The relationship between client and agency is somehow bit complexed. Some people say it’s like marriage, needs a lot of work to develop and needs to be based on mutual consensus, understanding and some happiness as well from both ends.

Well, let’s admit, for most digital marketers and agency owners, the process could be really hard, time-consuming, and energy consuming as well. There is a wide range of matters to think about and matters to consider. However, we will try to simplify it here by breaking it down into a couple of steps. Just check out the coming list.

1- It all starts with onboarding the client

First of all, you should make sure by all means that the client isn’t having cold feet in this very specific phase. It is really important to diminish all his fears and make him really convinced about the company’s and team’s capability to fulfil all his goals. Of course, there must be an extended discussion about these goals, but we will come to this later.

It’s better to set out the main roles and responsibilities of each end in the first meeting right after shaking the client’s hands. There must be a timeline, a set of expectations, and also very important, a defined mean of communication and a defined alternative to it. This is really important, the client must know that he could not contact the work team directly, communication takes place through a certain specific channel.

After the initial meeting, there must be a series of other meetings where the full project team will show up, hopefully only this time, and discussions will take place about the client’s needs and expectations whether he is looking for web design services or a full package of digital marketing and branding services.

2- Performance measurement

Along with setting goals and expectations, the initial phases should include also defining a vivid mean of measuring performance. Based on the goals agreed on, there will be certain number of standards of client’s satisfaction, these standards are going to be the reference whenever there is a conflict between the client and the agency concerning performance.

Also, it’s very important to set priorities and timeline for each task so the client can expect when and how long it is going to take him to reach his business goals. Sticking to these timelines is definitely a crucial factor in the client’s satisfaction.

3- Transparency

Digital marketing agencies need to have a complete picture about their client’s numbers, data, and performance rates. All this information weigh in during the study and research phase and they really share in creating a success.

Marketers need to have access to the social media platforms where they are going to undergo social marketing campaigns. They need access also to the website’s backend as well as its analytics. Moreover, they should be granted access to any available customer relationship system and automated marketing platforms.

4- It’s more like a partnership

Partnership concepts should be pinned in your client’s head, viewing a digital marketing agency as a vendor or a service provider is a common misconception that needs to be changed.

The digital marketing agency is only an extension of the client’s marketing team, it should be viewed like this. A part of his success and a part of his daily operations.

As a matter of fact, the whole successful mutual understanding and long term relationships between agencies and clients start with trust. The client must trust the agency’s capabilities, while the agency must trust believe in the client’s goals and means.