Are You Getting The Best Out Of Your Digital Agency?
After taking the time to research and choose a digital agency, you’ll soon realise that’s just the beginning. Working together is the next step of the journey.
If you’re working with a digital agency, the success of your project depends on how well you both work together. Here are a few tips from Parallax to help you get the best out of your digital agency, establish a great relationship, and achieve a successful project:
1. Let them know what you require
Being clear about what you need will help the project run a lot more smoothly. Setting several business objectives will make the process a lot easier and help your agency understand what you need to achieve. Establish this from the very start and you’ll have a great working relationship as you both strive to meet those goals.
2. Prepare yourself for some ideas that you may not have been expecting
In the early stages of the project, it’s more than likely you’ll see a few ideas that were completely different to what you were expecting. Keep an open mind to new suggestions that might not be what you envisioned; you might be surprised. Your agency may come up with something that blows you away.
3. Set aside a sensible budget
Budget is something that you really need to consider when you’re working with an agency. If you’re constantly wanting everything for the cheapest price around, or that you don’t want discuss cost, the ideas and solutions that you receive from your agency will be less than what you expected. By setting a budget, maximum and minimum, your digital agency will know exactly what they have to work with and be able to provide you with some suitable solutions. If you’re upfront and honest with what you have to spend, there won’t be any time wasted on second guessing and amended proposals.
4. Make your deadlines realistic
We know that you need your project delivered immediately, but sometimes that isn’t always the best way to think. Make sure that you provide enough time for ideas and processes to be carefully thought through rather than being completely rushed and poorly planned. Make sure internally that you manage expectations and allow your agency a reasonable amount of time to develop work. Your agency will more than likely have ways of managing the project throughout. Here at Parallax, we have our project managers on-board who make sure everything is running to schedule, alongside a selection of powerful tools including Basecamp and 10,000ft.
5. Time is money
This is something that you definitely need to consider. Spending time on multiple amends and meetings can use up a large proportion of your budget. If what’s delivered to you isn’t what you were expecting, clearly write some thought out reasons why and what you feel needs changing. Feeding back to your agency with things like “can we funk it up a little bit?” or “can we make it larger?” is not the best way to approach it – if your feedback isn’t clear, you’ll end up wasting time and budget going back and forth. Try to gather all the feedback from all parties involved and create a list of amends you need and the reasons why. This will help your digital agency understand your concerns and help to create a project that will meet the objectives you set right at the start.
6. Understand what your agency wants to get out of the project
Your agency isn’t just out to a fat pay cheque at the end of the project. They’re looking to create fantastic, inspiring work that they can also be proud of. They want to make work that hasn’t been seen before and that they can use in their portfolio to showcase their skills in addition to meeting your objectives.
Creating an exciting digital project is never an easy task, but by establishing clear objectives, setting a realistic budget, and allocating enough time, you can create something special. If you’re looking to work with a new digital agency then get in touch. Learn more about our work here.