Why you shouldn’t dismiss boutique marketing agencies when thinking global

Digital marketing allows businesses to directly reach potential customers or clients through a variety of highly targeted channels, and due to its high return on investment (ROI), more companies are increasingly investing money into this marketing sector.

Unlike traditional media, digital marketing allows businesses to hyper-target their direct customer segment and increase the relevance of their brand, as well as allowing business to have an up-to-date insight on their consumers and measurable ROI from their ad spend.

When deciding whether your brand is ready to invest in digital marketing as a means of elevating sales and increasing brand awareness, it can be overwhelming to say the least, as the choices are so broad across the sector.

The first step is to decide whether you want to work with a larger agency that can do everything in terms of marketing, or a smaller boutique agency filled with specialists.

Increasingly, companies are turning to smaller agencies and there are many reasons why, but make sure you make the right decision for you and your business.

Weigh up whether flexibility is important to you

Smaller agencies and consultants tend to be more flexible with the offerings to their clients. Their teams are more nimble, allowing for changes to be implemented quickly.

This is particularly useful for e-commerce clients, that may need to update creative due to market changes or competitor pricing. Large agencies tend to work more on longer campaign-based activity, meaning it can be challenging to quickly adapt creative, especially in the digital space.

Specialised experience or long-term experience

Within quality smaller agencies, the team is filled with specialists in their respective fields and you will most likely get direct access to all of them.

Larger agencies do have more experience as a whole working with bigger clients, however, they also have juniors starting off their career in digital marketing, who may be handling a lot of your work directly.

To have the same level of talent that an experienced boutique agency offers could cost you thousands more each month, so it is necessary to weigh up the value.

Smaller agencies have nowhere to hide

Brands are now more aware than ever before of what metrics dictate success and, as a result, are getting tired of agencies that don’t deliver.

Smaller agencies have nowhere to hide, and since they know they will be held accountable for unsuccessful campaigns, they work harder to ensure the strategies that they implement for your business are successful. This is in part because the client account isn’t attached to a larger agreement, which can happen in larger agencies.

A quality boutique agency should be sharing with you regular reports and showcasing exactly where your money is going, the return you’re getting and how things can be improved.

New team member

As expectations continue to rise, it is common to want to feel as though your marketing specialist works in-house and is a part of your team. Working with a boutique or smaller agency can mean you will get a lot more face time with senior team members, and therefore get a better overall service on the account.

If you decide to go with a larger agency, I suggest scheduling fortnightly or monthly meetings with those working on your account, making sure you have a senior strategic member of the team there to provide insight and recommendations.

There are definitely benefits to both smaller and larger agencies, and you may need to meet with a few to see what is the right fit for your business.

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