5 Digital Media Trends in Agencies
Posted on Thu, Feb 03, 2011
There was a clear delineation - advertising agencies produced and placed ads, public relations agencies generated press and publicity. So who handles viral marketing efforts? Social media?
As a marketer today, you have several options - the digital agency, the interactive agency, the search agency, the social media agency, the social media practice within the digital agency, the search division of the interactive agency. For the first time, there’s no clear distinction between who manages advertising, branding, search and social media, strategy or execution; they seem to be competing at some level with no right or wrong on what’s handled where.
But one trend is clear, agencies of all kinds are doing their best to go digital, to bring on well-rounded experienced professionals familiar with the Web, social media and probably a thing or two that I’ve not yet heard of. With this as a backdrop, here are some of the trends we’re seeing:
Competition coming from everywhere: Last year, agencies began identifying themselves, and hiring to support new positions – interactive agency, digital agency and the like. New media agencies began hiring PR talent to drive viral campaigns, while PR companies were busy hiring social media experts or building interactive practices. With a limited talent pool, particularly in emerging technologies, the digital professional is much sought after, and that’s before Google entered the fray with 6,000 open recs.
It’s Social, It’s Local, It’s Mobile: Last year, everything was about social media and agencies were busy building offerings to support brand and awareness initiatives through those channels. This year the buzzword is local, and again, it begs the question of what is the technology role, the PR role or the digital agency role? As it appears now, the interactive agency seems to be identifying the strategies and the technologies to support many of these efforts; while public relations seems to be serving a more tactical role.
What’s Your Line? With the pace of technology, we’ve seen the emergence of the marketing technologist and the interactive strategist. There’ve also been a steady stream of new specialty agencies including two recently cited by Forrester Research: Breakfast, an agency of inventors focusing on futuristic experiences, or Zugara, specializing in augmented reality.
Retail as an Advertising Venue: Over and above agencies serving the retail vertical, they now need to understand the retail business, and the role that retail sites are playing for consumers. As such, digital agency personnel need to know a whole new language about user experience, QR codes, reviews, site monetization, data feeds and shopper marketing. Once relegated to those working within the stores, the vast opportunity represented by retail sites as an advertising venue have made it an area of expertise for innovative agencies.
Tools, Tools and More Tools: Media planning and buying agencies have a variety of challenges including the need to integrate online and offline media teams, and to keep pace with a steady stream of new tools on the market. There are emerging bidding services, dashboards, exchanges and networks, analytics platforms, planning platforms, campaign management and measurement tools. It’s a full time job to stay on top of the technology changes, and that’s before your client and their goals even enter the mix.
It’s no longer the simple task of creating a headline, selecting a persuasive image and deciding if the ad should bleed or not bleed. It's no longer the choice of publication A or B, or which radio station. The agency business is in a tremendous state of change, innovation and technological advancement. They're looking for social media experts, analytics whizzes, professionals with experience with DSPs and more. The market is ripe if you have these skills, agencies are in hot pursuit of talent and trying to stay ahead of the curve in hiring.
What type of agency are you working with?