The creative partnerships that cross the world are among the most rewarding and complicated partnerships in all of corporate America. From the first day we were together we each knew we had something valuable to share with the other person. Over the last decade we have been creative partners across ten different continents, two continents, six ECDs and countless late night conversations. That creativity has blossomed into mutually beneficial joint ventures, friendship, and a powerful business entity that have helped our company grow into one of the largest global companies in the world.

Agency ‘ll give you a little history about our creative partners. Two of our first creative partners were in the construction industry. They became good friends because they shared an interest in a type of building that my husband liked to build. This led to a very interesting conversation about the world of architecture and the difficulties of designing large buildings in a city where they did not already live. This conversation provided us with an incredible insight into the challenges of building a new building, even in a new city. We ended that conversation with the realization that there were many creative partners in our industry who also enjoyed building large structures.

In this case we were able to turn this conversation into two separate and distinct discussions. One was “How do you design a relationship that is more like a friendship?” and the second was “How do you develop creative partners who are also your creative partners?” In both discussions we discovered new perspectives and creative partnership wisdom. It is these discoveries that have shaped the company we are today.

First, we discovered that, contrary to popular belief, it is actually harder to attract creative partners than to attract customers or clients. It seems like attracting creatives is a bit like trying to find magnets that will stick to a bag of rice. The creatives just do not seem to want to be found. In Agency of building a new facility, the creatives may come up with some really great design ideas, but without an understanding of how to communicate those ideas effectively to the rest of the team, the facility construction budget, and the city government, you are spending a tremendous amount of money on an idea that does not make any sense.

Our second discovery was that it is actually helpful to reach out to the creatives within your organization before you need to reach out to them as a business partner. In Agency , it is important to establish relationships with all of your creative services’ creative partners. Agency helps because the creatives will be grateful to share their ideas and their expertise as givers, rather than being at the whim of others who may not understand what they are talking about. It also makes it easier for you to ask for their help when you need it. For example, if you have a social media strategy and are struggling to get your information into the feeder sites, ask the creative partner what his or her preferred methods are. If the partner cannot provide a good strategy, suggest something that you can use in conjunction with their plan, such as helping promote the #hashtag campaign that the creative services have been involved in assisting with.

Finally, another discovery is that great creative partners are easy to find. Agency of social media is a vast one. You can reach out to people of diverse industries and backgrounds. You can network through blogs, online forums, and social networks. If you want to find a great creative partner, all you need to do is look for creative shops that share some commonality in their audience, such as sharing an interest in music, arts and crafts, or technology.

The key to finding the right creative partner for your business is to work with the person or shop that you feel will benefit your company the most. For example, if you own a technology-based firm and you notice that there is a lot of interest in using social media as a marketing tool, you might want to team up with a digital agency that specializes in this area. On the other hand, if you own an entertainment-based firm and you notice that a lot of the interest is coming from the music and arts, you might want to consider partnering with an advertising agency that specializes in this area.

The right creative partner is key to creating a banner ads campaign that will be effective and increase traffic to your site. If you keep these basic suggestions in mind, you will be able to find the creative team that will work best for your business. The key to making a banner ad campaign work is getting creative inspiration from those that are interested in your industry. The more you connect with the creative team that you are working with, the easier it will be for them to get creative ideas for your banner ads and content. With the right creative partner by your side, your banner ads will soon start to gain traction online and off.