7Welcome business owners and decision-makers alike! Today, I’m giving you exclusive access to our team here at LMH. Okay maybe not exclusive, you can walk into our office and any of us would be happy to talk to you. That being said, I’ll be walking around our office speaking with different team members to give you insight from experienced members of the industry. Stick around and you just might learn something.
Account Management
Reagan Rugh
After spending some time working at a law firm, Reagan transitioned into the world of marketing. With now four years of experience, Reagan loves helping businesses grow and enjoys the balance of creativity and logic that marketing requires.
Insight
Reagan believes her work as an account manager is a crucial part of the projects she works on. After speaking with her about the importance of communication she said “communication, at times, can be the single key factor of why a relationship lasts in this industry.” As an office neighbor, I’ve had the privilege of working with Reagan on a daily basis since I was an intern low on the totem pole. (I’m still low on the totem pole, they just pay me more now.) The first thing I noticed about Regan’s style of account management was her accountability and communication, so when I spoke to her about this blog it was no surprise to me that she mentioned the importance of communication.
Key Takeaway
Communication is a crucial part of a successful relationship between marketers and business executives. Successfully getting your point across directly affects your ability to achieve your goals. When communication is a priority between both parties, projects are completed more efficiently, saving you time and increasing your ROI.
Mike Fitzpatrick
Next, I made my way over to Mike. With 8 years of account management experience here at LMH, Mike knows the ins and outs of working with business owners to help communicate their goals to our team.
Insight
When I asked Mike what he felt the most important thing about working with clients was he replied “one of the most important things for me is my relationship with clients. I’m always like “what’s up, let’s go grab a burger.” He values personal relationships and the benefits that come with them, such as trust. Mike knows that transparency is a key factor in relationships. He creates monthly reports for CPC (cost per click), website traffic, top pages of clients’ websites visited, and more for each of his clients. The result? Long-lasting relationships. Mike encourages clients to take advantage of new technology like heat maps. Heat maps show you where you’re losing visitors on your website. A heat map report provides key insight into the optimization of your website. In marketing, it’s important to take advantage of every opportunity for improvement.
Key Takeaway
When you’re hiring marketing agencies to grow your business, an excellent relationship has a higher ROI than any investment you could make. When a solid relationship exists between a business executive and an account manager, it makes it easier for both parties to trust each other and help each other achieve their goals.
Photography & Videography
Next, I made my way upstairs where I found Geoff.
Geoff Braugh
6 years ago, Geoff picked up a camera professionally and never put it down. As a partner of LMH, Geoff knows how to work a camera at a professional level to give clients what they need.
Insight
When I asked Geoff what was important about custom photography he told me “custom photography makes your website and social media stand out from the crowd.” After further discussion, he added “brand cohesiveness is important. Hiring one agency that develops your brand guidelines, website, and photography will ensure cohesiveness.”
Custom photography will help you stand out on your website through headshots, custom office photos of your team, and more. The right website photos help your customers feel like they know you.
Key Takeaway
Custom photography is an essential part of your marketing efforts. If you’re looking for an extended list of marketing services, be on the lookout for an agency that can cover all of it to ensure consistent branding.
Sean Whitmore
Sean first got his start in the production world after dropping out of college. He had a love for music and music production and knew that he could provide valuable content to artists. After realizing how difficult it was to navigate in that industry of production, Sean decided to switch over to commercial work, which is what he’s been doing for the past 10 years.
Insight
Sean was another office neighbor of mine for some time. When I asked him why clients value his work he told me the work he does is “like having a stranger come to your home, their first impression walking in is everything, if it’s cluttered, unorganized, and doesn’t look very good people make judgments. However, if it’s clean, tidy, and looks presentable with great design and is intriguing people align with it and are more likely to stay and become friends with you.” Sean added “clients can expect a very structured, realistic approach with our work that will be well thought out, cinematic, and story-driven. Story is the biggest key to everything that I do.”
Key Takeaway
When I asked Sean what executives should be cautious of, he told me “when brands are looking for a video producer they will run into a few different options, 1. Freelancer- these are great and cost-effective but lack strategy and bandwidth. 2. Production house- Production houses specialize in video production, which is awesome, however, lack an overall marketing strategy. 3. Agency- An agency will have resources to accommodate the overall marketing strategy that produces full campaigns to bring the brand vision to life which includes but isn’t limited to video production. Luckily with our agency, we have an in-house video production department as we started off solely doing video production.”
Website Design and SEO
After speaking with Sean, I whipped out my phone and gave Chris a ring.
Chris Wielinski
After working at an advertising agency in 2010, Chris began his own agency in 2011. As a LMH Partner, Chris specializes in search engine marketing, which is designed to drive traffic to client’s websites, thus driving revenue and business growth. Chris noted that experience is a key factor in both of these departments.
Insight
Chris takes pride in our agency’s web design and SEO services. With over 10 years of experience, Chris noted that it was important for business owners to watch out for inexperienced SEO agencies adding, “Most agencies push their labor offshore, but you get what you pay for. Offshore labor does not understand the US market as well and there is a huge difference versus using in-house labor. Making sure an agency is experienced in SEO and web design is a must to make sure your project is completed correctly.”
Key Takeaway
Make sure that you are hiring an experienced SEO company that knows how to work in the market you are located in.
Graphic Design
Next. I made my way back upstairs to speak with one of our graphic designers, also named Chris.
Chris Harrison
Chris entered the world of graphic design by creating t-shirts, fliers, logos, and more for his band over 10 years ago. He has experience creating graphic assets for clients of all sizes.
Insight
After over 10 years working in graphic design, Chris knows that it’s key for people to have something to attach themselves to. Chris provides just that. “If you have a symbolic culture that people can attach themselves to you will be more successful,” he said. Chris’s work in graphic design is an essential step in bringing our client’s branding to life. His ability to create consistency in client’s visual branding is impressive.
Key Takeaway
A marketing agency without a quality graphic designer isn’t really a marketing agency. Make sure you’re doing the proper research into who you’re working with and the members of their team. When it’s time to bring your visual branding to life, you’ll want an experienced designer at your disposal.
Danny Braught
Last but not least I spoke with Danny Braught, one of the founders of LMH.
After working at another agency for a few years, Danny began his own national magazine publication. After clients began requesting projects that were outside the publication’s scope, Danny decided to start LMH.
Insight
When I asked Danny about what clients should expect from our work he said, “Our work helps clients grow by assisting them in telling the story of the business for branding purposes as well as following it up with proven marketing and advertising strategies that deliver new leads to their businesses.” He added, “Customers can expect our team to treat their business like it is their own and do what is in the best interest of the client and help guide them through the process of growing their business.”
Danny added that businesses should ask agencies they are interviewing questions about their culture, specialties, transparency, and communication to determine whether or not they are a good fit. Another important question to ask is who retains ownership of accounts. Some agencies will lock you in by holding ownership of various accounts, making it difficult and sometimes impossible to move forward without them, especially in the case of a strained relationship.
Final Thoughts
If you’re looking for an advertising and marketing agency, make sure to have a full understanding of who you could be working with. Always do proper research and don’t be afraid to ask questions. Upon selecting an agency, make sure that they are putting the effort in to build a transparent and genuine relationship with your business. If you have any questions about any of the services we offer or projects we have worked on in the past, don’t hesitate to get in touch with any of us here at LMH! If you found this blog to be helpful, check out other blogs from our team here.
