When you work at an agency, you typically work for a number of different brands and companies across a variety of industries and teams. They identify the right marketing strategy for each client. Marketing agencies work hand in hand with the businesses they serve to look at their goals and where it is they want to go as a business too also. It really is a key service too.
Agency or brand side
When you’re working at a marketing agency, you’re helping clients grow. You’re doing a lot of different things in a lot of different verticals and industries. Often, you’re working on what I like to call “superficial” campaigns. In other words, you’re usually filling a temporary gap in the client’s marketing team. That being said, agency work is different on a day-to-day basis and you learn a ton about various industries and types of companies, about both B2B and B2C. Brand-side work can be similar to agency work, especially when you’re working at a startup.
Often, the difference is that when you’re brand-side (also called in-house), you’re more specialised and you’re getting all your experience in one industry, and often in one niche. But you really get to dive in fully in that niche. Keep in mind, for better or for worse, that the earlier stage a company is, the more work you have to do, and the more hats you have to wear.
Problem solving
There are several ways a marketing agency will help you understand and then solve the problem.
- Identify the problem. Are you really not reaching your audience? Maybe the problem’s that they’re ignoring your message? Or perhaps they’re hearing the message but they’re not responding to it? If your marcoms is based on digital advertising, an analysis of your campaigns’ performance could reveal the answer. Or a brand awareness survey could tell you how much confidence your brand commands in your target audiences.
- When a campaign falls short of expectations, the first response is usually to question the campaign. That’s the wrong way round. First, you need to question the proposition. Go back to 3 of the 4p’s Product, Price and Place. Is the product right? Is it supported correctly? Is it missing vital features that are offered by competitors? Is it over-priced? Is it presented to the market at the right time in the right way? Only then do you need to start thinking about the 4th P, Promotion.
- When reviewing a failing campaign, go back to your plans. Revisit your decisions. Are you promoting in the right place? Are you using the most appropriate channel? Is your budget appropriate? Are the visuals or the tone right?
Typical service offerings
If you’re struggling to attract customers through your current advertising strategies, it might be time to hire a dedicated marketing agency to take a look at your brand. If you have new products or services to promote, want to be more aligned with your customers, or simply want to consider additional creative solutions or advertising channels, these outside experts can bring skills, knowledge, and experience to your team.
Some of the most common media for advertising include print and television, which encompass commercials, billboards, magazine ads, newspaper ads, and other print advertisements. Here are some examples of successful marketing campaigns created by agencies. Marketing agencies can also work through other media approaches, which include search engine optimization (SEO) content, pay-per-click (PPC) ads, social media, email marketing, website design, and other less direct methods.
Overall
When you start a new project, create a detailed project brief. You can expect the agency to co-author it with you or they might have a template derived from similar work they’ve already done. Separate marketing strategy and development from marketing administration. Agencies are too expensive to do administrative work. Employ a Marketing Executive to manage collateral, process leads and produce basic reports. Leave your agency to work on the programmes that generate the collateral, leads and reports.