When your agency gets big enough you'll have to think seriously about account handling
Maybe a surprising question (especially to those account managers or handlers reading this post) but it is a question that comes up fairly regularly from owners of new or smaller agencies. And that’s who this post is aimed at.
Actually, rather than being asked if an account handler (at the right stage in the agency’s growth) is necessary, I’ve sometimes been told that it isn’t. Period. To paraphrase some conversations:
“we won’t be recruiting account handlers, clients will deal with a flat structure, we’ll save on overheads and that’ll also set us apart from other agencies”.
Not to sound flippant, but ‘good luck with that’! That approach will be what eventually makes you over run on projects, miss new business opportunities and underserve on proactive ideas. And tie you (the business owner or creative/tech lead) up in knots, trying to…
Agencies and clients disagree on organisational structure, but do think the relationship is improving
The agency-client relationship has always existed in a state of strain and 2016 is no different. The brand uses an agency because it doesn't feel it can deliver campaigns as effective in-house, and that can't help but generate a little bit of healthy resentment or envy. The agency has every incentive to convince the brand to engage in ever more costly marketing activities, and very little reason to tell them pull the plug on costly campaigns that won't deliver ROI. Both partners need each other, but have different goals. It's a recipe for dissatisfaction.
So it hardly comes as a surprise that latest SoDA & Forrester report on the state of the agency-client relationship, based on surveys conducted in Q1 2016, finds the client agency dynamic to be hitting a 'roadblock'. But when you get beyond the negative headlines…
Research reveals how UK marketing consultants and small agencies promote themselves
Over the past few months my team at OST has teamed up with Constant Contact to produce a research report into how UK marketing consultants and small agencies promote themselves. The UK Marketing Consultants: Digital Marketing Report offers a fascinating insight into the marketing activities that experienced, but often time-poor and budget conscious marketing consultants, prioritise.
One of the headline findings is that the top four marketing activities that consultants engage in are: content marketing, social media, SEO and email marketing. This gives a hint (echoed throughout the report) that consultants prefer to use their own knowledge and time than spend their hard-earned cash on marketing.
Another key finding is that while 38% of consultants…
Showing how switching from working client to agency side can help your career progression
After spending the best part of a decade as an in-house client-side marketer, I recently made the decision to experience life as a marketer within an agency. My ambition is to continually develop myself as a rounded marketer, something I’ve tried to demonstrate using the ‘T-shaped marketer’ approach and I felt the change to agency-side marketing would help me to meet my personal development goals.
There are a number of advantages for marketers who experience both agency and client-side marketing and in this post I’ve tried to summarise some of the stand-out differences that I've experienced and how they can help marketers looking to develop their careers.
Culture
One of the stand-out differences I found when moving from client to agency-side was the company culture. I'd come…
How agencies and other B2B service businesses can avoid a fatal trap
I've been following Ian Lurie of digital agency Portent, Inc for a few years now, enjoying learning from the type of actionable insights around content marketing, SEO and broader Digital Marketing Strategy that I aspire to. So, I was intrigued to see what One Trick Ponies Get Shot was about - particularly since his new book offers the type of contrarian thinking that is all too rare in our Internet marketing echo-chamber. Certainly packed full of original thinking and advice which can change your approach as this interview shows.
Our interview is directly relevant to agencies owners and new biz dev folk, but his analysis will resonate with many and is also relevant for other types of professional B2B service businesses. Thanks for the interview Ian - I like your…
How to use analytics to convince potential clients that they need your help
Analytics are a vital tool for establishing which marketing strategies are successful and which are proving to be a drain on resources. However they can be overwhelming to the untrained eye, which provides the perfect opportunity for you, if you work in business development for an agency, to offer your services and expertise to potential clients.
Using analytics enables you to identify issues and shortcomings in their current strategy and recommend solutions, supported by data.
Your initial step must be to establish their existing level of knowledge. It’s essential that you clarify whether they are a novice, or they are just looking for the input of an expert, and whether the use of jargon is appropriate. Making this differentiation early on will not only save you time in your explanation, it will also prevent you inadvertently patronising or over-simplifying to…
Practices agencies should avoid when reporting digital marketing performance to clients, and tips for how to get it right
As marketers, and humans for that matter, we’ve all been guilty of committing (at least) one of the seven deadly sins in one way or another. You won’t have Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman hunting you down, but when it comes to marketing agencies, committing these reporting sins can be deadly to the agency/client relationship.
Deadly reporting Sin 1: Avarice
Otherwise known as greed, Avarice is a sin of excess. Clients want and need to know what their agency is doing to move the needle, but consistently sending them an overly-comprehensive reports can be a lose-lose for the client and the agency.
Massive reports take agencies a lot of time to prepare, billable hours that could be better…
