Agency life can be a whirlwind of creativity, opportunity, and collaboration. Marketers develop out-of-the-box ideas daily with the intention of seeing them through to fruition (and measuring their success!), and life at an agency is fast-paced and ever-changing. One minute we are brainstorming taglines for a collision repair center and the next we are pitching tech reporters at the New York Times about an awesome new mobile app a client just launched.
The office is full of marketing experts – but do we take the necessary time to market ourselves? For most agencies, the answer is probably "no."
Marketing agencies need to implement the right processes, allocating proper resources, and ultimately, “practice what they preach.”
Allocate Time and Resources for Your Agency’s Marketing
While us agency “lifers” are busy creating stellar campaigns for clients from all industries, we often fail when it comes to marketing ourselves. We are so busy and focused on making the client happy that we never weave in time to work on our own websites, blogs, social channels, or PR campaigns. At Overit, we know that we do great work, but we have to avoid situations where a potential client is unfamiliar with what we’ve done or who we are. We have to make how we present ourselves a priority, from the website we run to the social channels we have to the reputation we create.
We know we're not the only agency dealing with this issue. For any agency, it is imperative to dedicate time to creating and maintaining on and offline presences that align to the quality and expectations you have set forth for the work you create for your clients.
So how do you go about getting a game plan ready for your agency’s marketing efforts?
To stop putting your company on the back burner, start treating your company like it is an AOR (agency of record) client. Compile a team of people as you would for any client, with senior- and junior-level members and an account manager. Ensure these people feel responsible for taking your agency’s brand and marketing efforts to the next level, just as they are responsible for their billable client work.
Outline Your Marketing Goals, Strategy, and Tactics
Just like you would for a client, you want to determine who your audience is. Ask yourself: Why am I doing this, who do we want to reach, and dow can we help?
Once you are able to answer questions like these (and everyone on your team should agree to these answers), your team will be prepared to strategically define what your goals are and how you will reach them. Initial strategies will be outlined, tactics will be chosen, and finally, your creative team can get the wheels in motion and do what they do best. Be creative.
For most companies, marketing is about establishing your brand and the people associated with it as leaders who can provide valuable insight into raising awareness and engaging your audience. This will relate directly back to your sales cycle.
If you have a content department, they should be responsible for creating a blog calendar that the entire organization contributes to on a regular basis. If you have a PR team, they should be pitching stories that gets your company’s name in headlines. If you have a motion and film team, they should be dedicated to creating videos that promote your objectives as an agency. Everyone needs to work together for the greater good of the organization.
Manage Your Client Workload While Moving Internal Work Forward
Internal projects take time, but they are critical. Whether you are creating a website, launching a PPC campaign, or shooting and editing a video about your corporate culture, it is essential that you leave time open for your organization’s projects as well as ongoing maintenance and updates. While your designers and developers are finishing up a slick new client website, who is making sure your new hires’ bios and headshots are added to your company’s website? If your company is hiring, who is posting the job listing? Time from every department, from employees of every skill, must be allocated to aid in the marketing of your company.
Prioritizing your own marketing over the needs of our clients isn’t easy. If you put together a creative team who is held accountable, I guarantee you will see the ROI when potential new clients are coming through the door.
