Why an agency should be your business case partner

You may have experienced the struggle of formulating a brief for an agency when you’re not entirely sure what the work needs to look like. You may have a vague idea of the outcome you want, such as increased sales, better website visibility, or more traffic, but you’re not sure how to achieve it.?

Or perhaps you know exactly what it is you need to do, but you aren’t sure of how to justify the project in the hard commercial terms your CFO, CEO, or other senior stakeholders need to see before they sign things off. This can be especially true of projects that won’t have an immediate pay off.?

Businesses often approach agencies before securing a budget or board approval, making it difficult to finalise plans without a clear understanding of what’s needed. This has the knock-on effect of making proposals feel like they’re not grounded in solid commercial sense that supports wider business objectives. And this scrutiny gets even tighter when the economy is down or a business is watching its budget.?

However, agencies can be your ally in unlocking progress. By understanding your business objectives and goals they can help you write a business case that proves the project will do more than hit some vanity KPIs.?

How can an agency help you to write a business case?

When it comes to convincing stakeholders, agencies can help you in four key areas.

1. Understanding the wider business and set goals

To ensure your project aligns with your business objectives, the agency needs to understand the wider business, not just the marketing function. For example, if your business is focusing on retention rather than expansion, the agency can tailor its efforts accordingly.

When investing in a new website, it’s essential to understand how your customers are using the site. Is it a place to purchase products, or do they use it to learn more about your services? By understanding your customer’s behaviour, an agency can help you achieve your marketing objectives.

When FTSE 250 business Kainos came to us looking for a?new digital experience, discovery and research was an integral first step in the project. We undertook interviews with internal stakeholders and customers to ensure we had a full understanding of how the business works, the customers and their journeys and what their current sales cycle looked like.?

2. Understanding the data

To ensure that your marketing efforts are effective, the agency can help set up proper tracking and data analysis tools. With the help of?GA4 training, the agency can help each team member analyse data effectively. It’s also important to understand what results each area of the business would like to report on, so you know the most important metrics for success. With understanding and insights formulated from the data you can underpin your business case with robust facts that support your plans.?

3. Formulating a roadmap

To ensure that your marketing efforts are aligned with your business goals, the agency can help formulate a roadmap. By prioritising the most important tasks first, the agency can balance your budget and time effectively.

When Heinz came to us in 2020 looking to?rapidly build out an ecommerce site?in response to the COVID 19 pandemic, it was imperative that we quickly mapped out what their launch would look like and which tasks needed to be prioritised. By meticulously planning this project in a short space of time, we were able to ensure the launch was a huge success from day 1.?

A clear project roadmap is essential when writing a business case, as it shows senior stakeholders that the project has clear defined milestones that will keep it on track.?

4. Planning out tasks

In an ideal world, everyone would have the time to focus on the project. But, unfortunately, that’s not realistic. The agency can help you lay out the necessary tasks and what resources each party will contribute.?

For example, setting up “ask SEO” inboxes for team members can help free up time to focus on longer-term strategy and planning. These have been a really handy tool to implement?with the Sainsbury’s group, as it allows teams to get answers to questions quickly, and frees up department managers to focus on longer term strategy instead of worrying about day to day firefighting.?

Why a good business case and plan is essential for success

As much as this approach may seem like it’s going to add extra time to projects, undertaking this work with your agency is a hugely beneficial exercise for many reasons, including:

1. Everyone is on the same page from the start.

By establishing clear goals, deliverables, and tasks required, everyone involved is on the same page from the start. This helps avoid misunderstandings and miscommunications throughout the project. This type of true partnership is the key to unlocking digital progress.?

2. You can save money in the long run.

While there may be an initial upfront cost, having a clear business case and roadmap can help ensure that projects are more efficient in the long run. This can save you money and prevent you from wasting resources on unnecessary tasks.

3. Marketing activities can be seen as a necessity.

By translating your marketing efforts into tangible results, such as revenue increases, you can demonstrate the value of your marketing activities to stakeholders. This can help justify your marketing budget and activities during times of financial strain.

Working with an agency can help support your business case by understanding your business objectives, analysing data, formulating a roadmap, and planning out tasks. By establishing clear goals and expectations from the start, everyone involved can work towards achieving the desired outcome efficiently and effectively.

Want to know more about how we can partner with you to unlock digital progress for your business??Contact us today.