Start Strong: Partnering with a Design Agency for Startups
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Octavia Cephalo
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Partner with a design agency that resonates with startups. Explore useful criteria for comparing B2B service providers to find the best fit.
A startup comes with many moving parts, especially marketing and branding.
It’s now more important than ever to differentiate yourself from competitors. One of the best ways of doing so is through how you design your marketing.
Fortunately, design agencies can do the heavy lifting. Today, we’ll explore what goes into partnering with an expert design team.
Table of Contents
What Is A Design Agency?
A design agency is a company that specializes in creating design materials. Some examples include printed materials, digital assets, branding templates, ad banners, and more.
These types of agencies handle all your design and branding needs at various pricing structures (depending on your needs).
Design services are critical to successful B2B marketing since they give your offerings a unique and eye-catching look.
Let’s look deeper into the value of hiring a design agency.
What A Design Agency Adds To Your Company
1. Cost Savings
Hiring a graphic design team can be more cost-efficient than having a full-time internal design employee.
You also benefit from leveraging multiple types of design services at any time. In comparison, a full-time designer may only have a few particular skill sets around design.
As you save on costs, you can invest leftover capital in other areas of your startup.
2. Time Saved
Whether creating designs yourself or finding the right freelance designer, both can take time.
A proven design agency saves hiring time by already having the design experience, track record, testimonials, and processes to make hiring decisions easy. This is one of the few reasons B2B leaders turn to Compelify for their design needs.
From a project execution standpoint, The right agency may also have a faster turnaround for bigger projects. Faster turnaround is achieved by already having the necessary internal hires to handle more complex work (e.g., graphic designs, copywriters, editors, UX designers, creative directors, etc.)
3. Credibility And Trust
75% of clients rate a business’s credibility based on their web design. And 94% of people believe their first impression of a company is design-related.
First impressions go a long way when establishing trust with your potential clients. The better your marketing assets look, the more professional your brand becomes.
An experienced and professional design agency gives your company the professional brand identity it needs to showcase.
This trust your startup builds helps in converting more leads into clients. A survey found that more than 80% of customer consider trust a deciding factor in their buying decisions
4. More Effective Marketing
Outstanding designs do the critical work of capturing the attention of potential leads. Whether it’s an ad, banner, or video, your marketing efforts may see a heftier ROI with a professional design agency.
With design agencies also being cost-efficient, what you invest is easier on your bottom line.
Where Do You Find Design Agencies?
Here are 3 proven strategies for finding a talented design agency to work with.
Digital Service Marketplaces
Service platforms allow agencies to list their services, capabilities, reviews, and more all in one place. Here are service platforms to consider:
- Upwork
- Fiverr
- Guru
- ServiceScape
Remember to prioritize platforms that show the most transparency. For example, Compelify is a design agency for startups primarily serving clients via Upwork.
Clients can find Compelify and comb through past projects, reviews, and more information to make an informed decision.
Social Media
There are a plethora of design agencies posting across social media. You can get a first-hand look at their work through their posts.
Here are 3 social media platforms to begin your search with:
Agency Directories
Online listing websites show a host of local and global design agencies. Some websites may provide more detailed information than others. Here are reputable directories to consider:
- Yelp
- GoogleMyBusiness
- Clutch
- Credo
- Agency Spotter
- Digital Agency Network
How To Choose The Best Design Agency: A 5-Step Checklist
Here are 7 simple steps for choosing the best design agency for your B2B startup.
1. Get Clear On Your Design Goals
Start by clearly outlining what project(s) you want done. Think about:
- The end result you’re envisioning
- Scope of work (how much you want your design agency to do)
- Timeline of completion
A good practice is to create a project description sheet.
This document should contain all the information potential design agencies must know about your project(s) before they speak to you or bid. You can also repurpose this document when posting on a digital service marketplace.
2. Create Evaluation Criteria
Think about what you want your design agency to have expertise in. Perhaps it’s website UI, UX, copywriting, and graphic design. Create a list of skill attributes you’d like in a design partner, from technical to soft skills.
From there, add a scale to each attribute (e.g., 1-5 or 1-10). As you evaluate agencies, this will make it easier to pick the best one for you
3. Speak To Multiple Design Partners
Speak to 3-5 agencies to get a decent sample size.
As you engage these agencies, you can compare their strengths and weaknesses and score them using your criteria. Remember to ask detailed questions about service capabilities, communication, and turnaround times to keep things as transparent as possible.
4. Narrow down And Choose
At this point, you’ve spoken to and evaluated a pool of design agencies. Based on your criteria and what they’ve shared, narrow down and choose the agency that best fits your needs.
5. Build An Ongoing Relationship
Your hired agency can be a go-to design partner for years to come.
Be sure to build an ongoing relationship with your chosen agency by keeping open lines of communication.
Having an established relationship is especially helpful if your startup needs speedy turnaround times on last-minute projects in the future. This agency may prioritize your project or make room to accommodate your deadline.
Final Wrap-Up of Design Agencies For Startups
Design agencies help your startup build credibility and trust at speed. Doing so sharpens your marketing for more success while saving you time and capital.
Choosing the best design agency doesn’t have to be difficult, especially with Compelify, a proven design agency specializing in graphic design, video editing, copywriting, website design, and more.
Want to learn more about the Compelify advantage? Contact us today
