Select the Right Digital Agency Partners
One of the driving forces that lead to the creation of Guidant Search Partners was spending over a decade watching companies struggle with the search and selection of digital agency partners. In at least 50% of the cases, companies made bad decisions based on the wrong criteria and wasted thousands or tens of thousands of dollars. Guidant Search was founded for the sole purpose of helping companies avoid making costly mistakes including picking the wrong agency partners.
What is Agency Search Consulting?
For decades large companies have hired advisers to help them select an ad agency or record (AOR). This was typically done by brands for large advertising campaigns and media buys. The process usually takes many months and a lot of pitches from "invited" agencies. The search consultant then helps guide the client in the selection process. It can be very effective bringing new agencies to the table and the consultant in theory has experience differentiating the reality from the sales fluff of each agency.
Guidant offers a scaled down version of the tried and true agency selection process to smaller companies. We focus on helping small to medium sized business select agencies for SEO, paid search, social media marketing, and digital display advertising. Often times this means choosing more than one agency so that our clients get the right partners for each marketing tactic.
Why use a Digital Agency Search Consultant?
Finding, selecting and hiring a specialized agency (or changing agencies agency partners) is not a decision that should be taken lightly. Can your company afford to make a mistake? Do you have the time to go through the process of selecting a vendor the right way? Guidant's digital agency search consulting is designed to empower our clients by connecting them with right agencies based on your culture and needs. Ultimately our clients will make the selection decision but with professional guidance throughout the process from assessment to contracting and performance evaluation vastly increases the likelihood of a successful relationship. Are you comfortable making this important decision on your own—without the benefit of an experienced third party that helps you understand the dynamic nature of today’s marketplace, the changing patterns of consumer behavior and even the best compensation practices?
Engaging with an experienced consultancy like Guidant who is agency agnostic and only has your best interests in mind for your agency search is like having a secret weapon. Here are a few more reasons why using Guidant to assist with your digital agency search will be a decision you won't regret.
The Best Agencies are not Always Obvious
Agency differentialion is becoming muddled - especially considering that every agency claims to do everything. There are so many types of digital agencies and many of them pitch services that are outside of their expertise. This leads to a pitch process that can be very confusing and in many cases includes exaggerations and even lies. All agencies have worked with big clients and have good case studies. Guidant understands how to sift through the pitch and focus in on what really matters.
We Help you Find the Best Agency Partner Company for Your Company
Guidant's Agency Selection Consulting service will save you time and take the guesswork away from the process of finding the RIGHT agency or consultant for your needs. Our process includes an analysis of your website and marketing goals and we function as an extension of your marketing department. the ultimate decision rests with you, but we will be there to guide you through every step of the process.
Over a Decade of Agency Experience with Client Side Sensibility
Guidant was founded for the sole reason of helping business avoid costly mistakes when selecting agency partners. With roots in SEO we saw too many companies "get sold" on doing SEO when they really needed tactics that would generate more immediate returns than search engine optimization would deliver. Digital agencies are businesses and they are not going to turn away business even if their specialty is not the right tactic for you company at that time. At our core Guidant believes in digital marketing and we understand which tactics works and also the ones that don't. We also know from experience that what works well for one company may not for another. The same truism applies to industries.
Because of these things we have adopted a philosophy of the "the right tactic at the right time" approach and coupled this with the belief that this requires "the right agency for that tactic".
Save Time & Money
Finding the right resources on your own has a high cost in executive time and can be enormously disruptive to your team’s ability to focus on your ongoing business priorities. Working with Guidant enables you to stay focused on your business while we take care of the time-consuming details and logistics of the search. Plus, many clients benefit from bringing us in on a project basis, keeping permanent payroll costs down.