Snapshot : Marketers use agencies for the extra skills and resources they don’t have themselves. But how do you work out which type of agency you need? We cover how in this article. First, learn how to work if you need a generalist or specialist agency. Learn the 3 key areas of marketing support where most agencies operate. We’ll cover many different types of agency and what they can do for you.
You need lots of different skills in marketing. But you can’t do everything on your own. At some point, you’ll need help.
That can come from individuals. You hire someone with marketing expertise, or use a freelancer or consultant. They help you solve a specific need.
Or, you hire an agency. They can help you with broader, on-going tasks. You get access to their team and their different skills and assets. You pay them and they manage projects and tasks for you.
Our marketing agencies guide covers the process to find and work with an agency. But a key step is identifying the type of agency you need. That’s what this article focusses on.
What do you get from agencies?
To start, let’s look at what you actually get from agencies.
Firstly, they help you manage bigger projects you can’t do on your own. You get access to their team’s expertise, experience and time.
You also get access to their resources and processes. They help you with things that’d be harder to do on your own.
Organising focus groups. Using specialist graphic design tools. Buying media or running in-store sales promotions. All usually easier using an agency.
Where to start
You start by defining the type of problem you need an agency to solve.
For example, is your problem broad and on-going? You probably need a generalist agency who offer many services. Is it something more specific and and one-off? Specialist agencies who offer specific services may be a better bet. Or you can even use a hybrid mix of both types of agency.
Generalist agencies
Generalist (full-service) agencies offer a broad range of marketing support.
They typically manage on-going work across multiple projects, either on their own, or as part of an agency network.
You tend to use them for bigger, more complex projects and tasks.
They’ll usually lead with one broad type of service e.g. advertising, but then also offer related skills such as graphic design or digital marketing.
Advantages
Using a generalist agency means you have one main point of contact that gives you access to many different skills. No need to manage different relationships with different agencies. One agency organises the work for you. That makes your life simpler.
You also probably spend less on account management fees if you go this way. You don’t need an account management team for each area of help you need. Your lead generalist agency handles all the organisation, admin and budgeting. That frees up your time.
They’re accountable for delivering your marketing activities in the relevant area. If something goes wrong, it’s on them. You know who to go to.
They integrate and co-ordinate your marketing activities. That’s one less thing for you to worry about.
Disdvantages
The main disadvantage is you become very reliant on that agency. It’s putting all your agency eggs in one basket. That can be risky.
For example, you often have to sign an exclusivity agreement with them. You promise not to use other agencies to do certain tasks while you work with them. That means if if something goes wrong, or you fall out, you don’t have other options. You’re stuck with them for the duration of the contract.
Though having a lead agency should in theory reduce the amount of inter-agency disagreements, it doesn’t always work out that way. You may find other agencies you use resent the lack of direct contact with you. They may not put in the same effort to their work. That’s not good.
Generalist agencies can also be slower with areas like approvals. There’s more people involved. More opinions to deal with. This slows down decision-making. The slower you go, usually the more it costs.
Specialist agencies
Specialists agencies focus on a specific marketing activity. That can make delivery simpler and faster. There’s less distractions.
You’d usually use them for smaller projects. One-off projects or work you do irregularly. For example, you might use a specialist agency for logo design or packaging development. Areas that you don’t update very often.
Specialist agencies are usually smaller than generalist agencies. That has some benefits.
Often you get better service levels. Your business accounts for a larger part of their business. Smaller usually also means faster. The less people involved, the quicker the work gets done. It makes things simpler.
Also, because the work isn’t on-going, you’re not locked in to working with them. You can switch to another agency if something goes wrong.
It gets more difficult if you have to work with many specialist agencies though. They may not always work well with each other. The work may feel less integrated.
You’ll probably spend more on fees too. Each agency will need separate budgets and resource plans. This takes up more time and is harder work for you. More work-in-progress meetings. More reporting and performance sessions. Specialist agencies won’t have the same broad view of your business as generalist agencies do.
Hybrid model
There’s also a final option where you both generalist and specialist agencies.
With this hybrid model, you use a generalist agency for on-going work and major projects. And you use specialist agencies to run smaller, ad hoc projects.
For example, you use a generalist agency to create your advertising and promotions.
But you also use a specialist design agency for smaller creative projects.
To update icons on your website for example. Or to do quick photo edits. For simple jobs like this, specialists are usually faster and cheaper.
Identify the type of expertise you need
Next, you identify the type of expertise you need.
This is usually in one of these 3 areas :-
- Customers :- You need help with market research; data and analytics, or behavioural science.
- Brand :- You need help with your brand strategy and positioning. Or to bring your brand identity to life. Or you need help with innovation.
- Activation :- You need help with some are of the marketing mix. Promotion is the most common area. But you also get help with product, place and price.
Once you know the broad area, make a list of your more specific needs.
Some needs will naturally sit together. They may suit a generalist agency. For example, you’d use a generalist digital marketing agency for SEO, digital media, websites and e-Commerce if those were your needs.
Other needs might be more specific. You’re probably looking at a specialist agency if your needs are around packaging or PR for example.
Type of agency - Customers
Agencies who support you to understand customers are a good place to start. After all, marketing always starts with the customer. (see our importance of market research article for more on this).
The 3 main areas of customer expertise you’d need help with are :-
Market research companies
Market research companies help you carry out qualitative (qual) and/or quantitative (quant) research. Some specialise in one or the other. Bigger research companies usually offer both.
Qual research normally runs as a project to answer a specific research question. You often use the same research company to run each qual project. But there’s not usually a specific commitment to on-going work.
Quant research can also be project-based, but there’s also often an on-going element.
You’d do a quant research project to validate an innovation idea’s potential for example. But for something like brand health tracking or measuring the impact of your advertising and sales promotions, that’s more on-going research.
Working with market research companies gives you access to their research expertise. They do things that would be harder for you to do on your own. Recruiting respondents. Setting up questionnaires. Reducing bias in your research. They have the expertise to make sure you get the most accurate customer feedback from your research.
Data and analytics
Some quant agencies also offer data and analytics services. But there are also agencies who specialise in this area.
You’d use them when you have large and/or complex sets of data to manage.
For example, companies with large CRM and loyalty programs often use this type of specialist agency.
You’d also use them for more advanced analytical approaches. For example, to run an econometric analysis on your pricing and promotions.
They use their expertise to look for trends and opportunities in the data. Their analysis can show you what’s working, what’s not and what you could do differently.
This type of agency could recommend specific segments to target for example. Or the best time to run promotions and what types of promotion to run. This expert level of analysis helps you improve the way you do your brand activation.
Behavioural science
The final type of agency in this area is relatively new. They’re agencies who specialise in behavioural science. (some market research companies and advertising agencies may also offer this service).
Behavioural science looks at how we make decisions. For marketing, it specifically looks at how we make buying decision. The better you understand that, the more impactful you can make your offer.
For example, they can advise how to make you advertising or sales copywriting more persuasive.
They can review your customer experience and recommend how to make it more engaging. They show you how customers make decisions, and tell you what to do about it.
These insights help you generate better ideas so customers are more likely to decide to buy your brand. You use them a lot in creative thinking and marketing innovation, for example.
Type of agency - Brand
Customer agencies bring you an external view of the market. But you need to do something internal with that knowledge. You need to build a brand that meets customer needs. And brand building is another area where agencies can help.
The main areas you’d look at are brand strategy, brand identity and innovation.
Brand strategy
You’d use a brand strategy agency to help with your brand development process.
You brief to them to either create a new brand, or update an existing one.
They’ll usually prioritise strategic areas like defining your positioning and competitive strategy.
This work usually leads to the creation of the intangible assets in your brand identity. For example, your purpose, essence and values.
This all usually happens at a workshop.
At the workshop you’ll look at and discuss stimulus material. Customer feedback and competitor analyses for example. You’ll follow the process to then fill out relevant parts of your brand architecture.
Brand identity
Your brand identity is a mix of intangible and tangible assets. It acts as your brand’s DNA.
Some agencies only deliver the intangible assets. You’d use designers to do the tangible assets.
But you can use specialist brand identity agencies who’ll do both intangible and tangible assets.
Doing both together helps your identity feel more consistent. Consistency’s important. It helps customers understand who you are.
For example, let’s say your positioning benefit is the high quality of your product.
Your values and personality would need to be consistent with that. That could mean for example :-
- values – craftsmanship and prevision.
- personality – attention to detail and persistent.
But you’d also need your tangible assets like your logo, colour palette and typography to be consistent too. It takes specialist graphic design skills to translate these intangible concepts into tangible assets.
Often, you’ll also use them to show how to use your brand assets. How they should look on your packaging or your website for example. You collate all these assets into a brand book. It’s usually these types of agency who help you build that. This book documents how your brand looks, feels and acts. It makes sure everyone uses your brand assets consistently.
Innovation agencies
The final area of brand is innovation. You can find specialist agencies to help you work through that area’s unique challenges.
These agencies are experts in running the innovation process. They’ll bring in the right expertise at each step you need to launch new products and services.
For example, this type of agency helps you with idea generation and screening. You can use them to build prototypes, and run market research to gather customer feedback. They can help with business cases and launch plans.
They’ll have access to different types of expertise. Creative thinking experts for idea generation for example. Or product designers to build prototypes.
Each new launch is a separate project, and they work with you until the launch. It’s then handed over to a more traditional type of marketing agency.
Type of agency - Activation
Marketing activation is the most common area to work with agencies. That’s no surprise. It’s where clients spend the most money.
That’s because typically your activation needs are on-going. You work with this type of agency on multiple and usually bigger projects that take more time to do.
There’s many different types. A good way to filter them is to look at which of the 4Ps in your marketing mix they help with. Most focus on one specific area.
Promotion
Promotion is all about communication. It’s how you persuade customers to buy your brand.
You use it to move customers along the brand choice funnel. It helps you build trust, awareness, consideration, trial and loyalty.
Key areas where you often need agency expertise are :-
- advertising.
- media.
- digital including social and CRM.
- public relations.
Advertising agencies
Advertising agencies work with you to :-
- develop the advertising idea.
- turn that into a compelling brand story.
- bring that idea and story to life in multiple media channels.
Their team will have a mix of skills.
Strategists who do the planning. Creative teams who manage the visual design and copywriting. And account teams who look after your needs.
(see our marketing agencies guide for more on this)
You want your advertising to have a positive impact on your profit and loss. That goes into the briefs you set them, and the KPIs you use to evaluate them.
Media agencies
Your media agency’s role is to get your advertising in front of the right customers, in the right channels, at the right time.
This could be traditional channels like TV, print, outdoor and cinema. Or newer digital channels like social, search and display.
You rely on them to invest your media budget wisely. Your adverts need to appear in the right context, when and where customers need to experience them. Their expertise makes sure that happens.
It can be a weird area because they’re buying time and space for you. You can’t really see or touch what they do. Plus, it’s not always clear how they get the best deals from media sales teams for you.
Overall, this type of agency helps you create a media plan with the reach and frequency you need. They should also show you the expected impact on sales.
Digital / Social / CRM agencies
We’ve grouped digital, social and CRM agencies together as they offer similar services.
They’re all about how to use marketing technology to connect with customers.
There’s many different ways to do that. These types of agency help you manage these connections.
They’ll set up and manage your website for example. Or manage your social media platforms. They could even run your online store.
They’ll often also offer to run your digital media i.e. using search, social and display ads to drive traffic.
You can also use them to set up your digital data system. They’ll help you track your online performance. And of course, they’ll create content for you. Your product pages, social posts, online sales promotions and so on. They’ll often group all these activities together and call it customer experience.
Public Relations (PR) agencies
Public relations is the final area where you might need an agency. It has different challenges to advertising, media and digital. That’s why it’s common to use a separate PR agency.
You mainly use PR to get media coverage. They bring specialist expertise to help you :-
- influence key opinion leaders.
- connect better with journalists and influencers.
- run trade shows and exhibitions for you.
- stage one-off events like new product launches.
Product
Most businesses create their own products using an in-house Research and Development (R&D) team.
But you may need to bring in a specialist type of agency for any expertise the R&D team don’t have.
Take packaging development for example. There’s a lot of specialist knowledge needed in that area.
How different colour inks print for example. If boxes are strong enough to support products in transit. If the packaging is sustainable and recyclable. You often need expert help with these questions.
You can also find agencies who specialise in product development. They’ll have design and engineering experts who can create prototypes. They’ll also have manufacturing and operations expertise. They can help put together an operations plan and work out if you can scale your idea.
If relevant, you might also use a specialist agency to help you with the sensory development of your product. What it looks like; sounds like; smells like; tastes like or feels like when you touch it. New food flavours for example. Or new aroma profiles in the perfume industry.
Place
Place normally refers to where you sell. You can find agencies who’ll help you build your sales channel strategy and plan.
This can also include support for category plans to use with retailers.
They’re similar to brand strategy agencies, but with a focus on sales strategy obviously.
Some types of agency can also help you with in-store activation. You use them when you run sales promotions with retailers.
For a fee, they can help you set up Point of Sale (POS) displays, shelf stickers and other merchandising. If relevant for your category, they can also run tastings or events in-store.
Using this type of agency is more reliable than depending on the retailer’s own staff to set up your displays. Their field teams will check physical locations and help re-stock if displays are empty for example. This approach is very common in the grocery channel. You use them to maximise your in-store presence.
There are also equivalent agencies for e-Commerce. They help you sell through online retailers. They can share best practice for each customer. And you can use them to optimise your product pages on the retailer’s product information management system for example.
Price
Price is the least common area to use an agency. But there are some areas where you might need specialist support.
For example, if you want to do econometric modelling to analyse your price and price discounting approach.
This uses statistical analysis to work out the historic sales impact of price changes and different marketing activities. The model uses those to predict the impact of future price and activity plans.
You can also find financial consulting agencies who’ll advise on pricing strategy. For example, how to use price to :-
- improve your forecast accuracy.
- optimise your profit and loss.
- negotiate with retailers.
Service Ps - people, physical location, process
Service based business often also look at 3 extra Ps – people, physical location and process. Specialist agencies can advise on how to improve systems, technology and ways of working in these areas.
Typically though, these types of agency come from outside marketing. A training agency to improve how your people work for example. An architect to improve your premises. Or a management consultancy to improve your processes.
You identify what you need and then go look for the right type of agency.
Conclusion - What type of agency does your marketing need?
The right choice of agency can make a big difference to your marketing.
You can choose a generalist agency with multiple skills. Or specialist agencies with specific skills. Or you choose a hybrid mix of both.
Agencies can support you in 3 areas – customer, brand and activation.
Customer agencies add expertise in areas like market research, data and analytics and behavioural science.
Brand agencies help you build your brand. That can include your brand strategy, brand identity and specialist areas like innovation.
Most agency support though happens with activation. It’s how you bring your marketing plan to life. You use different types of agencies to deliver the 4Ps of your marketing mix – promotion, product, place and price.
For more on how to find the right type of agency, check out our marketing agencies guide. Also check out our informal guide to agency evaluation. Contact us, if you need advice on finding the right type of agency to meet your needs.
Photo Credits
Handshake : Cytonn Photography on Pexels
Three people pointing at laptop : Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash
Writing – Person writing near mug : Photo by Green Chameleon on Unsplash
Hands : Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash
Man looking at ceiling (adapted) : Photo by Anton Danilov on Unsplash
Glasses : Photo by Josh Calabrese on Unsplash
Marketing Dashboard : Photo by Carlos Muza on Unsplash
Sprinkles : Photo by Almos Bechtold on Unsplash
Billboard (adapted) : Photo by Kate Trysh on Unsplash
Night time billboards : Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash
Marketing Technology – Laptops : Photo by Marvin Meyer on Unsplash
Confetti : Photo by Pablo Heimplatz on Unsplash
Sketchpad : Photo by Charlota Blunarova on Unsplash
Supermarket : Photo by Hanson Lu on Unsplash
Shop Window Price Discounts : Photo by Artem Beliaikin on Unsplash
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