How the Marketing and Advertising Agencies Benefit from Electronic Signatures

Marketing and advertising agencies are increasingly working to produce strong, personalized content to align with shifting consumer habits. Roadside billboards and mailbox inserts don’t exactly cut it during a time when social media advertising is skyrocketing, with ad spending on platforms such as TikTok and Facebook expected to reach $226 billion this year. Other market shake ups include growth in targeted advertising, utilizing social media influencers to endorse products and the challenge of simply getting a consumer’s attention.

All the more reason why organizations large and small depend on the knowledge and skills of marketing agencies to deliver fast and effective results for the business. New advertising dynamics have significantly changed how marketing and advertising firms do business with and on behalf of the clients. Marketing has evolved, but marketing and advertising agencies are still relying on partially manual or paper-based steps in the digital age. DocuSign eSignature can help marketers eliminate paper and accelerate their workloads, freeing them up to focus on client and end-customer needs. Whether its internal creative sign-offs, sponsorship contracts, or the dozens of other agreements routinely executed by marketing professionals, DocuSign eSignature enables a better experience for everyone involved.

Here are some common ways advertisers and marketers are using eSignature in their day-to-day operations. 

Marketing contracts and agreements: Organizations large and small rely on the specialized skills of marketing agencies to help launch campaigns faster than they would on their own. 

In addition to anytime, anywhere signing capabilities, more and more marketing agencies are turning to DocuSign templates to help guide clients through the initial engagement and signing process in a simple, step-by-step manner, asking them questions that adapt based on previous answers, and collecting all of the necessary information with the least amount of friction imaginable for:

• Advertising contracts
• Promotional agreements 
• Brand licensing agreements
• Media release forms

Press release sign-off: If content containing errors has been posted online, it can be difficult for the business to recover from reputational damage and regain customer trust. Avoid a PR disaster by ensuring that you have the correct approvals from your clients, partners and other stakeholders.

DocuSign can help ensure internal alignment and sign-off on press releases and other media assets with mobile signing, automatic routing the the right person in the right order to avoid approval bottlenecks, and automated storage in case of audits. This can be especially useful when there’s an important announcement that must be shared within a short timeframe or for common forms such as:

• Press Release Approvals
• Media Plan Sign-offs
• Communication Approvals

Secure event registration: Webinars have grown in popularity since the pandemic, with 95 percent of marketers considering them to be a significant part of their digital strategy. Many companies offer unique insights and perspectives in their webinars to set them apart from competitors, so controlling who attends and how the information is shared is key.

Whether you’re hosting a webinar or in-person event that requires a signature, eSignature can help ensure a safe and secure environment that will protect privileged information. Common uses include:

• Guided forms
• Event vendor agreements
• Event registration
• NDAs
• Mass mailing/email approval
• Secure promotional offers

Photo and marketing release forms: Whether you’re requesting permission to reuse a photo posted on social media, hiring a talent for an ad campaign, or collecting photo copyright releases, you’ll need to collect consent with an electronic record that serves as an audit trail and proof of the transaction. 

Use eSignature to quickly execute legally enforceable release forms—including on-location via mobile devices—with individuals appearing in your marketing campaigns.

• Photography release waiver
• Release of liability
• Talent release form
• Crowd release/Notice of filming and photography

Invoicing: Marketing and advertising agencies provide a range of services, some of which can change ad hoc during the planning or execution phase of a client project. Ensure that your business gets reimbursed instantly by requesting payment at the time of signature. You can collect a one-time payment or save the client’s payment method for future charges at time of signature, which is especially helpful for organizations that regularly need to collect payment or service fees.

Marketing and advertising agencies thrive on the creative energy and differentiated abilities of its people. DocuSign eSignature helps accelerate client onboarding by standardizing and automating the way marketing contracts and agreements are generated and implemented so you can get a jumpstart on creative projects and your clients can focus on their core business.

Learn more about DocuSign solutions for marketing agencies. Or, signup for a free DocuSign trial.