Why Digital Marketing Agencies Fail And What Should Be Done Differently

Digital marketing is a rapidly growing industry with its market value having been estimated at $350 billion in 2020 and it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13.9% and reach $786.2 billion by 2026. The internet hosts thousands of people every second which provides ample opportunity for businesses to market their products and services to attract customers. This is exactly what digital marketing helps online businesses achieve in a strategic, effective and efficient manner. However, as lucrative as the digital marketing landscape seems, it’s a difficult industry to merge into and remain profitable.

Many digital marketing agencies fail in establishing themselves in the market and achieving their sales goals. In this article, we will discuss in detail why digital marketing agencies fail and what can be done differently to avoid falling behind in the fast-paced digital advertising market. 

Reasons Why Digital Marketing Agencies Fail And How to Resolve them

1. Failing to understand and manage clients’ expectations – Despite numerous meetings with the client, there is always a chance your agency can get the creative concept or the project objectives wrong, which never leads to a happy customer. Without properly understanding customer expectations, your agency is likely to deliver services that don’t meet their demands and will likely deter them from working with you in the future. Your agency can lose valuable business if you regularly prove unable to work according to your clients’ expectations and incorporate their vision in the services. 

How can this be resolved? To avoid making mistakes regarding your clients’ expectations, always work for and remember the client themselves and not just the project they’ve given you. Research your customer’s business and know how they operate, the nature of their products and services, and their unique voice and brand and identity. Having in-depth knowledge about your customer’s business will enable you to incorporate their vision into their projects and fulfill their expectations. This increases retention rates and boosts your brand’s reputation. You should also look to upskill your staff and keep them up-to-date with latest trends in the marketing world. 

2. Poor after-sales service – Your digital marketing business can fail to succeed if your post-sales services aren’t satisfactory. You may have a high success rate in closing deals but your customer retention rates will drop if your customers aren’t getting the required support to best utilize the services provided. Furthermore, your products and services might soon become irrelevant to customers if your agency doesn’t have the capability to modify them according to changing trends. Without a dedicated team available at all times for responding to customer queries and providing after-sales support, your agency can lose customers to your competitors and you may experience an increase in churn rates. 

How can this be resolved? Invest in a dedicated support team of professionals well-versed in the services you offer. This gives you the ability to continue serving your customers well after the deal is closed and to be ready to provide additional support to make their experience better. You can also engage past customers with high-quality, informative content about the services they’ve purchased and help them maximize their investment. If setting up an in-house support system seems time, effort, and resource-consuming, you can opt for white labeling these customer requirements using a company that offers white label GMB services. Your white label partner will manage your agency’s post-sales support needs and ensure your customers are happy with their purchases. 

3. No contingency plan for risk prevention – Sometimes, marketing campaigns can fail to deliver expected results, for which a plan B is crucial to fulfilling customer needs in a timely manner and maintaining your reputation in the market. Marketing content that is politically or socially inappropriate can gravely harm one’s brand image in front of customers. Not having provisions for quick revisions and capabilities to fully revamp faulty campaigns in a short time can make you lose long-term contracts and your hard-earned credibility in the market. 

How can this be resolved? It is always worthwhile to get your campaigns in front of as many eyes as possible before finalizing so that any deficiency or mistake can be identified and addressed. Keep educating your content creators about current social and political issues to prevent your campaigns from insensitive content. Having a dedicated team of experts to quickly revamp projects when the need arises will help you secure your relationship with customers and become a reliable name in the market. 

4. Clients not getting expected results – This point is in continuation to the first point. If you fail to get the client’s expectations right, inevitably, they won’t get the expected results and you’ll lose a client. You might not have the right team to deliver high-quality work that meets the high standards set by your customers. It could also be that you are lacking the necessary technologies and tools to deliver advanced services. Whatever the case, if you are failing to deliver the results your clients want, you will struggle to succeed as an agency.

How can this be resolved? The natural course of action here is to invest in high-end tools and expert human resources. Your marketing team must have professionals proficient in various marketing areas to enable you to effectively fulfill all customer requirements. Investing in top marketing talents and cutting-edge tools is not always an option if you are a new or small agency. This is where you can opt for white label marketing which is a more cost-effective way to get industry experts in various marketing fields to work for you. 

5. Lack of research and development – Oftentimes, customers may not be clear with their expectations and want the digital marketing agency to research and develop campaign ideas. Some clients also like to get a fresh perspective from their marketing agency and expect it to develop innovative marketing strategies. If your agency follows a set project execution pattern for all customers and doesn’t innovate, chances are your customers can find that innovation with competitors that offer different perspectives or unique marketing strategies. 

How can this be resolved? Treating every project as unique and not simply copying and pasting past marketing strategies is the first step. You should have a specialized research and development team to help you find new, high-potential strategies for customer projects. Instead of becoming the “typical” digital marketing agency, try and build your image as the go-to agency for fresh marketing perspectives. 

6. Poor communication – Communication is the key to maintaining fruitful relationships with customers. If your agency doesn’t have the resources to manage regular communications with customers, you may have a hard time getting customer expectations right. Additionally, if you are failing to communicate how you are going to approach a project and what results you are aiming to achieve for your customer, they may become skeptical of your capability to meet their requirements which will likely discourage them from working with you further.

How can this be resolved? Communicate project deliverables, timelines, and other details to customers beforehand to avoid misunderstandings. Furthermore, provide timely updates to customers on the performance of their campaigns along with detailed analytics for strategic enhancement. If employing and managing an in-house communication management team is proving to be financially burdensome, you can choose to white label the communications piece of your services. Your white label partner will manage communications with customers allowing you to focus on other key business operations. 

Conclusion

Digital marketing agencies typically fail due to the above-mentioned reasons. If you want to avoid these pitfalls as a digital marketing agency, consider the solutions provided above. To ensure you have what is needed to tackle the problems faced by most digital marketing agencies, partner with a reputable white label marketing company like Dintellects. Let the experts at Dintellects manage all front and back-end aspects of your business while you focus on generating more business and maximizing profits. We at Dintellects have helped numerous marketing agencies succeed and your agency can be next. Get in touch with us today to know more about the services we offer and how we can help you succeed in the market.