When working with a marketing firm, you need to understand that the relationship operates in two directions. In order for the relationship to be mutually beneficial, each party involved needs to show respect, and give time. This is to ensure that the plan remains consistent and intact. By giving and receiving in the relationship, you can help with the formation of a long term marketing relationship.

Marketing is one of your greatest assets for business development and lead generation, however, if you are unable to meet each other halfway, the marketing strategy unravels. This is why communication, setting expectations, and understanding what not to do is important.

Let’s look into how you can help form a successful marketing relationship.

What Communication Really Means (trusting who you’ve hired)

Communication is the foundation of any relationship. Whether it be a friendship or partnership, communication allows trust to be built, and progress to be made. This allows struggles and needs to be communicated and addressed. It ensures that information is getting from one place to another. By doing this clearly, you can ensure that your marketing is fruitful.

There are two parts of communication; communicating, and listening. Active listening is imperative to good communication. While once can say something, it falls short if there is no one to listen to. Active listening requires full engagement and understanding. By asking questions and staying engaged, communication becomes more effective.

Communication requires both parties to be willing to communicate and to listen. Without one of these parts, communication fails.

Setting Expectations

There are two types of expectations that need to be established at the beginning of any marketing relationship. The first is expectations of each other and the second is expectations of the marketing strategy. By airing these expectations, you can expect a positive experience in a marketing relationship.

It is important to establish expectations of each other. This should include time to respond, communication preferences, meeting expectations, deadlines, and more. Often times a strategy is reliant on a timeline, and understanding deadlines is integral for the deployment of the marketing strategy.

You also need to establish expectations for the marketing strategy. This is usually determined by the goals and objectives that you have outlined. Some may expect their marketing strategy to educate, while others may expect it to generate leads. Regardless, it is important that you communicate these expectations to your marketing team. This will allow them to generate content with respect to the expectations.

Undesirable Traits

Sometimes, a relationship doesn’t work out. This is often rooted in the lack of communication or failure to execute expectations. However, there are a couple key things to consider when building a 2-way relationship with a marketing team.

You must understand that the expertise you bring to a relationship and the expertise the marketing team brings to a relationship, are meant to complement each other and build from one another. By failing  to acknowledge this, it becomes increasingly difficult to build a 2-way relationship.

Another trait that can create challenges is a disregard for each other. At the end of the day, you both need to respect each other’s decisions, needs, and expertise. Without this, you are unable to build a working relationship that is functional. Each party of a relationship needs to have respect to build the foundations, without it, the relationship unravels.

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A successful marketing relationship is founded when all parties set clear expectations and communicate effectively. By having transparency, the relationship is able to flourish and lead to desirable outcomes.

Octopus & Son has worked with a variety of clients, and is ready to help you. If you want to learn more about forming a relationship with Octopus & Son, reach out.