01/31/25

When One Door Closes: How to Choose a New Marketing Agency

Your business isn’t just budgets and spreadsheets, it’s your passion, your livelihood, your legacy — maybe you even think of it as your baby. So, selecting a marketing and advertising agency to be your partner isn’t a decision you make lightly, and it’s even more important to make the right choice if your current agency is closing its doors for good.

What happens to all that work still in progress? How do you navigate any ongoing contracts? Do you own the creative assets and can just pass them along to another agency? Can another agency accurately recreate the look and feel of your current campaigns?

Yes. You just need to pick the right one.

If you’ve recently learned that your ad agency is closing, things are probably feeling urgent. But don’t worry: transitioning to a new agency doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Here’s how to make sure you choose the right agency for your brand’s needs.

What to Do When Your Ad Agency Closes

The first thing to remember when your agency partner closes is that speed is key. The sooner you start addressing the situation, the easier the transition will be.

Of course, your previous agency should be on top of walking you through this entire process, but it’s always good to know what needs to happen on your side, too, so you can avoid any gaps in your marketing efforts.

Secure Your Assets

Make sure you have access to everything you’ve paid for! Know how to get to all your digital files including logos, graphics, copy, websites and all ongoing campaigns. And just having a list of your assets isn’t enough: confirm that you have the necessary credentials to log in and save everything. You should also make sure that you own the rights to all the materials your agency has created for you, so you’re safe to pass it onto a new digital marketing agency.

Then, review any active contracts or obligations you have with the agency — they should be able to help you understand anything that seems confusing.

Reach Out

Hopefully you have a comfortable relationship with your account team. Talk to them about the transition and ask how any ongoing projects or campaigns will be handled.

Start Planning Next Steps

Once you feel confident in how you’ll offboard with your current agency, it’s time to start evaluating potential new partners. Keep in mind that you aren’t just looking for great marketers, but great marketers who can act as a bridge between your current efforts and any new ideas they may have to take you to the next level.

How to Choose the Right Marketing Agency

When it’s time to leave your marketing agency, you’ll need to think about what you truly need from a new partner. Choosing the right marketing agency is the only way to ensure a smooth transition and the future success of your brand.

Assess Your Business Needs

Think about what worked (and what didn’t) in your previous partnership. Are you looking for an agency that provides high-level strategic marketing, or do you want to continue your current campaigns without any changes?

Envision the big picture here: creative ability is essential, but picking an integrated marketing team with the ability to build and execute long-term plans like organic social media, SEO and lead generation campaigns gives you a wealth of future options for that creative genius to shine.

Compatibility with Your Brand

Choose an agency that understands your industry and can represent you authentically. If they’ve never worked with a company that works the same way as yours, they’re operating at a disadvantage.

Their team should have the expertise and passion to represent your company authentically, values included.

Key Advertising Agency Selection Criteria

• Experience and expertise. Look for agencies with a proven track record in the services and industry you need. Experience in your vertical can mean a shorter ramp-up time and fewer mistakes in understanding your business objectives. Working with a team that deeply understands diverse fields like finance, insurance, energy, events and B2B marketing gives you a head start on getting results.
• Cultural fit. Ideally, your agency should feel like an extension of your team. Are their values and communication styles aligned with yours?A strong relationship with your marketing agency leads to smoother collaboration over time.
• Results-driven approach. As fun as the planning can be, ad agencies should be ultimately focused on results. You want an agency that’s focused on delivering measurable outcomes and can prove it with award-winning campaigns and case studies.
• Transparency and communication. Make sure the agency is transparent about its processes, pricing and expected outcomes. Regular communication and updates are key to maintaining a healthy working relationship. If you feel like you can’t ask questions or get a straight answer, it might not be the best match.
• Modern technology and tools. Things move fast in marketing. You want to be partnered with a marketing firm that uses cutting-edge tech for analytics and managing campaigns. Embracing the future is the only way to not get left behind.

Responsibilities of Your New Ad Agency

A good agency doesn’t just follow the blueprint your previous partner left behind.

A marketing firm that prioritizes success takes the time to develop a comprehensive marketing strategy based on your current goals, create and execute creative campaigns across multiple channels, analyze and report on campaign performance with actionable insights and collaborate with your internal people to get feedback and align on objectives.

If that’s not the experience you had before, think of it as a win: because when you work with a new marketing agency, the difference in outcomes will be day and night. At OBI Creative, we consider that kind of thoughtful consideration a standard for excellent work that drives leads and gets results: all the best marketing agencies do.

Your old agency closing may feel like a setback, but it’s also an opportunity to find a fresh partner who can take your brand to new heights! By making moves now, you’ll be in a strong position to build a lasting relationship with an agency that’s right for you.

And maybe that’s us! We specialize in the kind of seamless transitions and results-driven marketing strategies that can ease your mind and boost your bottom line — let’s talk about how we can help your business move forward.

Ready to see how OBI can help you navigate your agency transition into something even better? Let’s get started.