A Q&A with Lindsey Wilkes on Finding the Right Partner
By Calvin Scharffs
Most growing brands eventually hit a point where their marketing teams can’t keep up with the demands of the business. This isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s proof of success. The easy wins are gone, and finding new customers means expanding into new channels and trying new tactics.
At that point, you have two options: build out your internal team or find a partner to work alongside you, providing expertise when and where you need it. Both routes carry risks, however. Hiring is expensive and time-consuming. Finding people with the right skills is hard and attrition is always a possibility.
But working with an agency can be equally risky if you choose the wrong one. Onboarding takes time, and the most efficient way to work with outside resources is to make sure you’ve picked a partner who can meet your needs today and grow with you tomorrow.
We sat down with Lindsey Wilkes, SVP of Business Development, to talk about how to make the right choice, and how our Choosing the Right Digital Agency: A Buyer’s Guide can help.
CS: Why do brands choose the wrong partner for their needs?
LW: This is a common problem. Often, teams have invested so much time and energy into making the relationship work that they stick with an agency that isn’t a good fit.
The best way to avoid that is to start with a clear checklist of your needs, and not just tactics like email or paid search, but the bigger picture. If you plan to engage prospects or reactivate dormant customers across multiple channels, you’ll need coherent messaging and workflows. Without that, you can end up managing multiple agencies and getting inconsistent results.
CS: So marketing managers should start with a list of services they anticipate needing over the next 12 to 24 months?
LW: Start is the operative word here. That’s a good beginning, but I also recommend listing your team’s challenges. For example, if you have one agency for branding and another for digital, you might be struggling to keep messaging consistent. That’s a hidden problem decision makers often don’t see, which is why our Buyer’s Guide includes a Challenges Checklist.
CS: Can you provide an example?
LW: A branding agency can develop a great messaging framework, but someone still has to translate that into web copy, Paid Search ads, social posts, and so on. If you’re using multiple agencies, chances are the messages are disjointed, and your staff is spending way too much time tweaking copy.
CS: And your checklist helps surface that before they choose an agency?
LW: Yes. The checklist is broken into categories: general agency fit, channel expertise, creative alignment, reporting, and more. It gives CMOs and CEOs a clear picture of what their team actually needs, not just what’s obvious from the top down.
CS: Even with a checklist, how can a brand be sure an agency can actually deliver?
LW: That’s a fair question. Setting expectations is everything. That’s why the Buyer’s Guide also includes a list of specific questions to ask, such as how they onboard, who your point of contact will be, whether they do the work in-house or offshore, and how communication will work once the campaign is live. The answers to those questions will tell you a lot about how the relationship will go.
CS: So it’s not just about services, it’s about the way the agency works.
LW: Exactly. The relationship works best when both sides know what to expect from day one. The guide is meant to make those expectations explicit before you ever sign an I/O. That’s how you choose a partner who can meet your needs today and help you grow into new channels tomorrow.
CS: Any final recommendations?
LW: Ask for case studies. A good case study does more than show results—it’s essentially an endorsement. It means a client was happy enough with the outcome to let the agency tell their story publicly. That’s powerful proof of both performance and trust.
Ready to find the right digital agency for your brand?
Download Choosing the Right Digital Agency: A Buyer’s Guide and get the checklists, questions, and strategies you need to evaluate potential partners with confidence—and choose one who can meet your needs today and grow with you tomorrow.
