Digitisation changed your needs and that of your customers. COVID-19 only accelerated the process. Your external consultancies should reflect the new different, not the past, which is why the agency you now need could not have possibly existed until now. It is a child of our times.

For years, the agency model evolved to deliver integrated campaigns driving results that matter for multiple stakeholders. Having all the elements in place and the right expertise has helped deliver on agreed, measurable business outcomes. But the new different demands more. 

It means delivering value beyond just having “one throat to choke”.  In times of change like we are seeing, the whole marketing approach has to become way more agile. That way if you need to pivot, you can.

Skills to pay the bills

To deliver on the changing needs of today’s business environment, agency skills need to evolve and become more strategic. Delivering ROI on marketing spend means your agency needs to have a clear understanding of your business’ objectives. 

Smart marketing consultants understand the difference between driving product sales, maximising VC funding rounds or profile building ahead of an acquisition. One size does not fit all. You need to be able to negotiate and agree clear KPIs to meet these objectives. 

For some clients, it’s generating over 400 pieces of coverage a year, while others want to increase a webinar’s attendance by 25% or completely revamp the company identity to target a new set of customers. Does your current agency have this range of skills?

PR meets SEO, meets sales pipeline

Taking an example, a client gave us a strict brief to drive more visitors to their website. Their nearest competitor was getting significantly more site traffic. They decided to do something about it. We increased the SEO value of their website by securing articles on sites with high Domain Authority (DA) ratings. 

While using digital SEO to benchmark their competitor’s success, we also found something. The good ol’ press release was a big reason why their competitor was generating much more traffic. Newswire distributions contributed significantly to the number of backlinks they gained to their homepage. We have now incorporated this approach into our strategy for our client to maximise their web ranking

Continuously delivering 

After you have agreed measurement and scope, now comes the hard part – making it all happen. Agencies are only as good as their people and the new different agency team needs a blend of sober judgement and unabashed enthusiasm. We have been building just that.

Your new different agency needs to prove continual investment in the skills of the team. They need to ensure they can engage with prospects at every stage in the sales & marketing funnel to drive business results. They should demonstrate a flair for creating engaging content which resonates across marketing, sales, product development, the C-suite, board and investors. 

In the same way product development and operations teams now work more closely than ever to drive better results in shorter time frames, the modern agency and its clients need to align like never before. 

Continuous delivery means building on the momentum of previous successes and keeping on going. Strategies like refocusing on vertical industries, reacting  to news stories and amplifying results across social and to sales and stakeholders are essential. This “DevOps of Marketing” can deliver you more tangible results, in less time and often for less cost.

Alligators, sharks and two trillion valuations

The only creatures in the world that stopped evolving are alligators and Great White sharks. Everyone else needs to move with the times to survive. Even Apple’s impressive first, as a two trillion dollar market cap organisation, is there to be beaten. The agency model has evolved to accommodate the new different and address the new levels of agility needed in the current market.

Get in touch below to see how you can make the new different work for you.