Upping the Investment - How to Get Buy-in for Marketing Agency Support from your C-suite

Day by day, marketers are getting access to ever more tools that can demonstrate the ROI from their investment - but when it comes to C-level approval of new budget for marketing, it still feels like an uphill climb.

In this month’s editorial, we asked our network of agency leaders to share their thoughts on how in-house teams looking to free up budget for external support can successfully gain approval from the top decision-makers in their business, and the role agencies can play when it comes to demonstrating the return on this investment.

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‍Take a look at our calendar of free virtual strategy workshops, designed to tackle the key challenges facing in-house marketing leaders

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How to gain budget approval for external marketing support, and the role agencies can play in showing the value of this investment

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“Selecting an agency that understands your business, and has an understanding of business overall, is imperative.”

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Having agency expertise and up-to-date knowledge is something many in-house marketers long for, but from our client-side experience we know it can be difficult to get board executives to buy into external expertise.

To make this easier, ensure proposals are tied to actual business goals. Selecting an agency that understands your business, and has an understanding of business overall, is imperative.

Having marketing expertise is great, but missing the point of investing in marketing is the differentiator between an agency who will deliver against business objectives the board will use to gauge performance, and one who won’t.

Vanity metrics mean nothing if businesses aren’t seeing the impact, so leaning into an agency that can help you effectively communicate this using business centric information and data driven projections from the outset will make the lives of in-house marketers easier, both in terms of budget sign off, and throughout the campaigns themselves.

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“Talk in their language, leverage the metrics that matter most to them.”

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Aligning with the priorities of the C-Suite. It’s important for in-house marketers to know and communicate how this will contribute to achieving business goals.

Use data to your advantage, provide a cost-benefit analysis, result forecast and return on investment calculation; based on data, previous learnings and successes.

Talk in their language, leverage the metrics that matter most to them. They probably won't care so much for the number of impressions; but if previous data tells us that a certain number of impressions translates into sales, or increased market share - do the calculations.

Agencies, listen to your customer, understand their business, their goals and the priorities of their C-Suite.

Utilise available tools, like Google’s Keyword Planner, SEMRush; alongside the customer’s analytics; to help create the documents that will aid conversations - and share examples.

We have shared goals. As an agency, your success is our success, the journey should be collaborative.

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View our Round-up: 5 Ways to Get More from your Marketing Data

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“We often offer a pilot trial project - a single test that the board can judge. We will always ensure that the business goals are achieved and reported during the trial.”

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We are regularly brought in by organisations who do not contract external support. The first step is to have an advocate who can present the benefits of using an agency to the board.

Often this is based on a pros & cons analysis, considering cost versus results, additional resource and what they can deliver over and above the in-house team.

We often offer a pilot trial project - a single test that the board can judge. We will always ensure that the business goals are achieved and reported during the trial.

The payback is worthwhile. We have just been appointed by a client organisation with whom we started this process 10 years ago! When a good agency sees a genuine fit and synergy, they should go out of their way to invest in you, knowing that they will be well placed to support the business in future.

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“The best way by far to get approval for external support budget is to speak the commercial language, not the marketing language.”

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The best way by far to get approval for external support budget is to speak the commercial language, not the marketing language.

That means couching your argument in commercial terms, which for outsourcing should mean: it will deliver more pipeline and revenue, and/or it will deliver pipeline and revenue faster than it would if we didn't outsource.

That's it - agency and marketer need to work together to make this argument.

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Read: In-housing, Outsourcing, and AI - Optimising your Content Production with New Tech

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“I would highlight how external expertise can address skill gaps, bring innovative perspectives, and enhance efficiency.”

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When seeking budget approval from the board for external digital marketing support, I would emphasize the performance benefits, value add and returns a digital agency can bring.

I would highlight how external expertise can address skill gaps, bring innovative perspectives, and enhance efficiency, ultimately driving superior campaign performance and revenue growth.

I would focus on data-driven arguments, showcasing case studies from the perspective agencies and metrics that demonstrate the success of similar external collaborations.

As an agency, we provide detailed proposals with clear KPIs and measurable outcomes; offering programmes of change or phased engagements that help demonstrate quick wins and build trust.

Additionally, we support in-house teams with robust reporting tools and regular updates, ensuring transparency and illustrating progress. It’s important to align our efforts quickly with the company’s strategic goals and deliver tangible performance improvements around profit.

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Discover: 7 Ways to Get Genuine Stakeholder Buy-in for your Marketing Strategy

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“Emphasize that engaging with an agency is an investment in growth or impact, not merely a budgetary expense.”

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When seeking board approval for external support, in-house teams should keep these three key points in mind:

• Understand Leadership’s Priorities: Adopt the adage, 'The most important thing you can do to make someone interested in you is to be interested in them.' Listen closely to the leadership team’s goals and challenges, and align your proposal to address their specific needs and objectives.

• Frame as an Investment, Not a Cost: Emphasize that engaging with an agency is an investment in growth or impact, not merely a budgetary expense. Highlight the potential return on investment by providing proof points or case studies from the agency.

• Leverage the Agency’s Expertise: Invite the agency to assist in crafting the strategy or writing the brief. Their involvement in presenting the proposal can add credibility and support your internal advocacy efforts.

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The strongest independent agencies will act as an extension of your in-house team, saving you valuable resource, and providing you with industry-leading expertise.”

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An agile independent agency will be adaptable - they'll be able to provide you with a range of investments and consequential payoffs, allowing you to share the scale of opportunity with your stakeholders for the resulting buy-in, rather than an all-or-nothing approach, which can be intimidating especially for new ventures.

To demonstrate ROI, your most important questions for any agency should be of measurement - how do they plug in with your in-house metrics to save you time and add value to your own insights? Will they be providing mid-campaign check-ins to allow room for optimisation?

Providing you with a thorough analysis of the campaign's performance will in turn allow you to evaluate the economics of the campaign against your other marketing channels.

Overall, the strongest independent agencies will act as an extension of your in-house team, saving you valuable resource, and providing you with industry-leading expertise, upweighting your ability to deliver against all marketing channels and objectives.

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“Agencies are very experienced in demonstrating a return on marketing spend but it’s difficult to do well in isolation. A joined-up approach works best every time.”

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Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to work with and support a broad range of successful client-side marketers in justifying and securing the necessary budgets to achieve the best possible ROI.

Companies and personalities vary - as does the budget approval process – but, in my experience, the common theme for success is when Marketing Directors are open and transparent with their agency (or potential agency) about what they are trying to achieve and being open to input from the agency when building a business case or justification.

Too often, clients are reticent to discuss budgets at an early stage with their agency as they believe that the agency will simply push as hard as they can to secure the absolute maximum available.

In reality, agencies are very experienced in demonstrating a return on marketing spend but it’s difficult to do well in isolation. A joined-up approach works best every time.

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If you're seeking external support to bolster your marketing strategy, make sure you're getting the most out of your investment. GO! offer cost-free advice on best-practise, provide independent agency recommendations, pitch management, and more -  get in touch to get started.