Running your own marketing agency is not an easy task. There is so much that can go wrong while you try to make everything go right. Customers being unhappy, internal communications issues, and other such things can plague your agency. What exactly is going on here? Is there something I can do about it?
Below, we’ve listed a few things that are common failure points for marketing agencies. Some of these things can be managed with agency management software, while others are going to need a more personal touch and communication. With these as a starting point, you may be able to determine what kind of tools you’re going to need to make sure your Agency thrives.
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Expectations and Efficiency
Customer Expectations
Sometimes, communications can break down between you and your customer. This can happen for many reasons. Sometimes, your contract with the customer is too vague. Other times it could be that you and the customer have two different ideas of what the same thing means.
There are a couple of ways to handle this. Firstly, when you are negotiating your contract with a customer, be sure that not only are you clear with your customer, but you also clearly know what the customer expects. That way when you both sign the contract, you both know exactly what is going to happen. Encourage your customer to keep reasonable communication open with you. Allow your customer time to go over your suggestions and the different stages of the project.
Efficiency
Sometimes delays and a loss of customer trust can point to low efficiency. Take a look at your agency’s workflow and be sure to communicate with your staff about your expectations as to efficiency. Customers will understand when something major happens–but will only tolerate it for so long. Some of these issues can be managed with software while others will require better communication.
Management issues
Personnel
Another area where software can help is inter-agency strife caused by personnel issues. Communication is going to work in hand with software in this case. If you are a small agency, make sure you have an idea of what is going on with your employees, their schedules, what clients they work with, etc. This will make it easier to use software to handle schedules or to keep communications open.
Financial
This one can be tough, as you need money to make money. Consider having someone dedicated to working with the finances of your company. This way you have a constant accounting of inflow, outflow, profit, and all other financial matters. This will allow you to make plans concerning your Agency’s future.
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Technology
A failure to keep up with technology can also spell doom for some agencies. This might be worth having at least a few people on staff to handle.
Keeping up with Software
Having a person dedicated to keeping your agency’s equipment in tip-top shape is useful. An IT person can keep track of equipment, make sure all software is up to date, and perform repairs and advise on updating office computing software. Be sure you also keep up with current news on industry innovations that you may want to implement and keep communications open with your IT employee.
New Avenues
In addition to keeping software and the like up to date, a person who can handle reaching out to new markets through social media is valuable. The skill set of this person is usually much different than your IT professional. Most modern marketing agencies are going to have people who already have this skill set–but having a dedicated marketer for your marketing agency can help drive innovation and customer outreach.
The Future
It’s important to keep your future as a marketing agency in sight. What are your plans for the next year, the next five years? The next decade? When you don’t have a direction to go, stagnation can happen. Once your agency stagnates, it can be easy for it to go downhill. Keep some kind of vision in mind and keep it up to date. For more, check here: https://www.stateofdigital.com/16-common-digital-marketing-agency-problem-points/
Hopefully, these categories can help you start to pinpoint what your issues may be and start to work toward solving them.
