Bridge of Minds' Sarah Araigy makes the case between onboarding an advertising agency or a marketing consultancy. In today’s fast-paced advertising and marketing panorama, the ability to effectively promote new or exciting products and services can be a significant factor in determining success.
Startups, companies and holding groups face a crucial decision. Should they partner with an advertising agency or reach out for the help of a marketing consultant? Each option offers unique advantages and selecting the right choice depends on varying factors including budget, goals, and the nature of the work.
The case for advertising agencies
These days, advertising agencies offer a full range of services. This may include market research, branding, content creation and digital marketing to ease the process on the clients.
By having one focal point and by minimising the monthly retainer fees along with dedicated client servicing managers and teams to handle the client briefs and executions needed, partnering with an advertising agency can provide your business with expertise, access to resources, creative ideas, time and cost efficiency, measurable results, and industry insights.
Taking the advantage of leveraging the agency’s team knowledge and experience, you can maximise the effectiveness of your advertising campaigns and achieve your marketing objectives with a measurable KPI’s in hands.
The double-barreled benefits of having an advertising agency on board not only provide tailored marketing strategies that meets your vision but it also keeps you updated with the latest market trends and competitors plans and actions.
However, while there are clear advantages to hiring an agency, it is essential to understand the potential drawbacks that come with this decision.
With talent being an ongoing issue the industry faces, most agency’s pitfalls are due to untrained fresh graduate team members dedicated to handle the client. This creates a stretched learning curve as it requires ongoing investment by the agency to find the right members to take the work and deal with the clients.
Agencies manage multiple clients, so while they aim to be responsive, they may not always be available immediately. It’s important to set clear expectations for communication and turnaround times, especially since they won’t be working for you exclusively.
Startups and SMEs may feel a loss of control over their concept and marketing vision when working with an agency, as they may need to rely on the agency’s expertise and decisions.
The case for marketing consultants
Staying ahead of the market curve requires marketing consulting services that have become indispensable for businesses seeking to stay competitive and achieve sustainable growth. The ever-evolving nature of digital marketing demands that consultants not only understand current trends and traditional marketing tools but also anticipate future shifts to provide clients with revolutionary brand new strategies.
Consultants as individuals tend to take more time to adapt and understand the culture and concept of the client, especially if they are on a short-term contract.
As a business owner or executive seeking the support of a consultant, you should have a clear, measurable objectives and deliverables as consultants may not be the right option for your requirements.
Consultants tend to keep their skills up to date, however, those things may not be what you and your team desire. Furthermore, they can’t cover all the marketing tasks for the business and often need external support: like content creation, creative ideas and design jobs on a daily basis.
In conclusion, the cooperation between marketing consultants and advertising agencies is a must in our days. Their roles are complementary between forming a comprehensive strategy for the brand that combines insights and creative execution.
As the marketing industry continues to evolve with the changing market needs and outburst of concepts along with brands popping up and competing throughout a wide digital windows result in integrating these two powerful forces together, wouldn’t you agree?
By Sarah Araigy, Marketing Consultant and Business Director at Bridge of Minds.
