OKCOOL

Marketing agencies have finally awoken to the potential of digital marketing. For years they have ignored digital, mainly because they don’t understand it, it’s outside of their comfort zone, they need to invest in resource and they need to redevelop their approach. All scary stuff.

Back in the dot com boom some agencies did take a leap of faith; many got caught up in the hype and made bad decisions. Consequently, they got their fingers burnt.

I have been working in integrated agencies for all of my career. Interestingly, and with the exception of my current employer, none have seen digital as fundamental to their future!

For me what has been particularly fascinating is that clients have pushed their marketing agencies into digital marketing. They have been looking to their agencies for years to offer insight and advice in digital strategies and solutions. Few have met the requirement opening the door to sole digital shops. This has enabled these businesses grow substantially, I know of some that have gone from 2 to over 100 employees in less than 10 years, and they have a range of brands in their client list that would put any of the big London ad agencies to shame.

It is a fact that client marketing spend has, and is, reducing in all areas, except digital, where it is actually increasing. There is currently more digital work out there than the digital industry can deal with. Indeed over 90% of the tenders and pitches I have worked on over the past 3 months have been for pure digital work.

Naturally marketing agencies are now trying to build their digital expertise quickly and develop their own digital offering. Smaller marketing agencies are employing integrated people with digital knowledge, they’re using the experience of their digital partner agencies; the big four agency groups are buying up independent digital agencies to build their own digital services.

We’re now in a gold rush, with everyone and anyone trying to stake their claim. We know that the coming years will continue to be lucrative for the digital and marketing agency that can capitalise on the opportunity. However, we also know that like all gold rushes, too many people will enter the market, some of them not properly qualified and the quality of services will suffer. In time the services we all provide will start to become a commodity, making our clients’ incredibility price sensitive and the competition for work fierce.

For me the best approach to this challenge is for digital agencies to become masters at what successful marketing agencies do now. Clients come first, you need to be a master of your art, add value – become a sounding board for your client’s ideas, know when to shut up and just do it, really impress your clients with the creativity of your work.

For integrated agencies – embrace digital technologies, you can’t fight the change, look around you, communications channels and digital technologies are converging you need to embrace it or risk being left behind. And don’t forget the points above.

Most importantly, and it doesn’t matter who you are – you need to be an innovator at the forefront of digital marketing to make the most of this opportunity, and to build a business that will stand the test of time.