and getting someone new is not all bad, especially if they are closely mentored or managed by those experienced marketers.
The problem comes when you have an expectation of an experienced Facebook ads manager and you get surprised by the newbie.
You always need to explicitly ask who will be running your account at the very beginning and ensure the expectations surrounding this are clear on all sides.
Create a Shared Vision
Building a business relationship is a serious thing.
You will be working with these people on a weekly or even daily basis, hopefully for a long time and their role is critical to the success of your business.
This is why you need to start the relationship off on the right foot by ensuring there is a shared vision.
Agreement on the goal of your Facebook ads is key to success.
Too many agencies don’t listen to their clients.
They push them in a direction they are most comfortable with going instead of listening to what their client wants.
You do need to trust the expertise of your agency and be willing to adjust your aims for the campaigns based on advice, but don’t let the agency choose the direction of your business.
Compromise on both sides is key and if you cannot come to a shared vision that is acceptable for everyone, you need to look for another agency.
Own Your Data
I can not stress this one enough.
When it comes to Facebook ads or any other kind of online marketing for that matter, the most important thing you are buying at the end of the day is DATA.
What targeting, messaging, platforms, ads, retargeting audiences, pixels work best for you and your business is critical data you are paying for.
Your money has been used to gather that data, so in all of your contracts, you need to be the ultimate owner of it.
The agency you are working with is helping you collect this data to grow your business, but you need to own it.
This may seem like a no-brainer, but you would be shocked at how many agencies have contractual clauses that give them ownership of the data and ad accounts.
I’ve spoken with a ton of business owners who wanted to leave their last agency and when they did the agency deleted all of their campaigns, targeting, and ads out of their Facebook ad account and told them they didn’t have the “rights” to keep using their own data.
If you don’t own your data, you are missing out on the number one most valuable thing your Facebook ad investment is buying.
Not owning your data will also make it difficult to bring your marketing in-house or switch to another agency further down the track.
And if you run ads for a few years and have years of data on how Facebook ads work for your business and then your agency takes that data this can put you back years in your marketing efforts.
Always ensure ownership of all accounts and data associated with your Facebook marketing are owned by you and spell it out in the ink on the contract!
Build A Partnership
The most important thing to remember when bringing in an outside agency to run ad campaigns is that you are building a partnership.
Would you hire a new member of staff and just not manage them at all? Didn’t think so.
The mistake many business owners make is assuming they can be hands-off after they hire an agency.
Treat your agency and their expertise with respect, but realize you have to work together to grow your business.
At the end of the day, you will both be working hard to build your business.
Building a strong professional relationship is an ongoing process.
Choosing the Right Facebook Ad Agency is Tough
When looking for a new Facebook ad agency, you are unlikely to just stumble upon the best fit agency.
You might need to interview many agencies before you find the right one.
Know what you are looking for.
Set clear expectations.
Read and reread the contract.
Most importantly, remember YOU are the boss, so stay in charge of the process!
Trust me though, it is worth it.
Skipping the normal process of trial and error with ad agencies can save you tens of thousands of dollars in the long run.
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