In this new digital world, the fundamentals of marketing have not changed completely. Though the medium through which marketing messages are delivered is becoming more digital.

Why?

Well from my point of view this is because it has given us a way to track, measure, and make the necessary changes in real-time. And this has completely changed the game of marketing agencies.

Gone are those days of fat contracts locked with long term deals. Today agencies need to keep themselves on their toe. And if anyone fails to demonstrate agility and return on investment, will be greeted by a closed-door.

a. Agencies have to be able to answer,
b. Who's buying and why they are buying
c. What content is working and why
d. What's not working and why
e. If the targets are correct
f. If the strategies will be able to generate a return on the investment or not.

And to our surprise, all of these are a byproduct of digital.

I think this is one of the biggest changes in the world of marketing agencies. And they need to adapt to the change in order to prove their value.
So let's talk about the strategies modern marketing agencies follow to thrive in the industry.

1. Blend Art & Technology Together

“From the beginning, I kept saying it's not the technology that's going to entertain audiences, it's the story. When you go and see a really great live-action film, you don't walk out and say that the new Panavision camera was staggering... it made the film so good. A computer is a tool and it's in the service of the story. -John Lasseter (Pixar)"

Technology is redefining art in a strange, new way. It is not killing the art rather it is enhancing it. In fact, I would say that technology is making us more creative than ever.

Agencies should focus on building teams and help them work more effectively. Common challenge every other agency face is to get the technical and creative team to collaborate with each other.

But creative and technical teams must work together in order to achieve the best results.

Teams can learn a lot from each other. When tech professionals and art experts merged together to work on solving issues then the agency can achieve new heights in success.

Agencies live and die by the quality of their work. When two teams aren't collaborating to deliver a high-quality product, the entire company faces the loss.

For example,
The end product is trashy and the client is unhappy. As a result, the client will never come back for another work and the agency will lose their one referral source forever.

That situation turns down staff morale. Due to which, the company tends to hire new talents and that means more expenses.

So I think, agencies need to hold on to "Unite & Lead principle", and they should implement the same in their work culture not just within an organizational structure, but even within building workspaces and environment so that the teams can collaborate and create magic.

2. Result-oriented rather than method oriented

In order to achieve stellar results, teams should be given goals to chase and be allowed to choose their own paths to reach those goals. Besides, they should be encouraged to get away from the office and explore external inspiration. And there are many ways to do that like,

a. Spending a couple of hours in an art gallery or a cafe.
b. Brainstorming in a museum.
c. Going for a walk in the woods.

This all can help to clear out the mind and think creatively. Creativity does not blossom in a corporate environment and office cubicle.
Establish a healthy, meaningful relationship with clients

What's the foremost priority of any agency?

Keep going. Keep growing, right?

And a fantastic way to do that, alongside developing a top-notch work is to build a strong relationship with your client. After all, they are the people that bring the revenue and keep the agency profitable.

There are two basic aspects of growth.

a. Keep adding new clients (inbound marketing, lead generation-prospecting, etc)
b. Retain existing clients and grow business in same account (also called account mining)

But in either case, many modern marketing agencies miss the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of their client's businesses and translate such deeper understanding to close more deals.

Let's talk about it in detail with some basic examples.

Agency should take some steps further and fully understand the client and the language they use beforehand.

For example,
While delivering my pitch if I say "CPA" (assuming my client know marketing related abbreviations), well well that can surely cause an issue. Instead, say "cost per acquisition" and explain what it means.

This way, I will get to know the client is taking value from my advice, and understand what I am trying to say and not letting my knowledge go over their head.

Modern agencies need to establish themselves as valuable partners, not just other vendors. The word should go out that - *not only you understand your clients business needs very deeply but have abilities to deliver the right solution, even if it requires going the extra miles

In business, building a successful relationship is not just important it's vital.

3. Deep Level Of Trust

Lack of trust can become a major threat to organizational growth. A company that is able to create a strong sense of trust in the workplace is better able to ride out the storms throw up by the competitors.

Successful businesses are built on relationships and the foundation of all relationships is trust.

While team-building exercises may temporarily bring employees together, but to create a long-lasting trust, leaders need to get into the heart (and not into the brain) of employees.

If a workplace encourages trust then the organization will see a number of benefits including,

a. Greater productivity amongst staff.
b. The ability to work more effectively as a team rather than an individual.
c. It can also help to boost employee morale.

How to build trust in the workplace?

Communication is one of the easiest ways to gain employees loyalty and trust.
Allowing teams to make decisions.

Giving an opportunity to have their inputs on the project they work on.
Being open and transparent on key decisions.

So, there is no option for trust if the agency wants to attract and retain the best people and want to achieve the best results.

4. Be Transparent While Hiring

Recruiting is all about trust and credibility, and one of the best ways to achieve that is being transparent. Transparency is a new goal for any agencies. Being open and clear with candidates helps to set proper expectations, avoid further disappointment.

Highlight the goal of the agency and be transparent about what it will take to reach that goal. That transparency will filter out those candidates who do not fit with the company processes and culture.

It's so important to make transparency a core part of your recruitment strategy, that way you will have more success in hiring and retaining top candidates.

Bottom Line:
Everything above is easier said than done but to survive and to thrive in the industry, modern marketing agencies has to come with new solutions for a new era.

Authors Bio:

Sneha J

Digital Marketer at Freshproposals - Proposal Software that offers proposal templates. I am passionate about SEO, Digital Marketing, Email Marketing, etc. I love meeting new people, they bring new joy, colors, and beauty to our lif