How do you know if your marketing agency is actually any good?

It’s a surprisingly difficult question. After all, agencies tend to be very good at one particular area of marketing: marketing themselves.

Impressive websites. Case studies. Awards. Strategic frameworks with reassuring names. And, quite possibly, an office dog with more LinkedIn followers than you.

In Episode 3 of Marketing, Properly!, strategic marketing consultant Sean Makin looks beyond the polished presentations and monthly reports to ask what businesses should really expect from their marketing agency.

We explore the difference between activity and meaningful results, why a good agency should ask difficult questions, and why specialist agencies naturally see opportunities through the lens of their own expertise. Most importantly, we look at whether your agency can clearly explain how what it’s doing connects to the commercial objectives of your business.

There’s also the danger of monthly report theatre, lots of graphs, encouraging green arrows and impressive numbers, but very little that actually helps you make a decision. A useful report shouldn’t simply demonstrate that your agency has been busy; it should tell you what happened, why it matters, what you’ve learned and what you’re going to do next.

But there’s an uncomfortable question for the client too.

What if the agency isn’t the problem?

Poor briefs, slow decisions, constantly changing priorities and withholding the commercial information an agency needs can make even a very good agency struggle. Great agency relationships require accountability on both sides.

The episode finishes with a simple five-question test to help you assess your current agency relationship, and what to do before deciding it’s time to find another one.

Because the real question isn’t simply “Is our agency any good?”

It’s whether you’re getting the expertise, challenge and results your business needs and whether you’re being a good enough client to get the best from them.

Marketing, Properly! - practical thinking, straight answers and occasionally the uncomfortable marketing question nobody else wants to ask.

How much should your business spend on marketing?

Ask Google and you’ll find percentages. Ask an agency and you’ll probably get a proposal. Ask your Finance Director and you may get a rather different percentage.
Possibly zero.

In Episode 2 of Marketing, Properly!, strategic marketing consultant Sean Makin tackles one of the most common, and most misunderstood, questions business owners, founders and Managing Directors ask about marketing.

Rather than reaching for a convenient percentage of turnover, this episode looks at a much more useful question: what are you trying to achieve, and what level of marketing investment is realistically required to achieve it?

We explore why industry benchmarks can be useful as a sense check but dangerous as a strategy, why ambitious growth plans need realistic investment behind them, and what should actually be included when calculating your true marketing spend.

There’s also a look at customer acquisition costs, the danger of both under-spending and throwing more money at weak marketing, and a simple Run, Grow and Experiment approach to structuring your budget.

Because there is no magic percentage. A good marketing budget isn’t about spending as much, or as little, as possible. It’s about investing the right amount in the right things for the commercial outcome you’re trying to achieve.

If you’re currently staring suspiciously at a marketing spreadsheet wondering whether you’re spending too much, too little, or simply spending it on the wrong things, this episode is for you.

Marketing, Properly! - practical thinking, straight answers and occasionally the uncomfortable marketing question nobody else wants to ask.

Produced in Scotland.

Do I Actually Need a Marketing Director?

Your business is doing plenty of marketing. You’ve got a website, social media, perhaps an agency, some Google Ads, a CRM with several hundred mysterious features and, somewhere, a marketing plan that nobody has opened since February.

But who’s actually in charge of it all?

In the first episode of Marketing, Properly!, strategic marketing consultant Sean Makin looks at the difference between doing marketing and actually leading it, and asks when a growing business really needs senior marketing leadership.

We explore what a Marketing Director should actually do, the warning signs that your business may have a leadership gap, why an agency isn’t a substitute for strategic direction, and when a Fractional Marketing Director might make more sense than another full-time senior hire.

We also turn the question around, because not every business needs a Marketing Director. Sometimes you need a good marketer. Sometimes you need a specialist. And sometimes you simply need someone senior enough to decide what you should stop doing.

If your marketing is becoming more important, more expensive and increasingly difficult to coordinate, this episode will help you decide whether you need a Marketing Director or whether what you really need is marketing leadership.

Marketing, Properly! — practical thinking, straight answers and occasionally the uncomfortable marketing question nobody else wants to ask.