The Benefits of Working with a Full Service Agency

If you're looking for support marketing your business, what can a full service agency do for your business? Full-service agencies manage every aspect of a company's online presence, from branding to advertising. There are many advantages to hiring these agencies for your business, but beware -- not all full-service entities are created equal. The truth is, some companies may claim to be a one-stop shop but are adding on services they aren't as experienced in just to get your business. This guide will help you understand the definition of a full-service agency, when you should hire one, and when it makes sense to go with a boutique or niche agency instead.

What is a full-service agency?

A full-service agency offers clients every aspect of their online brand: marketing, web design, strategy, video production and more.

Marketing agencies take a big chunk of the pie. In 2022, full-service marketing agencies were responsible for 65% of total fees taken, with Design & Build (18%), Technical (15%), and Creative (2%) making up for the rest. Ecommerce, home services and real estate are three of the top industries that agencies tend to work with to reach their marketing goals.

If you're looking to hire a full-service agency, you're not alone. A study by Growth Sandwich found that 65.71% of small businesses have worked with an agency in the past:

Why do businesses choose full-service agencies? Agencies can guide companies through the process of setting up, managing, and maintaining their online presence. A full-service marketing agency will provide a range of services, including:

• Design and UX

• SEO / SEM

• Content

• Social Media

• Video Production

• Photography

• Branding

In addition, the agency will plan and execute everything from strategic planning, to creative production and marketing campaigns. Once campaigns are set up, the agency will monitor and test them for effectiveness, making changes as needed.

How do full-service agencies differ from boutique agencies?

When deciding between hiring a full-service agency or a boutique outfit, companies must ask themselves several questions.

• What type of business is it? Is it B2B, B2C or SaaS? Is it brick and mortar?

• What is the main objective?

• What is the company's brand perception in its industry? Is it a start-up, or is it established but looking to change up its online presence?

A company should determine whether they want to hire a full-service agency or a boutique agency by first looking at where their audience is, what their marketing goals are and then deciding if a full-service agency can provide them with what they need.

The benefits of a full-service agency

Hiring different agencies to cover each aspect of a business can be a headache. For each agency you hire, it means another person to contact and more layers of communication. That can add up to a lot of people:

Because full-service agencies take on everything in one place, you’ll likely have one point of contact within the company who handles everything. Companies typically rely on full-service agencies to provide everything from SEO to content marketing and Web Development. Full services agencies create cohesiveness across a companies different marketing efforts. When brand strategy, design, video production, web development and advertisement are delivered by different providers companies limit their ability to fully execute strategies, leading to dollars lost on inefficient unoptimized campaigns. Full-Service agencies make the most of a businesses marketing spend.

What are the most popular Digital Agency Services?

Niche agencies work for some businesses. If your audience lives on Facebook and Instagram and you've found no other channels provide results, then hiring a boutique agency that focuses exclusively on Facebook and Instagram marketing may be your best option. A full-service agency will be the best choice for companies that want to outsource most of their marketing operations. These agencies have the resources, team members, and experience to provide a complete package. Christian Stamps at Dallas, TX based full-service agency Inner Views Media give his explanation:

"Not only does it make it easier for the client, but also for the agency--especially if the agency manages the brand, creative production, website and social media strategies. A marketing team is much more effective when it acts as a unit, as the collective group collaborates across multiple disciplines it creates a streamlined set of solutions that drive results for clients."

How to find a full-service agency

To find a full-service marketing team that’s right for your brand, look for an agency that is reliable, efficient, and will work with you to make the most out of your marketing budget.

Before signing with a full-service agency, make sure to ask these questions:

• What services the agency offers and whether they are included in the price you've negotiated

• What areas of marketing/advertising will provide the best results for our company?

• Do they charge a retainer fee, by the project or a percentage of marketing/ad spend?

• Can they help you with media outreach?

• How will the agency interact with your company? Will you be able to have one point of contact for all communication?

• How does the agency hierarchy work, and how are roles structured?

Don't be tricked into thinking that an agency with many services is always a good one. Sometimes, this is not the case. Marketing agency Inner Views Media's Christian Stamps said that working with an agency is only a good solution if the agency is good at all of the services it offers.

"Agencies that offer multiple services often try to be good at all of them, but it is more likely that they excel at one or two things and offer other services because clients want everything in one place."

Businesses must take the initiative to dive deeper and look into the agency's capabilities, as well as its results for other clients.

What is their reputation?

Research their recent campaigns and evaluate the agency's contribution to the campaign results. Then, look at client feedback about the team agency's performance.

For example, marketing agency 360i looks great online:

But how have their customers rated them? With 475 ratings, they've earned a 4.7, so it's clear that the recognition is well-deserved:

A full-service agency must be more than well-known and established. They must have concept knowledge, graphic design skills, copywriting expertise, studio work experience, and brand engineering know-how.

Are they good at strategy?

Any full-service agency worth its salt will have a proven track record of creating strategic media plans that benefit their clients. To find out if an agency has what it takes, check out the previous campaigns they've created and how they tracked results for each one.

Review the effectiveness of their overall strategy. Did they use post-click landing pages for paid ads and content marketing for organic brand awareness? How cost-effective was their PPC spend? What results did they see from automated triggered emails?

A strategy should involve every aspect of the agency working toward the same goal. This is important to ensure that everyone is on the same page, working toward a common goal.

Do they do their own production?

A full-service agency should be able to handle all of your marketing operations in-house. If they don’t, it defeats the whole purpose of hiring them.

If they’re outsourcing, your timelines could be delayed at some point.

The most important take away on full-service agencies

If you're looking to manage multiple aspects of your online presence--including Facebook, Google ads, web design, video production, social media and more--a full-service agency offers the most comprehensive approach.

Full-service agencies take the headache away from marketing and make informed decisions about campaigns, so you don't have to.

Turn your business into a business that stands out in the market and drives revenue with the Inner Views Media. With Inner Views, brand development, marketing strategy, web development, video production, influencer relations and more can all be handled from one easy touch point. No other agency can help you see the future of your business like Inner Views. Have a conversation with us about your business goals today.