{"id":4121,"date":"2014-11-13T10:22:29","date_gmt":"2014-11-13T15:22:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hellospark.ca\/en-us\/blog\/spark-brings-brands-board\/"},"modified":"2015-09-11T18:19:35","modified_gmt":"2015-09-11T22:19:35","slug":"spark-brings-brands-board","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hellospark.ca\/en-us\/blog\/spark-brings-brands-board\/","title":{"rendered":"How Spark Brings Brands On Board"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was recently interviewed by\u00a0Sprout Social\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0on the benefits of working with an agency and how we personally bring new\u00a0clients on board. Take a peek!<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on\u00a0Sprout Social’s blog<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"spark-logo-hires\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Social media agencies face a unique challenge in attracting new clients. For many brands, it\u2019s a scary prospect to relinquish control over something so important as a social media presence. Before they\u2019re willing to work with an agency, companies need to feel totally secure in handing over their assets and profiles to that outside party.\u00a0The sooner a brand feels confident in the agency\u2019s skills, the sooner the agency will be able to deliver the performance it promised.<\/p>\n

That means the agency has to wow prospective clients\u00a0before ever signing a contract. Proving the agency\u2019s worth and value starts at the first stages of pitching your services.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the approach taken by\u00a0Spark Marketing<\/a>, a full-service online marketing agency based out of Toronto, Canada and Austin, Texas. Since trust is such an intangible quality, Spark opts to place the focus on the facts and figures when it is meeting with potential clients. \u201cDuring our sales process, we often have to illustrate to prospective clients the value of taking social media out-of house,\u201d said Paige Gerber, Spark\u2019s vice president of marketing. Gerber shared the details of how the agency approaches new clients from the very beginning of their business relationships.<\/p>\n

Lead With Expertise<\/h2>\n

The first important\u00a0benefit an agency offers to brands is focused expertise. \u201cWe often like to use the analogy that working with an agency is like having your own personal team of minions,\u201d Gerber said. \u201cEach minion is an expert in a specific area of online marketing rather than having one person in-house who is trying to be the jack-of-all-trades.\u201d After all, the other half of that phrase is \u201cmaster of none,\u201d and it\u2019s a scary prospect to leave your marketing in the hands of anybody less than a master.<\/p>\n

\u201cSocial media marketing has many different components that require numerous areas of expertise, which is why having an arsenal of minions ready to jump when your social media campaign needs attention is essential,\u201d she added.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Know the Additional Benefits<\/h2>\n

Since agencies have such a tight focus, they\u2019re able to devote resources to stay on top of the changing social media landscape and share that fresh knowledge with their clients. \u201cA good agency should be seen as an invaluable resource that not only develops your online marketing campaigns, but also helps you grow your technical knowledge, learn new strategies, and better understand your business and its online needs,\u201d Gerber explained.<\/p>\n

Not only does an agency offer the power of experts, but it is also a cost-effective solution for marketing. \u201cYou get bigger bang for your buck,\u201d she said. \u201cAlong with the team you also have access to their tools, such as Sprout Social, that you would otherwise have to purchase on your own to maximize efficiency and ensure results.\u201d<\/p>\n

Data-Driven Follow Up<\/h2>\n

Just because the initial interactions are so important for starting off on the right foot with new clients doesn\u2019t mean the agency will slack off once everybody has signed on the dotted line. To keep their trust, agencies need to maintain a good relationship with each client\u00a0and continue to meet or exceed their expectations.<\/p>\n

The final point Spark emphasizes to their clients about working with an agency is access to analytics and reporting. Agencies have a vast array of tools at their disposal. Not only do they use their data stores to prove their worth to potential clients, but once a brand signs on as a client, they\u2019ll continue to be on the receiving end of all that information.<\/p>\n

\u201cClients are provided with real numbers and information that help them understand the best ways to market to their customers,\u201d she said. \u201cYou will have access to someone that can not only help you analyze, but interpret data so you can make the right business decisions and develop the most effective marketing strategies.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Even though trust is a challenge, social agencies that can deliver tangible information will likely find a leg up in securing that bond with even the most skeptical new clients.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I was recently interviewed by\u00a0Sprout Social\u00a0\u00a0on the benefits of working with an agency and how we personally bring new\u00a0clients on board. Take a peek! This article originally appeared on\u00a0Sprout Social’s…","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":3358,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[499,503],"tags":[650,523,524],"class_list":["post-4121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-online-marketing-en-us","category-social-media-en-us","tag-agency-en-us","tag-online-marketing-en-us","tag-social-media-en-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hellospark.ca\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hellospark.ca\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hellospark.ca\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hellospark.ca\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hellospark.ca\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4121"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.hellospark.ca\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4121\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hellospark.ca\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hellospark.ca\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hellospark.ca\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hellospark.ca\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}