General Questions

> What is The Drum Recommends?

The Drum Recommends has a mission to be the go-to place for any brand looking to work with any agency across the world. By using a unique performance-based ratings system, we simplify the finding and choosing process for brands by informing which agencies come most recommended by their own clients.

Membership for Brands

> What are the benefits of membership?

As well as the ability to search for agencies, when you register to become a member you can access your personal dashboard to save and shortlist your preferred agencies, upload your project or brief to send directly to your shortlisted agencies. You can manage the whole RFI process to gather all the information you need for your pitch or project in one place. We will also keep you informed about the most recommended agencies.

> Will agencies be able to message me directly?

Only if you have sent them a brief or RFI via the project tool on your dashboard, the replies will come back to your inbox. Otherwise, agencies can’t find or contact you directly.

Membership for Agencies

> What is included in membership?

Agency membership of The Drum Recommends allows you to enhance your visibility to the 6,000 monthly searches on the platform. You will gain access to assets, such as logos and certificates, to use for your own marketing. Last but certainly not least, you will also be able to monitor your performance by accessing feedback commentary from your clients via your Ratings Report.

You can view the benefits here

> How many leads can I expect to get?

The Drum Recommends is focused on helping clients find the right agency partners, not on agency lead generation. Our approach means that agencies may receive new business opportunities, however we cannot make any guarantees. Many clients use recommendedagencies.com to search for and contact agencies directly. Gaining direct client feedback is a powerful tool to retain clients and improve agency performance which generates impressive ROI for our current members.

> How do I become a member?

You can purchase membership here or if you have more questions, please contact us at recommends@thedrum.com and one of the team can discuss membership with you.

Ratings

> How are ratings verified to ensure that they are genuine?

The Drum Recommends is committed to ensure that all ratings submitted via recommendedagencies.com are genuine and trustworthy sources of information provided by real agency clients, therefore we apply a validation process using a combination of technology and an internal validation team. We ask you to help us maintain this honest and valuable information source for the industry. We do not tolerate fraudulent ratings that are misleading, dishonest or biased from the agency or client. See our full ratings policy and rules here.

> How do I rate an agency?

There are two ways you may provide an agency rating:

  1. Directly via The Drum Recommends here by entering the name of the agency you want to rate and completing the short rating survey.

  2. Your agency may invite you to rate them and will send you a link to the rating survey.

What questions do you ask in the ratings survey?

You can see a mock-up of a client survey here

> How do I invite my clients to rate my agency?

  1. To invite a client to rate you simply enter your client's details, including the company name, client's name, email address, and the services provided into the "invite clients" panel on the right hand side of your dashboard or via the Invite Clients page.

  2. A personalised link will then be generated for your client and an automated email will be sent to them with this link.

  3. If you receive three client ratings per service with a score of 7 or over, you will then become recommended for that service.

  4. Once recommended your agency will appear higher in search results, more content about your agency will be made visible, your achievement will be broadcast on our Twitter account and one of our membership executives will be in touch to discuss opportunities to heighten your visibility on the site.

  5. Occasionally clients do not respond to our automated emails, so we have released the Get Link feature. This allows you to get the link for each client and send it to them in a personal email. Please note that you will be unable to open your client links. As these are open links we need to verify that they were completed by the client - so we send a verification email once the rating has been submitted.

> How do I know when my client has completed the survey?

You can monitor which clients have or haven’t rated you by visiting your Client Ratings page. In here you can see each client reference and when they left a rating. Also, your clients have the option to notify you once the rating is complete. You will receive a notification on your dashboard when this happens.

> Can I invite more than one contact at a client company?

Yes, inviting contacts who have different visibility of the project can provide you with a broader perspective.

> How do I improve my chances of my agency becoming recommended?

We advise adding more than the minimum of three clients to rate you, as this will ensure you become recommended and for more services. Explain that you are asking for feedback and the process to your clients before inviting them, so they can keep an eye out for invitations. Also, keep in touch with your clients during the ratings process in case they encounter any problems for have simply forgotten.

> Can my ratings be topped up when I'm already recommended?

Yes. In fact, you should make a point of topping up your ratings regularly so that your status doesn't expire and that you’re getting up to date feedback. This also allows you to monitor changes in performance scores through the Agency Ratings Report.

> My ratings have expired – what do I do?

As long as you have worked with the client within the past 12 months, you can re-invite your clients on the invitations page. We save the scores and commentary, so the client can reconfirm these or amend them if they wish

Technical Issues

If you are experiencing any technical issues, please get in touch at recommends@thedrum.com providing details of your issue and one of the team can look into this for you.