Have a meeting with your marketing agency coming up? Thinking about having a meeting with a marketing agency? If this is your first time working with an outside marketing team, you might be walking into the process blind. You don’t want to waste time in pointless meetings that have nothing to do with your project. You don’t want to waste money spinning the idea wheels. Instead, you want to make the most of those meetings and get down to the nitty gritty of your project.
In this post, we’re going to cover the different ways you can prepare for and make the most of a meeting with a marketing agency. We’re working under the assumption that this isn’t your first meeting with the team. However, if it is your first meeting, the information will still be relevant as you prepare for any initial project kick off.
Tips To Make The Most Of Your Marketing Meeting
Do any homework that your marketing agency gave you.
If this is your first meeting, then there probably isn’t any sort of homework they’ve asked you to complete. So, it’s up to you how much you do. But, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with the agency’s work and client list. Check out their marketing portfolio and make sure you’re impressed by what they’ve done.
If this isn’t your first meeting, then there’s a good chance the agency has asked you to bring something to the next meeting. It could be a worksheet they’ve created to help facilitate the meeting. Maybe they’ve asked for a list of passwords or your top competitors. Whatever it is, we recommend you do it.
Don’t you hate meetings where you sit around doing nothing? Your marketing agency designed the homework to make sure your meeting is productive. It’ll make the meeting purposeful while also giving you and your marketing partner a jumping off point for your conversation.
Review the agenda for the meeting.
Your marketing agency should send you an agenda before every meeting. This agenda is most likely flexible as new topics and issues come up during meetings, but it’s always a good idea to know what you’re heading into.
For instance, you wouldn’t want to walk into a meeting about Buyer Personas having only researched or thought about your website’s sitemap.
Not only will knowing the agenda and topics of discussion help you prepare for the meeting, but it will help you stay on track and make the meeting more productive. Wasted meetings aren’t fun for anyone. To make the most of your meeting, prepare for the topics of discussion in the agenda.deal buyer’s journey. How do you want them to get from point A to point B? What will you offer them and use to entice them to make this journey?
Understanding the buyer’s journey from initial awareness through purchase will help you nurture them, understand them, and better connect with them throughout the entire process.
Prepare a list of questions to ask during the meeting.
If you look at the agenda for your meeting, then you’ll get a great understanding of the discussion ahead. Even without knowing the details, because, let’s face it sometimes marketers use words and phrases not everyone knows, you can start planning some questions.
These questions could be about the marketing agency’s process, operations, or the specific things they’ll be creating. But, to get the most out of this meeting, take your agenda review one step further and do a little research on the specific agenda items. It there’s something on the agenda you don’t know or have never heard of, go ahead and Google it. The agency should explain everything in the meeting, but it never hurts to know about things before hand.
Understand the purpose and goal of the meeting.
Every meeting should have a purpose and a goal. If it doesn’t, then it’s a waste of everyone’s time. Chances are your upcoming meeting is part of the marketing agency’s process, which means they called the meeting. It’s on them to establish the purpose and goal of your meeting, but it’s on you to make sure you know what those are.
If you’ve already met with the marketing team, they should have mentioned what the purpose of the next meeting would be. It’s also a good idea to look for the purpose or goal on the agenda they sent to you beforehand. If you’re unsure of what the meeting is about or what the outcome should be, then don’t hesitate to ask. You’ll be better off knowing and understanding what you’re walking into.
Clear your schedule to leave adequate time.
Sometimes, marketers get a little ahead of themselves. When we get into meetings about Buyer Personas, Brand Stories, Design Elements, and Content, we tend to be passionate. That often results in meetings taking a little longer than what we thought they would. When we ask you to block off 90 minutes, it might be good to block of 120. We get it, though, long meetings aren’t usually fun.
Sounds like a long time, but these meetings tend to fly by. We aren’t going to crunch numbers (unless numbers are part of your brand). We’re going to talk about the things you like about your current marketing, what you think is missing, and what you think success looks like. Depending on the project, the marketing agency might ask questions like, “if your brand walked into a bar, what would it order?” Or, “What kind of car does your buyer drive?”
Making the meeting more interactive makes it go by way faster. Plus, while these types of questions may not seem that relevant, they actually tell us quite a bit about your brand and your customer. So, when a marketing agency asks for an hour and half meeting, go into with a clear schedule and an open mind.
Leave all bias at your office.
Speaking of having an open mind, check your bias at the door. Yes, you have opinions about colors, word choice, and where that pesky comma should go, but you’re meeting with experts. While you shouldn’t move aside and let the agency do whatever, you also need to trust their process and their choices.
Remember, they’re working for you, but in doing so, they’re working for your customers. You might like the color red, but what does your customer think about it? Does red match the tone of voice you want your brand to have? That one word you loathe may be the one word your customer is waiting to hear. This processes isn’t all about you. It’s about your customer, so be open to ideas and suggestions from your team.