What is a Marketing Agency?

What is Marketing? 

Let’s start by asking the simple questions. Marketing, as defined by the Mirriam-Webster dictionary, is ‘the process or technique of promoting, selling, and distributing a product or service’. The end goal of every marketing project is to achieve the correct strategy and sale of the product or service at hand. However, it can also involve simply spreading the word about a product to get a business’s name out there, or to fix/change a few aspects of the company’s branding in order to appeal to more customers. 

There is an infinite amount of solutions to any and every problem involving marketing. The creative side of the industry is where all of these solutions are invented, theorized, and created. In order to be a successful marketing company, your team has to be extremely creative. Thinking outside of the box is a given. 

So, what exactly does an agency do? 

Categorizing the various existing agencies may help simplify the industry as a whole. There are marketing, advertising, communication, digital marketing, creative and branding agencies. The main difference between each one of these agencies is mainly their capabilities in terms of services. One agency may only have the technology and expertise to help with your website, but not your social media. Another may only be able to give you a general blueprint of their plans to help you flourish without actually doing any of the work. 

If you are in need of a little bit of everything, we would recommend a full-service agency. They can often be the most suited to help you completely revamp your company as a whole. We discussed how our agency begins the research process for a client by conducting a Brand Review. 

These agencies are groups of talented individuals analyzing data, coming up with strategies to ensure the best outcome for all parties involved, and creating creative content in order to reach your goals. These projects can be for-profit, awareness, or image, all depending on what the client needs. 

Why would you need an agency, anyway?

The answer to this question is quite straightforward: you can technically conduct all of the research, kickstart the production of the product and design an advertising campaign by yourself, but you may not have the proper knowledge and tools to get it done perfectly. These agencies we are referring to, just like ours, have experience in exactly what you want to achieve. Use them to your advantage! If you need a bit more insight on the topic, we wrote about why hiring an agency is crucial for your business’s success. 

An agency, we mean a talented agency, is always made of the best talent in the industry. Founders of agencies always struggle to create the most professional and productive team to deliver the best product. (Remember, humans always want to do good). That being said, a full-service agency can be a great opportunity to externalize your marketing department. Think about it. 

It will save you time and energy, and believe us, in the end, money.

Marketing vs Advertising

Marketing is an umbrella term, and advertising exists directly under it. In order to properly market a product or service, you have to find a method that will advertise it well. 

The marketing team will do all of the research: 

• analyzing the market to determine what product does not yet exist and would be beneficial to your company to invent (disregard this if you have already created a product)
• who exactly to market it to in order to receive the best feedback
• brainstorm the most optimal packaging of the physical product
• get to know your target, consumers, goals
  

According to the results of this research, the team will determine the optimal branding message and communication. Of course, all of these aspects are tailored to what exactly it is that you need for your company, but the main idea is to create the absolute best product or service that the marketing team can invent. You can find a more detailed breakdown of everything a marketing agency does to help clients succeed on our website. 

The marketing team, along with any other help they require, develops the actual product. They then bring their plans and ideas to an advertising agency (or in-house team if one is available) and ask them to come up with the best method in order to help make the product known.

Which one is the correct one for my company? 

Essentially, these agencies all aim to achieve the same thing: your business’s success. The one that suits you best is the agency whose vision and ambitions align with your own. It may take some time, but the right one is out there!

Like we mentioned before, there has to be an understanding between you and the person who will be in charge of your business. We also recommend being honest with yourself: what you are and are not able to afford (hiring the largest or most expensive agency does not necessarily imply that it is the best). 

Looking through client testimonials is incredibly important as well. If you intend on going the extra mile with your research, contact the agency’s former clients and get accurate, authentic information about their work ethic and client relationships to help you make the most informed decision.

In such an incredibly saturated market, it can be quite the feat to look through the thousands of marketing agencies nearby and far away. Maybe the one in another country will be the best fit, or perhaps you see eye to eye with the agency next door. There are so many to choose from that you deserve to be picky in a situation like this.

Why not hire our agency to do good?

And we don’t mean do ~ well ~, we mean FOR good. We incorporate kindness into all of our projects. We are focused on creating compassionate and kind advertising messages. Why? Because we know, and have proven, that it is the only way to truly reach your target and maintain a long-term connection.  Whether you are a fashion or cosmetics brand, high tech startup, law firm, insurance company, we know that this is YOUR solution.

One last thing, don’t worry about taking your time with finding the proper agency. It’s a decision that could potentially make or break your company (no pressure) and choosing the correct marketing agency for you is not a choice you should take lightly.

Feel free to contact us for more information, or even if you just want to talk. :)

Citations: 

“Marketing.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/marketing.