The typical business owner in the United States grew up watching commercials on television and listening to them in the car, the latter while simultaneously spying billboards on the side of the road. While the decisions made regarding ad buys were vital to the success of a business, they were still a far simpler array of choices than are available today. Modern ad agencies and marketing companies not only work with traditional advertising techniques but also within the new digital arena. These developments and complex new techniques have changed the appearance of many advertising companies, making choosing between them difficult. These three common traits of good ad agencies should make such a selection easier to manage.

1. Transparent Billing In nearly every industry that easily comes to mind, there are at least a few businesses that feel the need to cloak their billing structure in secrecy. With such companies, it is difficult to even determine if the price charged is fair because the customer cannot even be certain for what they are being billed. That said, it is often safe to assume that if a company needs to hide their billing process they are not charging competitive rates. The same holds true with ad agencies, making it an easy filter to sift out some poor choices.
2. Talented and Professional Staff: No marketing company or advertising agency can avoid engaging in some work in the digital realm. In digital marketing, responsive website design often matters as much as the content that website well eventually contain. A successful, professional ad agency will have an expert in web design on staff to meet the one need and a content marketing specialist for the other, as well as a great many other design and marketing specializations.
3. Great Communication: No matter the industry, the best companies in their field almost always can be characterized by good communication. Top advertising agencies are no exception. There are two different styles of communication at play here. The first is the internal communication between staff members. Success of a project that involves so many different fields and skills would be nearly impossible without an open and constructive dialogue between colleagues. Good companies in this industry will also emphasize customer communication. This means the customer relationship will be characterized by an open dialogue, with the client able to ask questions and the marketing agency staff clarifying points as needed or seeking more information in an effort to ensure no miscommunication prevents the client being satisfied.

In the ad industry, no two companies are the same. They focus on different areas of marketing, staff individuals with varied strengths and weaknesses and are shaped by a multitude of external factors as well. Even with all of those differences, however, when searching for the best company for your needs, you can be assured that the ones you want to work with will always have the three traits listed here.