A Marketing Agency Deficiency That Can’t Be Ignored

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sunSome agencies have deficiencies in media planning and buying.

Some have deficiencies in PR.

Others have deficiencies in programmatic buying.

All of these things that can be supplemented with outside resources/strategic partnerships that can allow an agency to overcome a marketing agency deficiency like one of these mentioned above when examined by a potential client.

I’ve seen it on the RSW/AgencySearch side of our business.  Wrote a post not too long ago called “They’re Good When They’re Great” that talked about the openness of marketers to agencies that have established good solid strategic partnerships – which means the agency has to do more than just call the partner agency a strategic partner…there needs to be some evidence of cooperation and success in order for it to be valid in the eyes of the marketer.

There are two marketing agency deficiencies that marketers point out in our latest survey (The 2014 RSW/US Agency-Marketer Business Report) which can’t be ignored.

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A majority of marketers in our survey stated that the top two deficiencies of agencies are:

“a lack of foundation in analytics”

and

“a lack of focus on meaningful KPIs”

These are two areas that you can not let go of.  If you’re not heavy into operating this way and thinking this way, you need to start moving in this direction now.

Back in the day, the rallying cry was “get into digital now”!  Now just being in digital and just creating attractive websites isn’t going to be enough.

Today the rallying cry is “Responsive Marketing”.

With more marketers now assuming the responsibility of programmatic marketing – and taking it away from agencies, the need to stay current and think about a results-based approach to developing and executing plans for your clients is critical.

Marketers tell us in our surveys and we hear them tell us in conferences like Mirren’s Business Development Conference and the upcoming ANA Masters of Marketing Conference that the pressure is on….them.  Which means it’s going to be on you too

We hear it from Marketers that call us wanting to look for a new agency.  The number one frustration is most often the fact that their agency “isn’t keeping them ahead of the digital and social curve”.

Don’t be one of those agencies.

There are plenty of platforms out there that you can use to help you manage through this transition into a more responsive marketing agency partner.  You don’t have to go at it alone.

 

Mark is a 30-year veteran of the consumer packaged goods, advertising, and marketing service industry. Mark started his career at DDB Needham in Chicago prior to earning his MBA from the J.L. Kellogg Business School at Northwestern where he majored in Marketing and Economics. Prior to starting RSW/US in 2005, Mark was General Manager for AcuPOLL, a global research consultancy. Sneider worked in Marketing for S.C. Johnson and KAO Brands. Sneider has been invited to speak at numerous Agency events and network conferences domestically and internationally including the 4A’s, Magnet, NAMA, TAAN, and MCAN. Sneider has been featured in prominent industry publications including Adweek, Media Post, e-Marketer, and Forbes. When not working (which often seems like not often), Mark likes to run miles, go to church, and just chill with a hard copy issue of Fast Company.

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