Changing out marketing agencies can be a handful.

There are personalities that have to be dealt with (both the old and the new firm).  There are assets that have to be transitioned.  There’s intellectual capital that goes away and needs to be re-established with the new marketing agency.

So is there a better time to be changing out firms?

We find that most marketers that engage with us to help them find a group of new and better agencies to consider tend to “hunt” at the end and at the beginning of the year.  This year, some notables include Stein Mart, Golden1 Credit Union, and Fantastic Sam’s.

Changing out marketing agencies can be fun!

33% of marketers tell us in our surveys that they find the process of looking for a new agency “exciting”.

Bringing in fresh thinking into your business as you start thinking about your plans for 2018 or as your starting out into the beginning of a new year, can be an exciting and energizing activity for your business.

This is particularly true if the agency you’re working with now isn’t doing a great job of keeping you ahead of the curve, or not bringing you new ideas, or isn’t too terribly proactive.

What’s key is setting yourself up so it’s not you doing all the leg work.

In the chart above, the uncertainty of what you’re going to get and the time it consumes can be a real drag.

So if you manage a search on your own (which you shouldn’t)…make sure you’re looking at a full range of agencies with the known skill sets you need.

Make sure you’re asking them the tough questions upfront to fully understand the degree to which they understand your challenges and the scope of what you’re trying to achieve.

And make sure they really do have the talents and skill sets either embedded in their agency or have the appropriate partnerships to accomplish what you want to accomplish in your business for the coming year.

So is there a better time to look for a new marketing agency?

In my opinion, there’s really no time like the present.  If the issues exist with your current agency today.  They’ll likely be there tomorrow, too.

Call us if you’d like to learn about how we can help.