Chaos Management in a Digital Agency – how to master it so you can enjoy successful cooperation
How do you choose an agency that will meet your expectations, fulfill its obligations and run a successful digital campaign?
In the era of client experience, we must bear in mind that clients’ requirements are constantly growing, and along with this, they’re seeking ever more specialised marketing agencies.
When deciding to cooperate with an advertising agency, they’re looking for a reliable partner who will help their brand grow and develop, build an engaged community around it, make sure that the audience remembers it and, most importantly, improve its sales results.
It’s no secret that cooperation between the client and the agency needs to be effective and based on mutual understanding in order to create a successful project at the end and let us enjoy successful cooperation.
But what would joint action be without setting the rules for exemplary client service and other processes within the agency itself?
As an experienced digital agency, 1000ideas knows the value of structured and agreed-upon “instructions” for action, which enable us to have everything under control.
What would happen if there were no such processes at all?
This situation can be compared, for example, to a colony of industrious ants, in which each has its own role and a clearly defined task to perform. In their case, a lack of proper organisation of work processes would prevent the ants from building a shelter or gathering food, which would quickly lead to their demise.
The 6 golden rules of chaos management
To tame the chaos, we focus primarily on:
- developing the proper client service standards,
- creating a system of internal processes,
- establishing the shortest possible decision paths,
- traffic management (managing and assigning project tasks to the right people in the team),
- using proven tools for campaign management and production (including our proprietary Dizply),
- communication and regular feedback between the client and the agency.
Internal processes and work standards
Proper client service is now a work standard, but how a digital agency works within its own organisation is equally important.
In order to secure our clients’ peace of mind, we at 1000ideas have created an internal system of processes, which enable us to operate effectively and react quickly to changing circumstances, e.g. during an advertising campaign.
All processes related to client service are focused on effective client service and building partnerships (when all is said and done, we are partners in the true sense of the word! And here you can check the results of our partnership!)
Therefore, even at the stage of signing the contract, we already have clearly defined standards and guidelines that support us in working on the contract and developing the right scope of cooperation, in line with the expectations of both parties.
This internal system is crucial from the client experience perspective. It has a profound impact in terms of ensuring that the project is carried out in accordance with its objectives, without any derailments along the way. This fosters trust and can result in a positive experience as well as long-term cooperation with a given client. After that, it’s just a short step to recommending us to others, which serves as the motivation for us to implement more and more ambitious marketing projects.
When entering into cooperation with us, you can be sure that we will give your project 100% and that tasks are properly distributed within the team. Everyone knows what they’re responsible for, knows the decision paths and knows the progress at each stage of the project – even if someone is absent. If this occurs, the other team members have strictly allocated tasks so that the project can be implemented smoothly and with no obstacles.
Importantly, aside from the fact that the creative team focuses all of its accumulated energy on the project, before the client sees it, it is verified by more than 1 person. This process is aimed at clarifying any potential doubts and making any corrections quickly, avoiding unnecessary stress on both sides, or an endless back-and-forth of revisions and amendments.
In terms of the speed of reacting to any changes during the campaign, it’s also vital to ensure that the project approval decision paths are as short as possible. The fewer people are needed to make changes and corrections, the sooner they can be implemented.
Onboarding new employees
At 1000ideas, we place great importance on the proper onboarding of new employees, which means that we’re able to maintain consistently high standards of work and client service, regardless of who is in charge of a given project.
Another advantage of this approach is that it allows us to minimise or even eliminate undesirable situations or surprises – it’s better to prevent such situations than to react with panic and chaos. Because that’s the key that allows us to enjoy successful cooperation!
In addition, we achieve a very low employee turnover, which also translates into effective project implementation.
Traffic Management
Traffic management guarantees that our creative team is fully focused on working on the project.
This is nothing more than skillful management and distribution of project tasks between members of the creative team, in accordance with the requirements reported by Client Service.
Daily monitoring of completed tasks is the responsibility of the Traffic Manager, who coordinates them on an ongoing basis and, if necessary, makes the required adjustments.
Proven tools
Alongside an internal system of processes, tools for project management and campaign production are an essential element of any digital campaign.
We only use proven tools, which guarantees fast information transfer within the agency and to the client.
In addition to other tried and tested tools, we use our own proprietary tool for digital campaign production – Dizply. This allows us to easily manage the production of digital materials, and the time tracking function ensures better and more effective time management in the project.
At every stage, we can monitor what our team is working on at that particular moment, share information and give quick feedback.
Communication and ongoing feedback
To put it simply – it’s good to talk.
Communication and ongoing feedback are the elements that allow an advertising agency to effectively implement a marketing project. That’s why we’re committed to regular contact between us and the client, whether in the form of phone calls or videoconferences. In the event that part of the digital agency team and/or client’s team is working remotely, a videoconference gives us a bit of the feel of an in-person meeting. After all, it’s easier to receive and provide constructive feedback when we’re face to face.
During the implementation of the project, we’re focused on quick response and ongoing feedback; we prefer to dispel any doubts before they arise. It’s better to anticipate certain facts than to fight fires afterwards, exposing both parties to unnecessary stress.
And if there is anything that requires consultation “stat” – it’s important for the project team to be able to quickly contact the client and let him enjoy successful cooperation.
A remedy for chaos
It’s worth sticking to the principle that “prevention is better than cure”, as well as open communication in cooperation with the marketing agency.
If these are maintained, it bodes well for the development of a solid partnership, long-term cooperation and sure-fire success with 1000i.
