The MSIGHTS Blog

One of the most important decisions a leader makes is choosing the right agency partner. With the right choice, the relationship can be a driving force in your business’ growth. But sometimes a partnership needs to be reconsidered and reviewed.

Agency reviews are an opportunity to assess pricing and relationships, and reduce marketing budgets while maximizing investments. They are also a great time to bring data in-house.

Chances are your agency has control of your data. If that’s the case, ask yourself the following questions:

• What happens to your data if you decide to in-house or move to another agency?
• Is it possible that the story your data is telling has been influenced by the agency that controls it?
• Can you become data-driven instead of data-reactive by having more control over your data?

If you’re uncertain of the answers to any of those questions or if you are uncomfortable with how your data is currently being managed, then it’s time to call an agency review. But before you jump into the review process, you need to make sure you’re in control of your data.

Here are three things that could happen if you don’t have data security in place before calling a review:

• Your data may be locked in their systems. If your agency has built and executed your marketing initiatives, your data may be out of your reach. Campaign financial details are locked in agency billing systems, your results are in ad server and DMP accounts, and the AdTech relationships have been managed by your agency.
• You may lose data in transitioning tracking technologies. If the new agency uses a different tracking technology like an ad server, your data most likely won’t get passed along from the old one. Even if your new agency sticks with the same ad server, your account (and thus data) likely won’t transition over.
• You may lose all historical benchmarks. All your past intelligence will stay with your previous agency. Your new agency won’t be able to gain access and dig into your past successes and failures, and it will take time for them to get up to speed.

Bringing in a neutral third-party data management and reporting partner, such as MSIGHTS, can help with the transitioning and review process. Here’s how:

First, we give you back ownership of your data. After securing ownership of your data, agencies will no longer have influence over the performance message. Instead, you’ll have the keys to all your data and can give access to relevant parties. Securing your data as part of the transition and onboarding process will ensure that those who need that information will have access so they can complete their marketing objectives, while you maintain control of the data that is important to your marketing decisions and overall ROI.

We provide agency performance tracking. Before you negotiate your next agency SOW, get an objective view so you can maximize performance. We provide agency performance tracking and auditing services to help our clients validate fees and reveal opportunities to enhance agency performance. We do this in four ways:

1. Rate & Added-Value Valuations

We can quantify the value of agency-negotiated rates and help you assess the real value of those added-value placements.

2. Optimization Assessments

We can objectively quantify the impact of agency media plan optimizations (new placements, placement adjustments, etc.) that take place while the media plan is still active instead of when it’s over.

3. Rapid Responsiveness Analysis

With results data available daily from us, your agency partners should be continuously adapting your plan according to what’s working and what isn’t. We can track how responsively your agency is using data to optimize your media plans for your specific KPIs.

4. Agency ROI Scorecards

Similar to our week-to-week operating scorecards and reporting views, we can build an agency scorecard that tracks (yearly, monthly, or weekly) the specific objectives for which you hold your agency accountable.

While there are a variety of reasons to call an agency review, one benefit of the process is that you can get visibility into how your agency is truly performing, giving you the confidence to work in collaboration with your agency partners or switch to a new agency for improved performance results. But before you decide to switch agencies, protect your business by securing your data in a neutral space, so that you will have control and insights over this valuable asset.

Before you call for an agency review, contact us. Whether it’s with data security or our auditing process, we want to help you trust the agency you partner with, while giving you control of your data.