Agency or Consultant, what’s the difference?
When your business is looking for a marketing provider, you’ll probably see two kinds of services consistently referred to; consultant or agencies. From the outset, the difference between a consultant and an agency is very simple. When you engage an agency, you engage a team. When you engage a consultant, it is highly likely they will recommend engaging an agency once they have got some of the strategic stuff out of the way.
The reason for this is no consultant can write and execute every aspect of a marketing strategy on their own. With an agency (if you select the right one), you get the strategic expertise backed up by a team of specialists that are skilled at:
- Writing copy;
- Designing branding;
- Building websites;
- Executing a public relations campaign;
- Handling social media;
- Creating photographic and video content;
- And more…
With a marketing agency, you have the benefit of working with a multidisciplinary team that, in most cases, possesses experience that will contribute to delivering the right solution for your business. With a marketing consultant, they will likely call in the troops (aka, a marketing agency) when it’s time to start creating and delivering.
A marketing agency helps bridge skills gaps
It’s very difficult for any business to employ a full team of staff with the necessary skills needed to deliver a fully fledged marketing campaign. Working with an agency gives you access to all of those specialist skills in one package.
You get a team rather than one consultant.
It’s one thing to employ a great individual but when you work with an agency you’re getting a team of experts who live and breathe this marketing stuff day in and day out.
Agency experience spans industry verticals.
While having vertical market expertise is important, working with a group that has experiences outside of your own industry is key to introducing best practices from other sectors.
Of course, there are countless other benefits. A marketing agency has access to a full suite of resources and an external viewpoint often helps you view things through a different lens. All of these benefits make it a pretty easy decision to make.
When selecting an agency, make sure to ask probing questions to ensure that your partner gets your business and understands your objectives. Beware of the agency that recommends one service as the silver bullet to your marketing; it’s rarely as simple as employing a single, specific service to make a difference.
The agency you select should have a grasp of a well-rounded selection of services to help you meet your objectives.
Remember, social media is NOT the only thing you need to do in this day and age.
