Have you ever taken a class, watched a webinar, or read an article on how marketing teams and agencies can work better together? I haven’t.

The sad reality is that no one teaches either side how to work better together.

Yet, our success depends on how well we work together…

That’s why September’s Expert Session tackled this topic in a fireside chat with Adam Hatlak (VP of Marketing Analytics at Fox Communities Credit Union) and Molly Frederickson (Senior Consultant at Blue Door Consulting). They went in-depth on Fox and Blue Door’s 7-year relationship, what makes an effective partnership, and the red flags.

My goal is to share a micro playbook for doing better work together, based on insights from the session (whether you’re from an Agency or a Marketing Team).

Molly gave us an anchor early on: it all starts with the relationship.

At the core of the Agency/Marketing Team relationship are humans. Sure, the agency may have processes (i.e., ways to do things), yet the outcomes hinge mainly on humans. That’s why one team can have a fabulous experience with Agency X, yet another team HATES Agency X. They likely worked with different humans.

Molly’s advice? Connect first on the relational side (i.e., communication), and then focus on the work.

How did this play out in Adam and Molly’s relationship? When Adam joined Fox ≈2 years ago, Molly wasn’t focused purely on results. She took the time and energy to learn about Adam and how to best work with him.

This built trust, opened the door to honest communication, and led to effective outcomes.

For Adam, though, his work was only beginning.

When a marketer joins a team (or gets promoted), they inherit the agency relationship(s). They need to learn who the humans are at that agency, and they also need to assess whether the relationship is working.

And when you work for an organization the size of Fox, Adam’s job was bigger than critiquing only one agency. He inherited a handful of agencies and had to figure out what is and isn’t working.

After doing his due diligence, he found a few agency relationships weren’t working. Blue Door wasn’t one of them. Then he was able to reallocate and focus our efforts on working with the agencies that were (actually) helping us make progress.

In the end, the relationship only matters if you fulfill the reason you were hired. Which brought me back to the impetus for agencies…

Why were “agencies” created? To give organizations agency they didn't have before.

When you work with an agency, you gain agency in a field or domain you didn't have before. This originated in the ad/creative space when most orgs didn’t have creative agency. And has naturally evolved into “hiring AI agency.”

Another simple example is running ads: Many businesses do not have the people or expertise to run a solid paid plan. Instead, they hire that agency/competency out vs hire/build internally.

So if the marketing firm you’re working with isn’t giving you agency, then what’s the point of paying them?

Let's use another lens to drive this home:

Agency is synonymous with a JTBD.

You need to run ads (Job-To-Be-Done) to grow your business (progress), so you hire an agency to do it. Another business may need content written (Job-To-Be-Done), so they hire a content marketing agency to pump out blog posts.

The complex piece? Your JTBD can (and likely will) change.

Meaning: No agency partnership is likely to last forever. If it does, the agency usually has to pivot and offer a new JTBD to help the business move forward. Whether through growth, a new product line, or internal hires, the JTBD you hired an agency for can slightly change.

A simple example: You hire a social media agency (Agency Z) to help you grow your brand on social.

Over your three-year relationship with Agency Z, your company grows, and you can finally hire a marketing manager who will also run social, among other things. Do you still need Agency X? Unlikely.

Now, imagine Agency Q was also a social media agency that focused less on execution and more on strategy. Rather than losing the client, they could shift their offer to focus more on strategy and processes, not pure execution (i.e., we’ll take it off your hands).

While trust (i.e., the relationship) is the floor, executing the JTBD effectively makes the partnership last.

The best way to destroy your relationship? Fail to deliver on the JTBD you were hired for.

Clearly, there are endless examples of relationships falling apart even when an agency flawlessly executes the JTBD. And sure, the company has plenty of onus to collaborate well with the agency. But ultimately, I believe the relationship hinges on delivering on the JTBD.

At least, that’s my take. Which leads into the final section of the session where we shared our (hot) takes. From both the company and agency side. Buckle up!

“When companies say they want ROI, they don’t even know what they’re talking about.”
“Sometimes, agencies should just do the thing (task). And not give a full strategy.”
“When working with marketers as an agency: We don’t want to take your job!”

While we had more agency marketers in the rooms, both sides had equally hot takes. Which then led to useful dialogue about how much of the takes are nuanced.

Sure, we sometimes want the agency to do the thing, yet we also want them to expand us. And while there is a lot of ego from in-house marketers, sometimes agencies show zero respect, and it feels like they want us gone (i.e., our job). The answer is usually in the middle.

The goal of sharing our hot takes and discussing them was to move most people closer to the center and further from the edges. Most members left with more informed takes on how to do the relationship “right.”

My take?

“There is no right agency for every company. Context dictates everything.”

Similar to love relationships, no one person is right for everyone. Agencies are no different.

Some agencies work better with small businesses as they are similarly nimble. Other established organizations prefer larger or more comprehensive agencies.

Even then, those relationships may not work, depending on the humans involved.

The same agency could SUCK for one company and ROCK for another. All because one got Tim (boo!) and the other got Kim (she rocks!) as their strategists.

Yet the underlying principle, establishing trust (i.e., respect) that helps you solve the Job-To-Be-Done(s) you were hired for, almost always leads to positive outcomes. The long-term challenge is pivoting and adapting as things change, a hidden lesson in Fox and Blue Door’s success.

It's also the key to a thriving marriage: Continue falling in love with the person who keeps changing.

There is joy in growing together—as humans and as agencies/companies.

I hope this article has given you tools and mental models to improve the relationship, no matter which side you find yourself on 🧡

And make sure to check out The Midwest Marketing Meetup for future meetups on how Agencies and Marketing Teams can work better together: