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Different Types of Digital Marketing Agencies Explained
If you’ve decided that your business will benefit more from outsourcing its digital marketing than doing it in-house – see our blog post on in-house vs outsourced marketing if you’re still not sure
The next step is to figure out what type of digital marketing agency will work for you. In this post, we’ll explore what options are out there and how to find the right digital marketing agency for your company.
Different Types of Digital Marketing Agencies
First things first, before you learn how to find the right digital marketing agency for your business, you need to know what they offer. Generally speaking, most digital marketing agencies will improve your business’s standing on the marketing channels available for online businesses, but every marketing agency is different. In addition, different marketing agencies will offer different services, including (but not limited to):
- Content
- SEO
- Social media management
- Biddable media
- Email marketing
The three main types of digital marketing agencies are full service and single- or multi-channel agencies.
The Full-Service Digital Marketing Agency
This agency is usually bursting with designers, developers, creatives, analysts and technical nerds all under one roof. They can cover everything from the creation of a website right through to the maintenance of your marketing channels. These agencies also tend to be a lot bigger, and you may be drawn to the all-inclusive package that a full-service digital marketing agency can offer.
It might sound like a dream come true, but unless you do your research right, it could become a nightmare. If the cost seems a little too good to be true, it could be a warning sign. It often means that either the design or digital marketing could be compromised, and one is more of an ‘add-on service’ rather than a service provided by dedicated professionals in that area.
For example, they could be a design agency but offer digital marketing as an extra service once the website project is complete. It’s not their specialism, because their specialism is designing websites, and you might not get the results you’re hoping for.
Advantages:
- Works for businesses who want a new website and have an in-house team to handle the digital marketing afterwards.
- Everything is in one place, meaning communication, authorisation and working together can be much smoother.
Disadvantages:
- Some full-service agencies don’t have the in-depth technical knowledge required for each specialism, and the quality of either the design or the marketing is compromised.
The Single-Channel Marketing Agency
A single-channel agency allows you to deal with a team of specialists in one area who can get you visibility via a specific channel you feel needs some help.
These types of digital marketing agencies are usually very good at what they do because they stick with what they know and only focus on that. If you are a business that already works with another agency or has a capable in-house marketing team that needs a bit of extra help, a single channel agency could be perfect.
Advantages:
- Great for businesses with smaller budgets and want to work on a project basis.
- Perfect if you’re looking for an additional agency to boost visibility via a particular marketing channel.
Disadvantage:
- Digital marketing is a broad landscape with many different avenues to explore. A single-channel marketing agency will only be able to help you with one side of things, and it’ll be on you to ensure that the rest are also covered.
- Communication could get tricky here – if you have separate agencies or in-house teams working on every different element of your strategy, it might be more difficult to coordinate everyone.
The Multi-Channel Digital Marketing Agency
At the core of any multi-channel digital marketing agency is strategy. These agencies focus on multiple channels but will have specialists within each area. This will help build visibility in the right channels and intelligently integrate them to drive online success as a whole.
According to NG Data:
“23% of marketers report not having the time or resources needed to develop and execute multi-channel campaigns”.
This may be true for many types of digital marketing agencies. However, multi-channel agencies can devote time, knowledge and experience to their campaigns without compromising on quality.
They also understand how all channels work together to create a cohesive strategy that helps businesses be in the right place at the right time in front of the right people in the digital marketplace.
Advantages:
- Great for businesses with medium to large budgets and want to be visible online, in the places that matter to their customers.
- An innovative, transparent, results-led approach to digital marketing. A multi-channel digital marketing agency can develop an integrated, targeted strategy to achieve business goals and maximise the return on investment.
Disadvantage:
- Not the right type of digital marketing agency for businesses who want to have a heavy hand in how their digital marketing goes. These agencies tend to know their stuff, so it’s all about trusting their expertise and waiting for the results to follow.
Top Tips
We’ve already written a six-step checklist to choosing the right digital marketing agency for you, so check that out if you’re ready to get more in-depth. Here’s a basic rundown of what you should be thinking about when comparing different marketing agencies:
- What budget does your business have? You need to know how much you can spend upfront and on an ongoing basis
- Is the agency you’re looking at throwing jargon and graphics at you, or are they presenting a clear, data-led history of results?
- How much input do you want to have? Some marketing agencies prefer you to be at the helm, while others prefer to let their expertise do the talking.
- Have you had your say? Make sure your marketing is tailored to you and your business and not just a one-size-fits-all strategy.
At Zelst, we are proud to share our digital marketing growth case studies, looking at our clients and our results in helping them reach their potential and fulfil their online goals. When we meet a business for the first time, we listen to their objectives, ambitions and history, and we tailor a strategy to suit them.
We believe in the success of a multi-channel approach.
Modern digital success demands different platforms and different forms of content; this multifaceted approach delivers results. That’s why we create and develop bespoke inbound marketing strategies, monitoring metrics that really matter to you.
When it comes to how to find the right digital marketing agency for your business, it’s important to be aware of the types of digital marketing agencies available to you. If you’re looking for a top-notch multi-channel marketing agency, you’ve come to the right place. Get in touch with the Zelst team today to learn more about what our digital marketing agency can do for your business.
