Fetch Communications

Whether you’re seeking brand creation, design visuals and creative assets, social media content, or a website, when you contract a professional marketing agency to create any form of public-facing communications, it’s important to know what you need to bring to the table: Your Business Plan, your Brand, Clarity, and Trust.

1. Your Business Plan

At the very least, bring a full understanding of your goals, the services you offer, and who your ideal clients are (your target audience). Do some market research to see what the current standard seems to be and what your audience has come to expect. Even solo entrepreneurs need a personal brand in today’s competitive marketplace.

Brand + Communications —> Audience. 

We can’t hit a target blindfolded, no matter how skilled we are, and if you keep changing your mind about what you offer and who you’re targeting throughout the branding process, then we’re trying to hit a moving target. It’s unrealistic and leaves everyone frustrated. This needs to be sorted out before you dive into the deep end of the branding process. 

2. Your Brand

Ideally, you bring a brand, or at least a brand concept, as the first and foundational building block. If you don’t have a brand, or would like to redesign, revisit or refresh your current brand, you need to work collaboratively with your agency to create a brand that is authentic, unique, and reflects who you truly are and how you want to be perceived. 

Meaningful client input 

Bring your preferences to the table. Without any clues as to what you’re hoping for, it’s akin to asking a clothing designer to create the perfect dress for you, without providing the desired length, colour preference, the kinds of styles you like, options of fabrics you prefer, the profile (full and flowing versus a long, slim silhouette), sexy versus conservative, or the occasion the dress should be appropriate for. 

Provide constructive feedback

Skip the tongue-in-cheek digs disguised as jokes if you don’t like a design. It’s par for the course if your agency doesn’t nail it in the first round of visuals presented. Recognize that you are equally responsible if the visuals are not to your liking. The output is only as “right” as the input — the creative brief and reference materials you have provided. You can’t blame the fashion designer if you hoped for a semi-casual black cocktail dress without saying so, and they presented you with a full length burgundy formal gown that took them countless hours to create. Communicate your wants and expectations. 

Don’t just say “no.” 

Tell them WHY it’s a no. Appreciate that they worked many hours to create it just for you, and like the hypothetical dressmaker, don’t leave them guessing whether it was the length, colour, or style you didn’t like, or simply wrong for the occasion. Make your criticism constructive, specific, and deliver it professionally. 

Bring inspirational brand images and ideas

You are best served by having an idea of what kind of aesthetic appeals to you, so bring examples. Design options are endless, and this helps point designers in the right direction. While we enjoy seeing photos of your favourite animals, your collection of various paintings, and vacation places you have visited, these don’t translate readily into brand inspo materials unless you’re asking for s specific element to be incorporated into your brand. (I can’t believe I even need to say it, but this has actually happened). That’s a cute badger in your garden, but what exactly is the relevancy of bringing us this?

Show designers websites, ads, LinkedIn profiles, media feeds, branded visuals, or Facebook pages you like and be prepared to answer specific questions about why you like them. Colours? Fonts? Layout? Message? Tone (casual versus formal)? Menus? Images? Videos?  Be prepared to provide your marketing agency with the broad strokes in each of these areas for discussion. 

You need to be able to objectively discuss your preferences to guide design decisions. You and your agency share the responsibility of ensuring your choices are aligned with your vision, values and target audience expectations. Your choices have to be honest and realistic, and guided by your Business Plan. Finally, and this ought to go without saying, don’t ask a designer to copy another brand. (Again, this has actually happened to us!) We will not. It’s unethical and will NOT serve you well (unless you enjoy lawsuits). 

While agencies such as ours can (and will) certainly do competitor research for you, it’s not the best use of our time and it’s billable hours — so we advise you to dig in yourself to gain a clear understanding of your brand position in the marketplace. Then we can compare notes and have an informed and insightful conversation about your brand direction and positioning.

Behave responsibly

Your brand also needs to aligned with realistic and clear business goals — but still punch above your weight. It’s the design equivalent of ‘dressing for the job you want’ — poised for success, with plenty of room to grow. However, maintain integrity by not making false promises and depicting yourself as more skilled, more experienced, or more advanced in your field than you actually are, or by making false claims about what you actually offer. Truth in advertising is the rule and public expectation, with no exceptions. 

While we love building brands for entrepreneurs, an agency worth their salt won’t hand you a brand without lots of input from you. Nor should they be expected to. Your brand should reflect your Business Plan. It should be representative of everything you are, and what you offer — is it beer or champagne? Is it friendly and community focused, or geared toward professional C-Suite executives? Is it outdoorsy or an urban vibe? Is it mellow or dramatic?

3. Clarity of Communication 

Skip the jargon, metaphors, and catchphrases. Use plain language. (If we wanted to hear someone speak in parables, we’d crack open religious texts). Communicate clearly. Don’t leave designers guessing or having to figure out what you meant, with no choice but to infer or interpret your wants in lieu of clarity. 

We understand that not everyone can “visualize,” and sometimes people only realize what they want once they’ve seen it. Designers don’t expect a list of instructions from you, they just want to be able to narrow thousands of choices down to 10, then receive useful feedback, then 3, more feedback, then 1, then refining the final choice until it’s perfection! That’s our common goal. 

Be open-minded

New ideas, whether you decide it’s “you” or not, open you up to seeing things from a different perspective. Embrace that and examine it. Ask pertinent questions. Designers often have a rationale for the choices they make, and this may change your mind or, at the very least, expand your thinking. 

Having preferences is fantastic, but being stuck in your own ideas can impede you from pushing past your boundaries. Great new ideas are often accompanied by, “I never thought of that!” Let the creative people be creative. 

Creativity, like all art, is subjective. These points are aimed to help those who are inexperienced with marketing agencies help the process to go smoothly, cooperatively, and compatibly to achieve the outstanding results everyone involved is aiming for. 

4. Trust 

If you can’t see the forest for the trees, don’t panic and pull the rip cord. Adjust and adapt to realign creative if need be, and trust the process. If your branding agency has taken others successfully down this path and you loved the results they produced, then trust in their capabilities to guide you through it. 

Take a deep breath. Take a day or two, clear your head, and talk to your marketing agency. It’s okay to hit pause and review the logic of decisions made thus far during the development phase, but try to avoid hyper-focusing, micromanaging, and obsessing over the finish line.

Focus instead on making sure you are communicating effectively to the agency. Concentrate your efforts on guiding the ship instead of standing on deck, stressed and anxious to see a shoreline that isn’t visible yet (because it’s work in progress) and impeding progress, plus deflating your creative team’s patience and enthusiasm by doing so. 

You either trust your marketing agency’s expertise, or you don’t. You made that decision when you selected them to create your brand, visual assets, and website. 

Did you choose an agency with lots of experience and enthusiasm? Did you come to the table prepared or full of indecision, leaving them wandering aimlessly through your guesswork? 

It’s a partnership. And like every relationship, it’s a two-way street, so hold up your end and enjoy the ride! 

Anything to add? Feel free to comment below, we’d love to hear your thoughts!