Managing agency relationships varies from business to business. Some leaders prefer to keep partners at arm’s length. Others bring them fully into the fold. While each approach has its place, businesses that lean into transparency tend to unlock more value from their marketing investment.
One of the most impactful ways to achieve this is by sharing the business plan, especially the 12–24-month outlook. This context gives your agency a clear sense of where you’re heading, what you expect from marketing, and how they can contribute to success. Without it, your agency may still produce solid work, but the opportunities to think ahead, test new strategies, and contribute to growth will be limited.
Agencies do their best work when they understand the full context of your business. When you limit them to short-term KPIs or week-to-week deliverables, you also limit their ability to plan, adapt, and scale with you. Many businesses operate this way, and some see success. But when the agency can’t see beyond the immediate scope, you risk missing better solutions or smarter investments.
During onboarding, we at Media Culture ask for your short- and long-term business objectives, then shape our strategy around those goals. This allows us to evaluate risk, identify growth levers, and set measurement plans that reflect your priorities.
Better strategy, not just better tactics.
With visibility into your roadmap, agencies can look for compounding opportunities including testing into new channels, adjusting the media mix, or identifying early signs of channel saturation.
Improved measurement alignment.
Knowing your timeline helps us choose the right model for attribution. For example, if you plan to grow awareness over the next year, a short-term cost-per-lead goal doesn’t reflect the true impact of your efforts. We can align measurement to business stages and expected returns.
Smarter media planning.
Budget shifts, seasonal patterns, and category benchmarks are easier to plan for when we know what’s ahead. You also reduce the risk of last-minute decisions, which often lead to higher costs or missed opportunities.
Faster decision-making.
Transparency builds trust. When your agency knows what’s important and why, they can act with greater confidence and autonomy and free up your team for higher-value work.
Stronger internal alignment.
When agencies work from the same playbook as your finance and ops teams, it’s easier to demonstrate how marketing supports revenue and margin goals. This alignment builds credibility across the business.
You don’t need to reveal everything. Start with these key areas:
Make Your Agency a Strategic Partner
If you want your agency to bring new ideas and own outcomes, you need to give them the runway to do so. That starts with visibility. Without it, even the best agencies are left guessing. And while they might still deliver results, they’re not operating at their full potential.
You don’t hire an agency just for what they already know. You hire them for how they think. The more insight you give them, the more valuable their thinking becomes.
Transparency isn’t a vulnerability. It’s a strength. When you share your plan, you invite your agency to contribute beyond tactics. You gain a partner who can anticipate, adapt, and push your business forward.
If you’re ready to get more from your agency relationship, start by being more open. Media Culture is built to support businesses with big goals, and we do our best work when we see the road ahead. Let’s build a plan together.