Rachel Huff’s Post

I recently heard a marketing leader refer to her relationship with her agency as “a marriage, not a fling.” It resonated with me—I’m always talking about the importance of treating agency-client partnerships as long-term relationships. So, how can you nurture them for the long-term? ✅ Set the rules of engagement: From the outset, define what the ideal working relationship looks like. You want everyone on the same page. ✅ Invest in the relationship: Don’t just focus on the work. Building personal connections leads to better collaboration and outcomes. ✅ Be flexible and adaptable: Markets and strategies evolve. Be willing to pivot as needed, and expect the same from your agency. ✅ Communicate frequently and openly: Schedule regular check-ins to discuss progress. But don't forget to pick up the phone in between these check-ins as issues and opportunities arise. ✅ Celebrate successes: Recognize and celebrate wins together. Acknowledging your agency’s hard work creates a positive atmosphere and can help renew their enthusiasm for your business. ✅ Be there in tough times: So, you didn’t hit your campaign KPIs? Don’t take it as a sign that it’s time to part ways. Work through the tough times together, and you’ll come out the other side stronger. Following these steps can turn even a short-term project into a lasting partnership. What other strategies have you found effective?

In a world where brand communication is more complex than ever, collaboration between PR and ad agencies isn't just a nice-to-have—it's mission-critical. Today, the best work comes from those who are willing to play nice in the sandbox and leverage their collective strengths. A recent Cannes panel touched on the value of agencies coming together. OPRG’s CEO Chris Foster captured it perfectly: “At the end of the day we’re trying to solve a problem for our clients, and we need to bring the best tools in the toolbox.” What are your thoughts on the integration of PR and ad agencies? Have you seen success with this approach?

Very cool opportunity at 1440. Their team is a brilliant, genuinely kind bunch and you'd get to work with the illustrious Elizabeth Millstein!

12 signs you cut your teeth in PR? This is what your inbox looks like every morning, and yes, you actually read through each one. Sharing 12 of my go-tos in the comments. Your turn, fellow news junkies: What are the must-reads in your inbox?

Thankful for the opportunity to contribute to Adweek’s latest story on how search consultants are reimagining agency reviews. In the piece, I highlight a major pain point in the industry—RFPs that overemphasize the wrong things, requiring agencies to provide tons of extraneous info and clients to sift through it all: “There are a lot of pain points that all agencies have, and some clients have, as well, around these full-blown, elaborate RFPs that focus on a lot of things that just don’t matter.” Instead, the first step in any search should be deeply understanding the client's business and aligning on the team’s marketing/comms priorities: "I don’t even start talking about potential agencies or start recommending agencies until I feel like I have a really good grasp on their team and their business and all of those other intangibles." What are the latest shifts you’ve seen in the pitch process, either client- or agency-side? Link to Olivia Morley’s full piece below!

Imagine going on a first date and the other person spends the whole time reading their Hinge profile and telling you about their past relationships. Would you opt for a second date? Yet that's how some agencies treat their time with would-be clients. I sit in on a lot of “chemistry check” conversations. More often than I wish to report, agencies go into pitch mode, when they really should be getting to know the clients. The clients are ultimately buying a relationship, and so much of that boils down to how well the teams get along. So, agencies, when you get that much-needed access to the client, use it wisely. And clients, do your part to create an atmosphere that’s less “pitch” and more conversation.

Are my expectations of my agency too high? Are they too low? A marketing leader recently shared that she wasn't sure if her frustrations with her agency stemmed from her own unrealistic expectations. The more she questioned the agency’s performance, the more she started to question herself. Let's talk about some very realistic expectations for your agency partners: ✅ Be proactive. Even if you hired the agency for execution rather than strategy, you can still expect them to be proactive. It’s not enough to be good at taking orders. Must-haves include regular communication, responsiveness, and initiative. ✅ Understand the business. You shouldn’t have to inform them of significant competitor news. It’s their responsibility to speak the language of your business and be up-to-speed on the industry; it’s your responsibility to keep them in the loop on what’s happening behind-the-scenes. ✅ Deliver results that MATTER. You agreed on a strategy and scope of work when you hired the agency. Are they delivering on their promise? It’s not enough to have an ongoing laundry list of activities and results; they have to map back to the strategy you set together. ✅ Ability to pivot. Sometimes the strategy doesn’t work as planned. When unforeseen challenges arise, that’s when you need to have conversations to reassess and adjust as needed. It can be challenging to figure out whether you're experiencing performance issues on the agency’s side or unrealistic expectations on your end. If you’re unsure where your agency stands, reach out and I’d be happy to discuss!

Giving constructive feedback isn't easy, but it's crucial in client-agency relationships. Here are 3 tips to navigate those tough conversations with your agency: ✅ Start with your account lead. Give them the opportunity to course-correct. ✅ Recognize that it's a two-way street. Acknowledge how you've contributed to the situation and work toward an environment of open feedback and transparency. ✅ Escalate to more senior agency leadership (but only once you've given the account team a fair chance). Disagreements and misunderstandings are inevitable. Instead of seeing them as setbacks, use these moments to reinforce and deepen your working relationship. How you handle the tough times can make for stronger, more effective, and longer-term partnerships.

Navigating a new agency partnership in unfamiliar territory? Here’s how to make the most of the relationship when the agency's expertise is outside your comfort zone: 🔍 Build your foundational knowledge Check out industry trade pubs to read up on recent campaigns and case studies. This will build your foundational understanding of how others are succeeding in this new area. 📚 Set up a learning session Arrange a session with your agency where they can walk you through key concepts, recent plans, and success metrics. Think of it as onboarding for you, not just them. 📊 Define specific KPIs together Ask them to explain why the KPIs they’re recommending matter and how they align with your business goals. You’ll likely be deferring to them more in the early stages of the partnership, and that’s OK. 👥 Request training for your team Many agencies are happy to provide training sessions to help bridge clients’ knowledge gaps. It ensures everyone’s on the same page and makes for more informed, better clients! 📰 Stay informed on trends Subscribe to industry newsletters and attend relevant conferences and webinars (your agency can make recommendations here). Staying current on trends will help you better understand the context of the agency’s work. Venturing outside your comfort zone can be challenging, but your agency is there to help you succeed—so don’t be afraid to ask questions and rely on them as a partner! Have you faced a similar situation? How did you manage it?

Communications and PR teams have always faced challenges connecting their work to the company’s bottom line. It’s one of the reasons we’ve unfortunately seen in-house teams and budgets get cut. I recently joined a PR Council webinar on this very topic featuring Johna Burke from AMEC Measurement and Evaluation. Here are a few themes that came up: 🙄 There's a lot of navel-gazing and "grading our own homework." Evaluating efforts only at the end of a campaign (often just to pat ourselves on the back) disconnects us from real outcomes. Establishing short- and long-term impacts early on ensures clear attribution of success. 🙄 Beware of dashboards that serve YOUR needs. Everyone loves a fancy dashboard (Johna called this "dashboard-itis"). But you must show how efforts impact the brand. It’s about outcomes and impacts, not just pretty visuals. 🙄 "An impression doesn't mean anyone was impressed." Your billions of impressions (really?!) mean nothing if they don’t change minds, hearts, and beliefs. It’s the impact on your target audience that truly counts. 🙄 FOFO aka "Fear of Finding Out." The idea that we avoid improving our measurement practices because we subconsciously fear the results. As Kim Sample noted, we DO want to know the impact of PR and comms efforts, but often lack the know-how (and I’ll add: the resources) to measure these accurately. These themes echoed the conversations I’ve been having with communications leaders at both brands and agencies. Many are ready to move from discussing measurement challenges to actually implementing better solutions. Sales pitches aside, please comment below with any resources or tools that are working for you!