Right now Digital Transformation is a hot topic in business. Companies are finally seeing the writing on the wall that if you don’t embrace digital you will not survive.
This includes every part of business. From sales, marketing, customer service, inventory management, customer retention, to other processes… The list goes on.
What most people forget is this also applies to marketing agencies and how they market for their clients. There are many large agencies that have a long history of serving their clients and brands with great marketing, but they struggle with “Digital Marketing.”
If you don’t embrace digital you won’t survive!
This is not to say that they are not quality agencies, because their track record proves this. It just means that for this digital transformation they need to evolve as agencies. The challenge is the ability to transform the mentality of the company psyche. The expression, “teach an old dog new tricks,” comes to mind.
Learning Digital Marketing Skills Is Hard
Think of it this way. Learning new skills can be challenging. Plus, if you have been doing something for a long time and you’re really good at it, it is natural to fall back on the skills that you know you can get a result from.
As legacy marketing agencies are faced with the transformation to be more digitally focused they may also find that there are people in the organization that just can’t or don’t want to make the shift. This might mean you need new talent. So what should you do?
To Truly Make a Digital Transformation, Agencies Have Three Choices
- Invest in your employees so that they can gain the skills needed to better understand and execute digital strategies.
This is a great way to increase the value of your current employees and to empower them. IMHO this is something companies should be doing already if they want long term success.
_ - Hire new talent that is already skilled in digital tactics and can jump right into executing.
With this option, you can bring new perspectives to your team as well as the skills needed for the change. The challenge though is there will inevitably be some push back from the team members that are more entrenched in the old ways, and if they are not fully supported by upper management they may become frustrated and leave.
_ - Hire an outside digital marketing agency that can help either by supplementing the services you already offer (white-labeling), working as a partner or by consulting you for how to effectively make the transition.
This option is an excellent way to ramp up your digital services much faster and start offering them to your clients immediately. Plus, whether you white-label or use the agency as a known partner, you can learn from them. Make sure the engagement includes time to train your team so that they can also learn.
You Are Not Alone
Digital Transformation is not just for companies it is also something that marketing agencies struggle with too. If you are part of the leadership team in a marketing firm that is trying to figure out how to stay relevant in the digital age; You are not alone! There are many others going through the same struggle. The difference will be if you can make the choice that works best for your team and you have the commitment to see it through.
Become an agency partner. We can help you with this challenge!
