4 things you wish you knew before hiring an agency

You’ve decided you want to hire an agency to help run your campaign or engage your members. But do you know what to look for? 

Here are 4 things you should know about a prospective agency before deciding to hire them. 

1. Are their staff unionized? 

Many agencies burn through staff with unrealistic workloads, deadlines, and limited benefits.

But when you work with a unionized agency, you know the people doing the work are being treated fairly. That means secure and permanent full-time roles, wages that are firmly above the cost of living, paid overtime, generous paid time off, health benefits, strong focus on workplace wellness, and a positive culture. 

Employers invest in full-time staff more than they do in contractors. Supporting full-time, permanent work helps make the advertising industry better for everyone. 

2. Do they outsource their work? 

Most agencies contract at least some of their work out, especially in busy seasons. But too much outsourcing is definitely not to your advantage as a client, and it’s not good for workers either.

Relying heavily on subcontractors perpetuates precarious gig work. You won’t know whether the contractors are being treated fairly. Even if the agency pays their staff well, subcontractors typically don’t receive the same benefits and job security as permanent staff. Many of them start as term contractors with the promise of permanent roles that never materialize.

Not only that, but too much subcontracting often means higher costs for you and your union. Subcontractors charge fees that then get marked up by the agency, and that means more of your hard earned dues get spent unnecessarily. 

Lastly, subcontractors don’t get to know you, your goals, and your campaigns as well as the dedicated agency staff. Because contractors are two steps removed, their level of commitment to your project is never the same. When you work with a permanent team you get access to a cohesive group that’s been brought together strategically to maximise results.

3. Are they a full-service agency?

A full-service agency provides a complete set of services. That means they have the means to implement expert strategies that deliver measurable results for your campaign.

Whether it’s meant to persuade and engage the public or mobilize members, there are all kinds of facets to a good campaign. Some agencies offer more services than others, and while it’s possible to mix and match agencies to get the services you need, it’s preferable to have your campaign built and delivered by the same team.

To make the right choice for your campaign, it’s worth considering what services are required to meet your goals. Even if you’re not sure, you can ask prospective agencies what they offer and what they recommend. Strategy, creative concepting, design, media buying and planning, email marketing, digital organizing–you might need some or all of these to run a successful campaign. If you can find them all under one roof, you’re a big step ahead.

4. Do they do spec work before taking you through their discovery process?

Spec work isn’t good for anyone, and that’s especially true for workers. Spec work almost always means that someone somewhere isn’t getting paid for their work. For us, that’s enough of a reason to be opposed to spec work entirely. But there’s more. 

Not only is spec work unfair to workers, but it reduces campaigns to a hit or miss approach. Taking a shot in the dark is a waste of resources–even the most creative campaign can fall flat if it doesn’t reach the right people with the right message at the right time. 

Far too often, the spec creative process emphasises pleasing you first and your audience second. A spec campaign is typically based on preconceived notions and personal experience rather than tangible research. Spec campaigns undermine and devalue the education, experience, and expertise of the professionals developing the campaign. Most importantly, spec campaigns lack proper long-term strategy and often result in mediocre work.

That’s why it’s so important to prioritize strategy and research before diving into creative work. 

A red flag for an agency that doesn’t value strategy is if they start spec work before conducting a discovery session with you. If an agency thinks they can come up with a solution without first getting to know you, your goals, and the problem you need solved, then that’s a sign the agency is throwing darts while blindfolded. 

When you work with an agency that takes strategy seriously, they’ll make sure they understand your organization, your campaign goals, and what success means to you before they even get started on concepting. There’ll also be the option to consider polling, member opinion surveys, data analysis, key informant interviews, and qualitative focus groups to help understand where your audience spends their time and what they engage with. This strategy-first approach ensures research-driven insights help deliver work that’s smarter, more targeted, and more impactful.

So, what kind of agency SHOULD you hire?

Your cause and your organization deserve an agency with good, clear answers to all of the questions listed above. If an agency can’t answer these questions satisfactorily, or if they avoid answering them all together, then that’s a red flag. 

At Point Blank, we’re committed to all four of the points on this list because we know they drive better results. 

• Point Blank is one of Canada’s only fully unionized agencies. We offer 50+ permanent, full-time jobs instead of relying only on subcontractors, perpetuating precarious gig work, or paying to use a union bug. 
• Point Blank is Canada’s largest progressive full-service agency comprised of the best strategists, campaigners, media buyers, and creatives from across the country–and they’re all employed full-time under one roof. 
• We offer in-house media buying with no double-charging and some of the lowest commission rates in the industry, so your members’ dues go up to 30% further.
• We have long standing working relationships with unions, progressive political parties, and non-profit organizations across the country. That’s because we only work with organizations and causes we believe in. We’re not in it to chase awards–impact work is our expertise.
• We use a strategy-first approach informed by data and research-driven insights to deliver campaigns that are smarter, more targeted and more impactful.

Want to learn more about Point Blank and the work we do? Click here. 

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