How to Find the Right Creative Agency in Wiltshire

Finding a creative agency in Wiltshire is easy enough. Finding one that looks beyond the brief, gets to know your business and understands that a website has a job to do beyond collecting compliments? That’s where things get interesting.

There’s no shortage of talented designers, branding agencies and web design agencies in Wiltshire, particularly around Salisbury and across the South West. A quick Google search will happily confirm that.

The tricky bit is working out who’s actually right for your business.

So, before you fall in love with a lovely portfolio, here are a few things worth considering.

1. Work out what you actually need

A new website might be exactly what your business needs. Or perhaps your branding’s looking a little tired, your messaging’s gone wandering or your marketing’s not quite pulling its weight.

And sometimes, the poor old website’s getting blamed for problems it had absolutely nothing to do with.

Sometimes getting a little clearer on your brand strategy is a much better starting point than rushing into a redesign.

So, before you start shopping around for an agency, it’s worth asking yourself a few things:

• Branding: Does your business look and sound like the one you’ve become?
• Website design: Can visitors understand what you do and easily find what they need?
• Marketing: Are the right people discovering your business?
• Strategy: Is there a clear direction connecting everything?

The best creative agencies in Wiltshire and the south west, will help you untangle what’s really going on, rather than deciding you need a new website before you’ve even finished explaining the problem.

2. Look beyond the portfolio, ask about local projects

A beautiful portfolio can certainly catch your eye. But it’s worth remembering that you’re seeing the finished article, not everything that went into creating it.

What challenge was the client facing? How did the agency tackle it? And did the result genuinely improve the experience for the people it was designed for? 

That’s where a portfolio starts earning its keep.

Take our work with Richmond Bell Architects in Salisbury. We helped develop a contemporary brand identity and website that better reflected the practice’s architectural expertise and growing focus on sustainability.

The challenge was making sure the business people experienced online felt like the one Richmond Bell had spent years building. That meant understanding what made the practice different and finding the right way to communicate it.

A little more involved than choosing a lovely typeface and calling it a day.

3. Find an agency that understands your customers

Our work with Port Regis is a good example of why understanding a client matters so much.

Rather than jumping straight into website designs, we spent time experiencing the school, speaking with the people who know it best and understanding what parents and pupils actually need from its website.

Because a school has a lot more personality than its list of facilities and academic achievements might suggest.

We wanted that character to come through in the design, alongside a website that made finding important information refreshingly straightforward.

4. Ask whether the different services work together

It’s surprisingly easy for branding, websites and marketing to end up doing their own thing.

The branding says one thing, the website says another and the marketing’s wandered off in an entirely different direction.

That’s why finding an agency that understands how everything connects is rather important.

With Huntsmill Farm Weddings, we worked across the brand and website, creating a more joined-up experience that included a bespoke quote builder for wedding enquiries.

Because planning a wedding involves enough decisions without the venue’s website making life more complicated.

And it wasn’t all about looking the part. Following the website launch, Huntsmill saw a 135% increase in contact form submissions within 90 days. A rather good reminder that thoughtful design can do an awful lot more than collect compliments.

5. Does your creative agency need to be local?

Does your creative agency need to be just down the road? Not really.

There are brilliant agencies all over the country, and a few extra miles aren’t going to make someone less talented.

But working locally does have its perks. It’s easier to meet, spend time getting to know each other’s businesses and have those useful conversations that don’t always happen quite so naturally over a screen.

With bases in Salisbury and London, we work with clients across Wiltshire, the South West and further afield.

Geography matters a little. Getting along and doing brilliant work together matters rather more.

FAQs: Choosing a creative agency in Wiltshire

What should I look for in a Wiltshire web design agency?

Look for an agency with relevant work under its belt, a clear approach to website design and development and a good understanding of SEO and user experience. And make sure they won’t disappear into the sunset the moment your website goes live.

Should I choose a branding agency or web design agency?

It depends on what your business actually needs. If your branding no longer reflects who you are or what makes you different, that’s probably where to start. But if the brand’s in good shape and the website’s letting the side down, a redesign might be just the ticket.

Why choose a creative agency in Wiltshire?

Working with a Wiltshire creative agency can make it easier to meet in person, involve your team in workshops and give the agency a proper understanding of your business. But location shouldn’t be the deciding factor. Relevant experience, good communication and a shared understanding of what you’re trying to achieve matter far more.

A good agency should make you think

A good creative agency should bring more to the table than a lovely portfolio. You want people who take the time to understand your business, question a few assumptions and spot opportunities you might have missed.

That’s the sort of thing we enjoy at Giant Peach. We bring strategy, branding, websites and marketing together to help businesses make the most of what they’ve built.

Got something in mind? Come and have a chat.