Why is it so hard to market a marketing agency?
Why are marketing agencies often so bad at marketing themselves, and what does ‘great’ look like?
Creds.FINAL.Master.V5.2023.final.2.ppt
If you’ve ever been in a meeting to discuss your agency positioning and story (most likely with too many people) this will be all too familiar, and stressful. By why is this so often the case? And why do so many agencies sound and look the same?
The challenge with agency world, is that it’s really complicated. As a business you are selling many different combinations of products and services that are hugely technical and difficult to explain succinctly, and proof of industry knowledge, and expertise across different verticals via people that can leave and join at any moment; to many different audiences simultaneously, be that current and potential Clients in the form of CMOs, CTOs, CEOs, CFOs, current and potential Talent, Shareholders, Partners, Investors, Intermediaries, Journalists, Awards Bodies – the list goes on. And this is often across multiple markets at both a local and global level, within a wider holdco that has its own identity, position and story, and in response to new business requests at the same time as providing a regular consistent heartbeat to drive long-term awareness and growth.
This, combined with the pressure to look the cleverest/most creative/smartest/coolest/most fun/the future etc. because that’s how all agencies should be (that’s why we all joined in the first place isn’t it?), is why we see agencies make the same mistakes over and over again and fail to market themselves to the same standard as they do for clients.
So how can you cut through the noise, both internally and out into the market?
Invest time and get a deep understanding of companies to have on your radar.
The first thing you must do, is understand what else is out there. Sounds simple? From my experience, there is never enough time to do this properly. Agency business development teams are always stretched, the whole time. Deep research into a market that everyone ‘just knows’ from reading the industry press or attending events feels like an indulgence of energy and resource. At best, it’s a great project to give to an intern because it’s easy to brief out and a good chance for them to learn something.
The problem with this thinking, however, is that it is incredibly inward. It doesn’t give you a perspective of how potential Clients and Talent will be judging you at the top of the funnel, compared with other companies in your space. And some of those companies might be your direct competitors, but perhaps there could be others out there which are worth getting to know, who are approaching things differently?
A senior brain on this work will enable you to identify where the gaps and opportunities are to do something genuinely differently, because unlike a junior member of the team, they will know what they’re looking for.
As an example of this in action, a recent review I undertook for a B2B video production client found that across almost 40 other companies in the space, almost none of them demonstrated any meaningful results via the case studies on their websites. It revealed a massive opportunity to be the company that delivers genuine ROI, and all my client had to do was spend a little time going back through past work, tweak their website and comms, and instantly they stood out against their competition.
It really can be that simple, but it doesn’t happen.
Drop the jargon.
Talking of keeping things simple, agency positioning… This is always very hard to pin down, and often compromises are made in order to keep everyone involved happy and aligned – even if it’s not very good.
Also, sorry to break this to you, but no one cares about the complexity of the ad industry as much as the people working in it. Stop overindulging and instead speak in ways that a. anyone can understand, and b. might actually matter to them. It could just get you noticed in places that reach beyond the goldfish bowl of adland.
And once you decide on something and roll it out – leave it alone! Stop fiddling! Strive to keep things simple and give them time to land. Too many cooks make for a really flabby agency brand.
Avoid messaging creep: it’s not a Xmas tree, stop decorating it.
We’ve all been there. You find a short and punchy line for your agency, and then a couple of pitches later, there’s a sub-line. And then another. And then that department over there starts using something brand new, and that market over there likes it, adopts it, but makes it their own – and before you know it your agency stands for everything and nothing again. Be clear, consistent and most importantly, concise, and champion that approach across the business.
Do as you say, say as you do.
Ultimately, it’s controversial but it doesn’t hugely matter what you say, more how you say it. The number of agencies out there that talk about digital transformation but have an outdated website, agencies that have a big cultural strapline and then don’t share anything meaningful about their talent or have a huge lack of diversity on their leadership team; or agencies that are all about results for clients and then don’t share any (as above!).
Some agencies apply a very basic approach to execution here. You don’t hear every single person in a Nike ad saying ‘Just do it’, and in exactly the same way you don’t want every single employee spouting out their agency’s positioning across all comms (this happens). The trick is, if you’ve picked a position for your agency that is both simple and can be cut in different ways, and you apply it as a filter to everything you do, this will inevitably shine through your marketing and speak all things to all people.
And unless you’re massive (and even then things aren’t always easy) it’s likely you can’t be ‘client standard’ across your entire marketing plan. Prioritise by being really shit hot at the products and services you provide clients – this sounds obvious, but again it doesn’t happen. Great examples here are Goat – the Influencer marketing agency that’s turned its people into influencers with a BTS vlog, or DEPT, the challenger group that ‘pioneers tech & marketing’, who turn most of their thought leadership into beautifully produced live stream sessions via LinkedIn, or The Think Tank, the B2B agency who when I was on the other side of things and they were pitching for the business I worked on, followed me around the Internet with targeted ads throughout the decision making process. Nice.
Don’t underestimate the damage it can cause to your brand if you are rubbish at the very thing you’re telling clients you’re great at.
It’s all about the work – never forget that.
Invest time in surfacing, and crafting the stories of your best work for clients. Award wins are of course an important part to this, however, for smaller agencies they are extremely expensive and, often the story you need to tell in order to win an award is skewed towards the category it’s been entered for (or at least it should be).
If you are the agency that’s all about collaboration with clients and partners, tell that story through your case studies. Or if as an agency you drive change, explain, how did this work move the dial? Sometimes the operational story behind the scenes is the most compelling part. Think – what are all the reasons a potential client might be interested in working with you?
Create space and bring in an external perspective.
Finally, it is hugely challenging to crack this work if you are too close to the day-to-day detail. It’s easy to make assumptions influenced by years of doing things in a certain way – which may have been the right way once, but is it now? And many of my clients are Founders and say that marketing themselves or their business is by far the hardest thing to get their heads around – a fresh POV is what builds their confidence.
Consider hiring an external consultant that can bring a new perspective on your agency brand, marketing and communications, and maybe one day your creds will finally be ‘final’…
