The short answer
In most cases, yes. Without your own strategy, an agency's plan tends to match its services rather than your needs, and you have no way to judge its work. A short, fixed-fee strategy gives you an ideal client, a core message and a 90-day plan you can brief any agency with, and you keep it if you change agencies later.
Hiring an agency feels like progress. There is a team, a kickoff call and a calendar of deliverables. Six months later many owners are looking at reports full of activity and wondering what has actually changed.
The cause is rarely bad work. More often the agency was hired before anyone decided what the marketing was supposed to do.
What happens when the agency comes first
- The plan matches the agency's services. A paid-ads agency recommends ads. A content agency recommends content. That is not dishonest, it is simply what they know how to sell.
- You can't judge the work. Without a target audience, a core message and a few agreed numbers, there is no way to say whether a campaign worked.
- The agency's account team becomes your strategist. Strategy turns into something done in spare minutes between deliverables.
- Switching agencies means starting over. If the thinking lives with them, it leaves with them.
What a strategy gives you before you sign
With a strategy in hand, you are hiring an agency to carry out decisions you have already made. You can give them:
- A clear description of your ideal client.
- A core message to build every ad, page and post on.
- The customer journey, so they know which stage each piece of work serves.
- Ranked priorities, so they work on what matters first.
- A short scorecard, so you both know what success looks like.
That brief also makes agency proposals easier to compare, because every agency is answering the same question.
"Isn't strategy what the agency is for?"
Some agencies do excellent strategy. Many offer it as a step in the sales process, built around the services they want to provide. Two questions will tell you which kind you are talking to: would they recommend you spend less with them if that were the right answer? And do you keep the strategy if you leave?
For more on how the roles differ, see fractional marketing agency vs fractional CMO.
When it's fine to hire an agency first
- You already have a strategy you trust, and you need hands to carry it out.
- The job is narrow and clear, such as managing a proven ad campaign or fixing a technical website problem.
- The work is pure production, such as a video or photography for an offer whose message is already settled.
How to do it without a long delay
Strategy doesn't have to hold you up for months. A focused engagement takes four to eight weeks, and you can line up agency conversations while it is finished.
- Get the strategy done first. Strategy First takes 30 to 45 days and costs $5,000.
- Turn it into a brief. Ideal client, message, priorities and the numbers you will judge success by.
- Give every agency the same brief. Compare their answers, not their pitch decks.
- Keep someone senior on your side. A fractional CMO can direct the agency, review its work and hold it to the plan.
That last step is what our middle retainer tier is for: we lead your team, including outside vendors, while they do the work. Details are on the fractional CMO services page.
Frequently asked questions
Should I hire a marketing agency or a strategist first?
In most cases, the strategist first. A strategy gives you a brief to hire against and a way to judge the agency's work. The exception is a narrow, well-defined job where the strategy is already settled.
Can a marketing agency create my marketing strategy?
Some can and do it well. Check whether the strategy is tied to their services, whether they would recommend spending less with them if that were right, and whether you keep it if you leave.
How long does a marketing strategy take before hiring an agency?
A focused strategy for a small business usually takes four to eight weeks. Strategy First takes 30 to 45 days, and you can start agency conversations while it is being finished.
What should I give a marketing agency before they start?
Your ideal client, your core message, the customer journey, your ranked priorities and the few numbers you will measure them by. Together that is a brief any good agency can work from.
Who manages the agency once it's hired?
Someone senior on your side should. That can be you, an in-house marketer or a fractional CMO who directs the agency, reviews its work and keeps it to the plan.
Stephen Conley
Founder of The fCMO Agency and Gisteo, and a Certified Duct Tape Marketing advisor.
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