I’ve worked in agencies for all 23 years of my advertising career.
I have never worked as an “in-house” SEO.
The best job in the world, in my opinion, is working for an advertising agency, especially one that excels at search.
I’ve worked with clients of all shapes and sizes, from Fortune 10 corporations to one-man businesses looking for leads, all over the world.
Despite having a tonne of experience, I’m still frequently taken aback by novel situations involving the agency-client relationship.
Having said that, there are some aspects of the daily interactions between an agency and a client that most people who haven’t worked in one wouldn’t consider.
I’m about to clarify some of those points.
Part of the job involves being a punching bag
The advertising industry has become more glitzy thanks to television programs like Mad Men.
Many young aspirants have been drawn to learning about account management, traffic, media buying, and even search by the image of the sleek, contemporary glass building on Madison Avenue.
The world of agencies does, however, have a dark side.
On my honeymoon, I responded to client inquiries.
I was let go because of the outcomes of campaigns that I had nothing to do with.
No matter where I am, whenever my phone rings, I check the caller ID to see who it is. If it’s a client, I never feel at ease until I call them back.
Your time no longer belongs to you if you work for an agency.
When you work for an agency, the proverbial “bovine waste” unfortunately rolls downhill and you’re at the bottom of the hill.
According to what I’ve heard, life in an agency is not for the frail and elderly.
Even though I’m getting closer to the former, I’m still a long way from the latter.
The biggest oversight I observe clients making with an agency is entering the building brashly and immediately directing agency staff members.
Usually, it’s not as straightforward as the image of the yelling customer suggests.
More subtly worded, with frequent passive-aggressive overtones and references to how the previous agency was terminated.
But don’t be fooled; the agency staff is evaluating you in the first meeting just as much as you are evaluating them. We’ll discuss why this is important later in the column.
Pleasant clients come in first
The “underground lobbying” that determines which team gets a specific client can be attested to by anyone who has ever been present in the agency when assignments are made.
At least until the people involved in the account truly reveal themselves, clients who are interesting will initially be very popular with agency staff.
Once a client has a history with the agency, you can trust that the account managers are aware of which clients are a pleasure to work with and which ones might bite their heads off if you decided to take a 30-minute break from your desk to eat a sad sandwich.
You want account staff who want to work on your account, I assure you.
The best account workers will beg to work on your account if you are kind.
If you work with a larger agency, this is a really big deal.
While having some of the best employees, larger agencies also have some of the worst account representatives.
How well you treat the staff you first interact with may directly affect the team you work with.
I’m not saying you can’t hold your agency responsible; on the contrary.
It’s not always obvious how your agency is doing in your eyes, but your agency wants you to let them know.
I can’t even remember how many times I’ve been let go from an agency because I failed to anticipate a problem because the client never informed me of it.
No, accountability is not usually the issue.
Be nice and communicate.
How much those two factors will impact your outcomes will surprise you.
The squeaky wheel gets the job done
We have already established that nice clients typically receive better work than mean clients.
The opposite of being quiet is being nice.
A silent client may be overlooked even when working with an organization that practices strict discipline and clearly defined procedures.
I go over each client with my team once a week.
I start by examining whether all of a client’s available hours are being utilized effectively.
Even though our firm has established procedures and practices for more than 15 years, I occasionally witness quiet clients not receiving the attention they deserve.
It isn’t because the work was finished because it is never finished.
It’s not because they weren’t polite; all of my clients at the moment are polite.
It is a result of these clients not wanting a routine check-in call.
It’s because these clients never comment on the reports they receive.
In many instances, we are right when assuming that a quiet client is a content client.
However, we prefer a client who provides us with feedback.
Furthermore, communicating with customers does receive better service.
particularly if they are kind.
Clients frequently make the wrong results judgments
When a client with little experience begins poring over analytics, I worry.
It can be simultaneously quite stressful and hilarious.
Before we’ve done any work during an engagement, I encourage this behavior.
In this way, the client will be upset with their previous agency rather than me when they are irate over results they don’t really understand.
I’m kind of joking.
I’ll say this: Generally speaking, educated clients are preferable to uneducated ones.
But even informed clients have a propensity to become fixated on the wrong things.
I’m not saying that everyone in the agency business is perfect.
Not at all.
However, we do have the advantage of seeing how many websites operate.
If only I could unsee some of the sites I’ve seen, we get to see the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Show me that you don’t understand what we’re trying to achieve when you evaluate months of SEO work based on the fluctuating rankings of one keyword, even if it’s an important keyword.
And I can assure you that if you are one of my clients, you are aware intellectually that pursuing single keyword rankings is typically a waste of time.
Even though my clients are aware of this, I still notice their excitement when a keyword improves in the rankings because I know I stand a better chance of being fired if it declines.
even though search traffic has surged and produced an incredible return on investment.
Since we set goals for you throughout our relationship, that is how we want to be evaluated as an agency.
You will never truly be able to tell if your agency is performing well if you aren’t setting goals with them.
Set the objectives, then let the agency handle the work.
You’ll accomplish your objectives if the agency lives up to your expectations when you hired them.
If they’re not, be polite but look for another agency.
Which agency you prefer to work with is ultimately what matters.
Additionally, the relationships can vary greatly from client to client as long as you succeed in achieving those objectives.
Learn more from SEO and read How To Hire the Right SEO Agency For Your Business?
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