As a full-service marketing and public relations agency, we are often asked by prospective clients about the benefits of working with a full-service firm. While it’s tempting to say we are a lot of fun to work with – which we are – there are quantifiable advantages to having a full-service agency leading your multi-channel PR and marketing initiatives.
Coordination
Hiring a full-service agency allows businesses and nonprofits to manage all of their marketing activities under one roof. It also ensures strategic consistency across communication mediums. While we’re happy to collaborate with a vendor with whom your organization has a long-standing relationship, parsing out marketing responsibilities can become a logistical challenge. Think about it – would you rather act as the liaison between a copywriter, a PR pro, a web developer, a social media marketer, a designer and a brand strategist or work with one firm that can manage all of that coordination internally?
Time Management
As you see in the above example, the client – or one of the vendors – becomes the defacto traffic coordinator. This role is either costing the business or nonprofit valuable staff time or valuable dollars from the marketing budget.
New Perspectives
Full-service agencies often boast a diverse client base and a broad portfolio of experience. Oftentimes, the insights we gain as marketers working in different industries allows us to bring unique, outside perspectives to our clients. Let’s just say that nonprofit marketing is more relevant to for-profit marketing than you think. It’s these seemingly unconventional ideas that help organizations to raise the bar on their marketing.
Consistency
An agency that is tasked with handling all of an organization’s marketing activities will quickly learn what makes their client tick and develop a deep understanding of how the organization’s various facets work together. This ensures a consistent base of knowledge is applied across an organization’s marketing activities and that the core messages from the advertising campaign align with the tweets and so on.
Bandwidth and Brainpower
Familiar with the phrase ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts’? That’s a full-service agency. Full-service agencies have the manpower to take on big projects and to make a deep dive into your work. They also serve as a ‘think tank’ for your mission or brand. Bringing multiple folks with varying perspectives and expertise into a room to brainstorm challenges the status quo and pushes the envelope. It generates bigger ideas, builds a better mousetrap and lays the foundation for ROI. Besides, what could possibly be better than having your own PR posse?
While no two full-service agencies are alike, every full-service agency brings a depth of skills and expertise to the table that can benefit business and nonprofits. By tapping into the power of the collective, organizations can reduce the time spent coordinating marketing efforts among multiple vendors, increase brand consistency and enjoy the benefits of strategic marketing that generates ROI.
