Tip #2 ∞ Give Your Agency a Firm Budget & Timeframe ∞

An ad agency needs a frame of reference within which to work. Building an ad - or any marcom project (website, brochure, video, event, etc.) - can be compared to building a house. You can have a $1 million house or you can have a $50,000 house. It all depends on what you want in your house, where it is located, how big it is, etc.

Your ad/marketing agency should be able to complete what you want within your budget or at least tell you what the limitations for your project are, given your budget expectations..

You have to keep in mind, that your budget must include labor and overhead for the ad agency, as well as production costs. If you don't allow your ad agency to budget for overhead, they are not going to be around long, and then, since your agency archives your creative work for future usage, your creative investment is going to be wasted or lost, when your agency closes its doors for good.

Working with an agency is kind of like getting married: it must be a trusting partnership for it to work well.

Creative can be developed within your budget, no matter how small your budget is. Instead of original photography, your agency can use stock photography to save money. Instead of purchasing stock images, your agency graphic designer can layout type in a creative manner to make an ad. But you still need a budget to develop the copy: pay the copywriter, pay the graphic designer.

If you give your agency a healthy budget to work with, then they can dream up ever more sophisticated concepts that require a budget to execute. The concept might involve illustration, animation, clever creative work. But if you don't give your agency a budget, then they are going to have to limit their thinking.

Compare working with an ad agency to working with an architect and telling her that you don't know how much money you have to build a house, but you'd like him to design one anyway. Wouldn't it be better to tell your architect how much you have to spend on the house, and then have the architect design to your budget? Why waste the architect's time drawing a $1million house if you only have $50,000 to spend on construction?

Your ad agency could develop and execute your entire marketing plan, as long as they know what your budget is and what your timeframe is. Your budget should allow your agency the freedom to consider various media buys, creative strategies and tactics, and printing costs if necessary.

You should have enough trust in your agency to let your agency spend your money wisely. A healthy client/agency relationship is like a healthy marriage: present should be trust, mutual respect, honest communications.

If you can't trust your ad agency with a budget, then you definitely should get a new ad agency: one you feel you can trust.