10 Marketing Mistakes Most Agencies are Regularly Making
Agency marketing is my bread and butter. In fact, for most of my career, I've worked in or with agencies.
I love working with agencies and have made this work a large part of my business since going it alone almost 6 years ago. Every time a Founder approaches me to help with an agency's Marketing Strategy, I could bet £100 that I'll see the same issues hampering the effectiveness of their approach, draining their precious time and resources, and giving them a headache.
Let's face it: they're all time-poor, so it's natural to make mistakes, particularly when there isn't an experienced hand at the helm of all things agency comms, and urgency is of the essence.
But the same mistakes, over and over?
Yep, that's very much the case, in my experience.
So let's dive into what these common mistakes are and what can be done to prevent them…
1) Lack of Strategy
The top of this list of mistakes is the most obvious, but it's also the most common. I often see a mish-mash of chaotic Google Docs, failed and out-of-date Trello boards created by a frazzled Founder up late at night trying to get a handle on this stuff, resulting in incomplete content strategies and ultimately, no real plan overall.
There are usually no personas, very loose positioning and an approach that is much like turning a tap on and off. No one person is handling all of this and making sure it’s doing the job intended, not even the most experienced agency founders and marketers.
The result is a random bunch of content and activity going out in short bursts, then… crickets. Or anxiety-inducing pressures like saying yes to exhibiting at an event that sounds like it's a great idea at the time, then realising you're not equipped for Events yet and have just splashed £5k (minimum, let’s be real) on a stand, not to mention travel costs, accommodation and sustenance expenses.
It's frantic, it's messy, it's stressful. And it doesn't have to be this way.
2) Deprioritising working on the agency itself
When there's a client deadline looming or a pitch to prepare for that results in "all hands on deck", the agency's marketing is typically the first thing to fall down the priority list.
This is because, generally speaking, the team members involved in the big-ticket items, such as RFPs and pitches, are also the agency's best and most enthusiastic spokespeople, with bags of insight just perfect for participating in promoting the agency, but no time to do it.
It's also because, as per the previous point, there's a lack of strategy, so it's easy to push it all to one side and focus on things that feel like they're going to make more impact in the here and now. The strategic focus that's lacking means there's always an excuse to deprioritise the agency, despite best intentions.
I've worked with multi-award-winning Search agency, Evolved, for many years, and they're a shining example of prioritising the agency’s marketing.
Resource is allocated to internal marketing and there’s a clear plan in place to ensure this precious resource is well-spent.
3) Being Vanilla
Being vanilla is a common mistake made by agencies across the land. The result is a swathe of agencies that look the same, sound the same and deliver the same services. Just think of the poor clients that have to review and shortlist these indiscernible agencies!
So how the hell do you stop being so vanilla?
Firstly, nailing the Proposition, ICP and cementing Personas is key. From there, you can make informed assessments of your approaches thus far and critically review each component to measure whether they support your proposition, and resonate with your personas.
It’s also about having opinions and unique takes within your marketing output that support the positioning, as well as showcasing the agency’s expertise, not just rehashing a load of content from elsewhere.
Most agencies know all of this stuff - some even deliver it for their own clients - but like hairdressers who can't find the time to do their own barnet, they always fall to the bottom of the pile of to-do's when there are billable hours to be maximised.
Prioritising your agency as its own client is a surefire way to get this important work done and dusted.
4) Lack of Authority
Throughout the years I've seen great approaches fail to reach their potential because the significance of the agency's marketing hasn't been voiced from the top.
When I was in-house as a Head of Marketing within agencies, this was a very common problem and one I had to grapple with daily, being the only senior voice to communicate how integral this work was to the agency's pipeline, brand awareness and, frankly, its future. It's not a fun job, let me tell you.
For an agency's marketing to work, the directive has to come from the top. That means it's a topic of conversation in every Board meeting. It's a key agenda point in the agency's monthly/weekly meetings. There's a Slack channel - and it's used. There are KPIs set and accountability. It is treated with the importance it deserves.
I work with Show + Tell, a creative, branding and digital products agency in Yorkshire, and Founder, Charlie Hartley, is a fantastic example of someone who constantly pushes the importance of the agency's marketing and acknowledges the importance of a solid, consistent plan.
Actions happen because he helps drive them forward and communicates why it matters to the rest of the agency, and that's exactly how it should be.
5) Copying other Agencies
I hear a lot of "we've seen X doing Y and we'd like to do it too" and, whilst inspiration is certainly not a crime, the result is usually a very similar but watered-down version of the original.
Even when the intention is to “put our spin on it”, the finished product doesn't have anywhere near the same amount of buzz or passion from the team delivering it. Because it's not their idea.
Rehashing the campaigns and approaches of others is, to be blunt, lazy. And yet, it's insanely common.
Agencies are packed with creative people bursting with ideas, but a lot of the time, those ideas can go unheard. An open forum within the agency where inspiration is shared and discussed is always a good idea, letting those passionate enough to care about the brand presence of the agency have a say in it.
That's where the magic lives - I've seen it.
6) Constantly starting over
This is usually a result of a lack of consistency and a scattergun approach to managing channels, meaning that tactics have a very short time to prove their worth and when they inevitably fail because of said lack of consistency, they're shelved and the whole cycle starts again.
Again, this is down to a poor or non-existent strategy, lacklustre positioning and no real idea of the target audience, and it's almost comical that as marketers, so many expect this chaotic approach to work or yield any sort of long-term success. No offence.
I think one rule of thumb here is to consider whether you'd recommend the approach you're taking to a client of yours. If the answer is no, then it's a resounding “hell no!” for your agency, too.
7) Thinking Culture will carry you
Agency culture is the topic of many a meme (I have some favourites) and it is one of those things that, obviously, really matters, but has been taken so far out of context that it's almost a toxic trait.
So many agencies lead with Culture, and some have a fantastic culture to back it up, but it's still a big risk to expect this to carry you. Here's why:
We all know that even small changes within an agency can cause big shifts in employee sentiment, resulting in disgruntled team members who know the power of the agency's culture messaging and have the wherewithal to post anonymously on Glassdoor, or social media. If that happens a few times, it can cause a big problem.
Those in agency circles will no doubt have some examples ringing in their mind right now, and I'll not name any names here, but we've seen it happen and yet so many still fall into the trap.
When there's a lack of strategy, no consistency and a scramble to just say something, culture is the obvious quick win, and most agencies are at it.
8) Expecting too much of Internal Marketers
For a lot of Agencies, if they're lucky enough to have an internal marketing person or team, there can tend to be a lack of experience in Strategy. This person is usually an up-and-coming marketing Pro with bags full of ideas but perhaps doesn't have the strategic experience or seniority to drive real change, yet that's what is expected of them.
Now this is certainly not a pop at the internal marketer (I was them for a long time!), it's an observation that the other points in this post are usually the issues they are because the person leading the internal team simply cannot do it all. Nor should they have to. It's unrealistic to think that one person on a mid-level salary with 4-5 years of experience can deliver the strategic view required for long-term success, whilst also being a generalist marketer, a videographer, a designer, a social media pro... the list goes on.
As a fractional Head of Marketing, I've worked with Founders and internal teams to develop a clear strategy, and let them get on with what they do best: making things happen. There simply must be a Senior head in charge of such an important piece of the agency’s commercial efforts, but so many agencies do not have this, in-house or otherwise.
9) Believing tools/software will answer your prayers
If I had £1 for every time someone said “We’re getting Hubspot and that’s going to do all of this for us” then later discovered there’s a ginormous set-up process to actually get Hubspot working, I’d be very rich by now.
It’s not just Hubspot, but in these circles, it’s a common denominator.
Take it from me: software - expensive software at that - isn’t going to be the sole answer to your prayers. For this software to be effective, you’ve got to get the practical stuff sorted first and foremost, to echo the previous points.
Proper set-up takes time and it cannot be done if the fundamentals (positioning, persona, strategy) are not in place.
There is a reason why the likes of Hubspot charge a significant fee for assisting with the set-up: it takes a lot of resources and understanding, not to mention the time required for team members to complete their certifications so they feel somewhat equipped to handle the ongoing work.
Still - people love this kind of software and it certainly has its uses when implemented correctly, so I always recommend setting up the Free version as a testbed, and then seeing how far one can go with it whilst ducking the endless calls you receive from the Hubspot sales team every time you log in. If you know, you know.
Dropping thousands of pounds on an Enterprise-level subscription to any tool that hasn’t been road-tested for at least 3 months, is a very costly, very bad idea.
10) Relying too heavily on Referrals
This isn’t an agency-exclusive mistake, as it’s something I see a lot in my work with SaaS and B2B software/service providers. Referrals are fantastic, but they’re not something you can always control, so it’s careless to make this the crux of your customer acquisition strategy.
I also see a lot of businesses that enjoy regular referrals from a handful of clients, but when I ask what else they’re doing with that golden nugget of a client relationship, they shrug… “That’s it”.
They’re not using this relationship to fuel collaborative content or to showcase the work in a PR campaign, and some of them don’t even ask for formal case studies or testimonials they can use in their inbound and outbound activity. This is just scratching the surface.
It’s time a lot of agencies got to grips with utilising referrals as part of a wider acquisition approach.
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Whilst this is quite a lengthy look at the various mistakes I see across the agency landscape, there is hope - and lots of it!
There are so many agencies out there doing themselves justice in their approach to showcasing themselves and their expertise, and this is down to a commitment to doing things properly, first and foremost, and treating the agency like they would an important client. Because this stuff is important.
In my 11 years in the agency space, I have seen it all and have a proven track record in helping businesses get the fundamentals they need to succeed when it comes to Brand, Marketing Strategy, Content, PR and the leadership of their in-house Marketing function.
An opening in my client roster very rarely comes up, but I currently have an outgoing client and am excited to share that I have some availability to take on a new client in late September on a project or retainer basis.
I’ve opened up time in my diary for a limited series of 30-minute Discovery Calls and welcome any agency founders looking to transform their marketing approach in 2024-2025 to book a spot.