Ocala Advertisers listed in this business directory are qualified, experienced professionals who can give your business the boost it needs. Professional advertisers in Ocala, Florida consistently research general market trends as well as specific market trends targeted at keeping your business in the mainstream and on top. Choosing the right advertising agency is paramount to the health of your business, so choose wisely.

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Step 1: Create a list of advertising agencies to check out, no more than six. That should be more than enough to start with. To create this list as always start by getting references from other business owners or friends who own businesses. You can also get marketing agency names for your area via the internet.

Step 2: You can also use the internet to check out the advertising agencies you have chosen to eliminate any obvious poor fits. You will find some marketing agencies play a broad role in the advertising industry while others are more specialized. Most agencies should not work with more than four clients who are in direct competition, so check their client reference list. You may need to drop them from your list.

Step 3: Develop a request for proposal. The goal is to collect some specific information from each of the agencies on your list. Follow this outline "How to Write an Ad Agency Request for Proposal”. In developing your RFP, remember that you are seeking to establish a business relationship with a marketing agency, so 1) respect their time, and 2) don't just ask questions, but also give the agency enough information about your industry, your company, and your specific needs to determine if there is a fit from their perspective. Have all of the individuals on your internal selection team sign off on the RFP before sending it out; there is nothing more frustrating, for you or an advertising agency than to go through the entire RFP process more than once.

Step 4: Contact the marketing agencies on your list and request permission to submit a request for proposal. This gives them the opportunity to decline and puts you in touch with the right person at that agency immediately, which allows you to begin building a rapport.

Step 5: Send out the RFPs to the agencies who have agreed to participate. Make yourself available to answer questions, and let them know that you are available for this.

Step 6: Evaluate the proposals, narrowing the list down to the two marketing agencies that best match the needs of your company. Ask yourself questions such as: are you comfortable with their experience? With their approach to your objectives? Are you confident that your account will be large enough to be important to them? Are you impressed by the quality and tone of their creative work? And of course, call their references. Specifically, ask about their satisfaction with their agency relationship.

Step 7: Arrange for presentations from each of your finalist agencies. Schedule two presentations with each agency: one at your facility (to give their personnel some impression of your offices, people and work environment) and a second at their agency, including a tour. At this step you and your evaluation team will have the opportunity to share with the agency representatives more information about your industry, your company, and your unique strengths, challenges and goals. Each agency has the opportunity to tell you more about their capabilities, approach and practices. While the facts are certainly important, the most critical criterion at this point is chemistry: are you comfortable with the agency's team, and are they people you look forward to working with and entrusting with your company's promotional activities?

Step 8: Finally, after reviewing the RFP responses and meeting with your finalist agencies, it is time to make your final selection. Regardless of the titles involved, your internal selection team should agree to discuss the merits of the competing agencies as peers in a freewheeling discussion. In a perfect world, you would all agree on which agency was the clear winner; in the real world, compromise will likely be necessary and the final decision may not be yours. That is why the freewheeling discussion component is critical; if one individual (e.g. your CEO or CMO) ultimately makes the final decision, at least all of the facts and opinions of the team have been aired.

As the last step, you need to inform each of the finalist agencies of your decision. Call each agency and let them know of your decision and, in a positive manner, the reasoning behind it. Follow up with an email thanking them for their participation in your process. Then, call the winning agency and give them the good news.

God Bless You.

Choosing The Right Advertising Agency