Advertising agency

Advertising agencies are contacted by organizations that cannot or do not want to engage in promotion on their own. This is usually due to the fact that the company does not have a marketing department or in-house marketers do not have enough resources or competencies. For example, to enter a new market or launch an atypical project.

For example, Chevrolet independently launched advertising for the Nova car in Spanish-speaking countries. But the company did not take into account that in Spanish "Nova" means "does not go". The agency would help to adjust the advertising campaign taking into account the peculiarities of the region.

Companies work with agencies on one of four strategies:

1. Efficiency. The client pays for the work depending on the success of the advertising campaign. For example, the fee is calculated based on metrics.
2. Commission. The client pays the advertising agency a percentage of the budget spent on advertising. If the advertising campaign costs 1 million rubles, and the contract specifies a commission of 20%, the agency will receive 200,000 rubles.
3. Honorarium. The parties agree on the cost of the work for a certain period. For example, about the hourly rate. The agency adds to the fee the cost of paying for services and other costs.
4. Advance. With this system, the client and the agency calculate the average monthly cost of work. The customer pays the bills on a monthly or yearly basis.

Types of advertising agencies and their services

There are two types of advertising agencies: full-cycle and specialized. They have different tasks and results of work.

The former guide the client through the entire advertising campaign. The latter help in solving a specific problem. Agencies with a narrow specialization work in different directions.

For example, there are content marketing agencies, email marketing, performance marketing, BTL agencies, and others.

Let's take a closer look at a full-service agency and the five most common specialized ones.

Full-service advertising agency

The company fully creates and implements an advertising strategy. First, the employees develop the concept, and then prepare all the necessary materials themselves. Then they post them on different platforms and track the results.

The work of the agency includes several stages. Before the start of the campaign, specialists analyze the introductory information:

• find out what product the manufacturer offers and from what angle it is better to advertise it;
• determine the target audience and channels where the product will be promoted;
• estimate the customer's advertising budget.

Full-service agencies sometimes outsource subcontractors. They create different types of advertising, so it may require a lot of highly specialized specialists. For example, a campaign for one customer may require printed products, SEO promotion, and radio messages. Not all of these tasks can be performed by employees of one agency, so they attract partners.

Such organizations also take care of monitoring performance and analyzing indicators. They periodically report on the results to the client.

Digital Advertising Agency (Digital Agencies)

Such an agency has a narrow specialization: website building, SMM, application development, branding, SEO promotion.

All employees are knowledgeable in one specific area. This helps to approach the task more deeply: if in a full-service agency one specialist is responsible for SMM in general, then in a specialized one there are separate professionals in the field of each social network, social network analytics, building an SMM team, and so on.

Some agencies work in several directions at once, but within the digital sphere. For example, they create and promote websites, launch contextual advertising, develop applications, and maintain social networks. But such organizations, for example, will not launch advertising in the media.

Media Buying Agency (Media Buyers or Media Agencies)

Ads can be published on the Internet, or they can be placed in the subway or shown on television. The choice of where to publish depends on the target audience, product, budget, and other factors.

The task of the media agency is to analyze the information about the client and choose the most effective place for him to place.

Such agencies offer different services, the main ones are below.

They are buying media space. Agencies buy advertising space for clients from various publishers and media owners: areas on websites, in print media, on billboards, and other media. Bulk purchases allow you to get more favorable prices from partners.

Optimize the advertising campaign. Some agencies not only buy advertising space but also track the results of the campaign.

They can make adjustments to the media plan, change the strategy, or adjust the targets.

Public Relations Advertising Agency (PR Agencies)

The task of a PR agency is to disseminate information about the client in society. They imply not only the target audience, but also the mass reader, as well as the media, public authorities and other organizations.

PR agencies form the image of the customer and promote his products with the help of several main tools:

• hold press conferences, publish media materials, and help communicate with the media in order to state the client's company and show it from the best side;
• write articles and press releases about the company's news to maintain interest in it;
• develop crisis management plans to help restore the company's reputation after image failures, such as scandals;
• conduct charitable, educational and other PR campaigns.

For example, the Edelman agency organized a campaign to prevent the disease CRSwNP to promote the pharmaceutical brand Sanofi. It causes a loss of smell.

The agency interviewed those who had lost the ability to distinguish smells which ones they missed the most. And then the company released fragrances based on the results of that survey.

Thanks to this unusual advertisement, 13,000 people were tested for symptoms of the disease, and Sanofi gained notoriety.

CRM agency

Sets up communication between the customer and their customers. The agency's employees help build communication through SMS, email, pop-ups, notifications on the site, and other channels.

A CRM agency works in several directions and most often performs the following popular tasks:

• Collects and structures customer information from a variety of sources. For example, specialists take data from the customer's CRM system, look at metrics for landing pages and websites, communicate with the sales department and the call center.
• Creates a customer journey map and explores it. The agency's employees find out how and under what conditions clients interact with the customer.
• Segments the customer base. Specialists divide customers by needs to send messages in a personalized way.
• Set up communications with customers based on the information collected and segmentation. Agency employees create mailings and notifications for different groups of clients.

Content Marketing Agency

The main task of a content agency is to promote the client's business on the Internet with the help of texts and media.

The main stages of the work of such an agency:

Finding out the client's goals and needs. Specialists discuss the business, target audience, competitive environment, and content requirements with the client. The agency understands why the client decided to create content and what goals they want to achieve.

Creating a content strategy. The content agency develops a promotion plan based on the client's wishes and market research. Specialists determine the topics, formats, and frequency of publications, as well as select appropriate channels for content distribution.

Content development. The agency creates materials: articles, videos, photos and other formats. This is done taking into account SEO and many other parameters that help promote materials on the web.

Content distribution. Materials are distributed through selected channels in accordance with the content strategy.

Analytics and reporting. The agency monitors the effectiveness of the content and reports to the client. Depending on the results, the content strategy is adjusted.

Structure of an advertising agency

The internal structure depends on the direction of the company's activities. Specialized agencies divide employees into narrowly focused teams. Full-service agencies are looking for professionals from different fields and combining them into large departments.

It is not possible to derive a universal formula for the structure, but most of them have the departments listed below.

Customer Care Department. Works directly with the customer's representatives. Organizes communication between the client and other parts of the agency. These employees find buyers and arrange deals with them. They also accompany them throughout the cooperation, advise on any issues and help solve problems.

Media Department. Responsible for the placement of materials. Employees analyze the market, select the right media, and buy advertising time or space.

Creative Department. Responsible for the implementation of clients' ideas. Advertising layouts, scripts, and content projects are created here. In specialized agencies, this department can be divided into many smaller ones.

Production Department. Responsible for the production of promotional materials. The main task is to implement the idea of the creative department, but adapt it to the formats that the media department has identified as effective.

Analytical Department. Responsible for monitoring and analyzing the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. Specialists conduct tests, collect the results and share them with the customer. The success and duration of cooperation largely depend on their work.

PR department. He tells the public about the company and its news, holds events and organizes various PR campaigns. Manages the image of customers.

For example, when KFC faced competition in Hong Kong, the Edelman agency helped the company attract the attention of consumers. Hong Kongers are highly susceptible to stress, and scientists claim that delicious food reduces it. Edelman came up with the "Brainwave Bucket" — an upside-down KFC bucket with a brain activity analyzer. Hong Kongers ate chicken, and the bucket kept an eye on the changes. Measurements showed that the more people ate, the lower the stress scores became. For example, Hong Kong residents took part in an interesting experiment, and the KFC brand received the attention of potential customers.

How to Choose an Advertising Agency

To find the right agency, you need to go through two stages of searching. First, they select suitable performers, and then communicate with each of them separately.

During the selection, you should pay attention to the following important criteria:

Availability of cases. It is worth studying the portfolio and considering the agency's experience. Case studies should consist of three sections: initial data, work done, and results. If some information is missing, the agency may be hiding something.

Specialization by industry. Even if the cases are impressive, it is important that the agency works in the area for which the company needs services. If there are no such examples, there is a risk that the agency will not be able to cope with a project in an unknown area as well.

Communication. It is important to assess how easy it is for the customer to communicate with the agency. The means of communication and the speed of responses affect the quality of work. Inconvenient and slow communication can ruin an advertising campaign. The contractor will not receive feedback on time, and the customer will see errors too late.

After the preliminary selection, they communicate with the agencies personally. The task of this stage is to find a performer who is comfortable to work with. The concept of comfort is subjective, here the customer must rely on his own feelings.