How To Choose A Marketing Agency

Choosing the right marketing agency can be difficult. There are so many specialties when it comes to marketing that the choice can get overwhelming. However, learning more about the types of agencies can help you make informed decisions on what firm you may need to hire to accomplish your goals. Maybe you need multiple agencies, which is not uncommon, to execute a full marketing strategy for your brand.

How to choose the right marketing agency is less about what you think you need, but more about educating yourself on what options are available. If you ask your agency how media buying can fit into your creative strategy and the answer is ‘we don’t do media buying and that doesn’t fit with your marketing strategy’ that’s a big red flag. Your agency or consultant should educate you as to what media buying is and what abilities it can bring to the table. Education is the key to making informed decisions.

Here is an outline to learn more about different types of agencies and how to choose the right marketing agency for your company.

7 Types Of Marketing Agencies

Full-Service Agency

A full-service advertising agency offers a comprehensive range of marketing and advertising services for any business. This typically includes strategic planning, content creation, web design and development, SEO, social media management, TV and radio ads, and paid search ads. A full-service agency is a one-stop-shop for all your marketing and advertising needs. The value of working with a full-service agency is that it limits the needs for coordinating between partners and vendors. Because full-service agencies do it all, they could make your choice of marketing agency very simple. However, hiring a full-service agency that does everything may rob you of a skillset a specialist may bring to the table. Interview a few agencies, gather some information and vet your current agency to see if they are offering you the best strategy.

Digital Agency

A digital advertising agency specializes in online campaigns. Execution of a digital-first marketing strategy will most definitely include SEO, social media marketing, website design and development, lead generation, email marketing, and marketing automation. Digital agencies generate more leads for clients through their website and create more awareness online.

Social Media Agency

A social media agency focuses solely on social media. However, content creation for specific audiences can be a very in-depth process of coordinating video production, copywriting, and photographers. Once curated content is chosen for an ad campaign, it must be optimized. These teams create targeted ad campaigns behind social content will be a large part of their process. They will typically charge a budget for ad spend on top of a retainer. Social media agencies are a good fit for companies that sell specific product lines, such as headphones.

Public Relations (PR) Agency

Public relations, or PR, agencies improve and manage the public image of a company and its employees. Often used by enterprise companies and CEOs, PR agencies get their clients featured in the news, on industry websites, and talked about in the community. Their efforts are typically broken down into paid and earned media. Paid media is buying air time, sponsored content opportunities, or ad placement. Earned media is thought leadership, SEO, social media, and bolsters online reputation. PR agencies are best for companies or individuals that want to improve their public image.

Branding Agency

Usually, these teams conduct thorough market research and analysis to better understand company positioning, branding agencies offer a range of services including logo design, brand name development, creative production, and signage. Because of their ability to differentiate brands consider branding agencies when rebranding your company. Branding agency teams develop how a current brand is perceived in the market and provide the research your team needs to make informed business decisions.

Creative Agency

Creative agencies develop the design, graphics, and copywriting of a brand. They specialize in logo design, print marketing, letterheads, billboards, and business cards. These types of agencies make companies look a specific way and stand out in the marketplace. If you hire a creative agency it should never be short on new ideas and ways to promote your service or product.

Media buying agency

Media buying agencies focus on media planning and media buying, typically focusing on specific channels. Developing target audiences over time, media buying agencies hone in on specific customers by using targeting capabilities. The targeting criteria varies per platform and are provided by third-party websites such as Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Although these agencies are effective on their own, they deliver the most positive results when paired with creative agencies.

How To Choose The Right Marketing Agency

Choose the right one, or combination of marketing agencies to generate leads and influence how your brand is perceived. Marketing changes fast, make sure the firm you hire isn’t stuck in a mindset of the past. Test them to ensure they are familiar enough with today’s evolving marketing landscape.

Transparency is key. It is your right as a client to demand accurate and up to date reporting. These numbers will give you an accurate depiction of how your campaigns are performing.

A Marketing Consultant can create a stellar marketing strategy, tie all of these offerings together, bringing in appropriate specialists where needed. Coordinating between trusted agencies is ultimately a job for a trusted member of your team.