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April 14, 2016

How to Find the Right Digital Media Buying Agency: A Checklist

Over the course of my marketing career, I’ve worked with a variety of media buying agencies and firms, along with internal media departments. Some were great, and some were less than great.

When faced with a less-than-stellar partner, you have to make a change.

It can be hard to shake up an existing relationship. Familiarity is a good thing and your current digital media agency already knows you. You may even like them as people. Why risk it?

From my own experience I can say that the right digital media partner can be the difference between a campaign that checks the box and one that exceeds business goals and makes marketing managers (that’s you) look like all-stars.

In order to determine if you need to make a change, take a look at the checklist below and ask these questions about your current digital media agency. Once you’ve done that, the answer should be clear.

DO THEY LIKE VARIETY?

A good digital media partner is more than the team that buys your display ads. They should be comfortable utilizing paid search, pre-roll, display, social media, content strategies, organic search optimization, or whatever else your campaign calls for. One of the benefits of digital media is the range of opportunities. Your media agency shouldn’t limit your opportunities.

ARE THEY OBSESSED WITH DETAILS?

In your job, you’re constantly trying to “get out of the weeds” to focus on the bigger picture. Your digital media firm, on the other hand, should be very comfortable in the weeds. They’re the ones tasked with targeting your campaign. They should have the vigilance to make sure your campaign is reaching the right audience with the right message in the right place, and to catch when it isn’t.

DO THEY KEEP SCORE?

The beauty of digital campaigns is the ability to track performance and understand what drives results. Digital media agencies should be well versed in platforms to measure campaign performance. Moreover, they should be continually sharing these results with you over the life of a campaign. You should never have to remind them that you’d like to see how the campaign is performing.

ARE THEY WATCHING YOUR BACK?

A good media partner is just that: a good partner. If, for example, you don’t have the right solutions in place on your site to track your campaign’s KPIs, they should let you know before they take your money and run your campaign.

ARE THEY OBSESSED WITH IMPROVEMENT?

Testing and refinement are essential to quality digital campaigns. Digital campaigns are able to get more efficient over time. Whether it’s A/B creative testing, search term optimization, or evaluating which sites/ad sizes/day parts drive the best results, it’s all possible in digital campaigns. When sharing campaign results, your media buying agency should be recommending how to optimize the campaign based on performance to date.

DO THEY ACCEPT THE STATUS QUO?

The answer should be no. Digital marketing channels are constantly changing with new opportunities and technologies coming down the pipeline. Your digital media agency should have their eye on what’s ahead. They should be the first people to suggest advertising with that new social media platform you just read about. No, not that one. There’s an even newer one.

Hopefully you’ve come to the end of this list and realized you’ve been with the right digital media partner all along. If this checklist has made you realize it’s time for a change, the team at Franklin Street would be happy to help.