When a Marketing Agency is the Perfect Fit

Looking for a marketing agency that is the perfect fit for your business might be as simple as finding one that is the ideal fit for its employees. Not sure what I mean? Read on.

In Search of Happiness

If you're like me, you want to be as happy as you are with your work as you are with where you work. Not surprisingly these two things often go hand-in-hand. As I've journeyed through life, I've had the fortune of working in a surprising amount of industries, every one different from the others. When you get your first summer job at 14 years old, go to college for journalism and get an M.F.A. in film production you end up in a lot of interesting places. I've stood on top of mountains in the winter while working in the ski resort industry, and I've spent time on the sets of award-winning films. I've done it all in the pursuit of being happy in my career.

When I like what I'm doing work doesn't feel like work. So, it's no surprise that I've found happiness in the form of marketing. It's an industry that combines many of the skills that I've utilized at past jobs. Of course, there is the creative aspect of marketing, but there is also a detailed analytical element and the two feed off of each other. Additionally, there is the ability to interact with clients and learn about the industries that they exist within. Marketing is an industry that allows you to put on the shoes of people in thousands of businesses. Heck, on a Monday you might find yourself researching the struggles of auto mechanics followed by reading about the best selling beer in a particular area.

Third Times the Charm

I've worked for two other marketing agencies previous to SMA. Full disclosure, the first agency I worked for didn't require a lot of "marketing" from me. After my second agency experience, I was pretty sure marketing was not for me. However, I had been talking with Ryan Shelley, founder of SMA, for a few months and figured I'd give his agency a shot. Swish!

If happiness is my goal then working at SMA was the right move for me. So how did I know that SMA and I were a good fit? Well, there a few things I can highlight. The first is the owner. Ryan probably doesn't want to read this but working for him has been a dream. He treats the SMA team as humans capable of great things and understanding that they are also capable of mistakes.

Agency + Happy Employees = The Agency You Want To Work With

But you might not be looking to work in marketing. Chances are you found this article while looking for a marketing agency to help your business. So, how is this all relevant to you? Well, when an agency has happy employees it usually means good things for its clients. A big thing I've noticed since coming to SMA is that when the owner respects their clients behind closed doors, the employees will share that respect for them and the client benefits.

The second thing that SMA does that makes it a great place to work should be something every agency does, but I know they all don't. SMA gets results for clients. Real, actual, tangible results. At the last company, I worked for a client might pay us for X, Y & Z so we would do X, Y & Z. There was no need to get actual results because we were doing the work we were paid to do. So, you can imagine my surprise and ultimately my pleasure in finding myself at SMA where if a client wanted to pay us for work that we did not think would benefit them we would not take their money until we spoke with them about the work and explained to them what we would recommend instead. As an employee, it's fun to work with people that make you feel good about the work you do. It's fantastic to work for a boss that goes above and beyond for their clients too.

Finding a place of employment that continually feels like a good fit is the best feeling. Hopefully, if you are out there looking for work, you can use this story as a guideline. Look for the things I've highlighted when interviewing at agencies. Remember, the best place to work is the place that brings the best out of you. And, if you are looking for an agency to hire, make sure you look at their employees.

Source: When a Marketing Agency is the Perfect Fit