There are many different kinds of marketing-category firms out there, making it tough to decide which kind is right for your needs. Choosing wrong could mean you’re paying too much for services you don’t need, or being under-serviced by a solo freelancer type.

If you’re a marketing professional who needs reliable fulfillment of your strategies, the solution is a creative design services firm. This indicates a firm that specializes in execution such as graphic design, copy writing, web development and a number of support services. Creative design services as a description also indicates there is more than one person working there, meaning you’ll get the different expertise you need for a complete deliverable without risking reliance on a sole provider of services.

What to expect from a creative design services firm.

Creative design services means more than just graphic design. They should:

• have an understanding of marketing strategy
• work in partnership with you to execute your well-thought-out strategies and planned tactics
• seek out and understand the big picture
• have the ability to take a verbal brief and flesh out a full concept

A creative firm should be willing to brainstorm alongside you to develop a great concept. A concept takes more than just visual design, but also needs good copywriting. Ideally a creative design services firm would have teams of designers and writers that regularly work together. They should then be able to take that concept and implement it across as many pieces as needed, and have people to manage every step including quality control.

Aside from the creative, a firm offering creative design services should have established relationships with trusted suppliers and be able to source, price and manage all printing and other executional work for you. Or at least be able to liaise with your suppliers if preferred.

What you don’t need.

What you may not need is a large firm with marketing experts on staff and multiple account managers. The reason is if you are a marketing professional, they would be duplicating a lot of what you do while adding a level of complication and driving up the price.

You also don’t need – don’t have time – to micro-manage every step and have to source multiple suppliers. This may happen if you hire a solo designer. Imagine also having to find a writer, then a web developer. Not only are you tripling your hiring and management, but you’ll have to look at everything really closely and ensure it all ties together as you are the only common denominator. You may also end up mediating their relationships.

Also be wary of companies that specialize in online marketing if you also need traditional support. They are usually really good at online marketing and often say they can do offline, but most simply don’t have much experience with it.

With a company that offers a full range of creative design services you should be able to focus on what you do best knowing you can depend on them to do the execution part like pros.