Find Your Agency’s “Aha!”
There is no doubt about the importance of understanding the difference between two or more choices. That difference has never been more critical for agencies, but more on that later. Whether between mobile phones, fast food, a date, or an agency, every choice considers the differences. A fundamental marketing responsibility is influencing choice, while a brand highlights the difference between choices. Differentiation is a practice as old as time, yet only a few can do it well regardless of industry, product, or service.
In our industry, we’ve got an advantage. We counsel our clients that they can’t use their judgment about taste or preference, tactics or audiences, or any subjective decision. They must trust an outside, unbiased expert like us. They must let the objective data drive the choices. Their bias, bubble, and insider experience do not reflect the real world or the customer. We would never let them “redefine or redesign” their brand alone. For the most part, we are seen as an authority, a trusted expert, and are charged with such matters.
Sea of Sameness
Does that mean we are also the authority on our agency brand? Moreover, can we be the interpreter and arbiter of our most compelling and distinctive qualities compared to other agencies? I recently analyzed over 100 mid and small agencies to understand how they express their difference, and it confirms the adage of a sea of sameness.
This is critical now because experts say new client opportunities will increase this year, up 5% to 18%. Marketing spending will also be up. Agency competition continues to rise. Marketing decision-makers are relentlessly assaulted by vendors of all types and are getting better at blocking them. To stand out, the same rational qualities every other agency touts will not cut it. To successfully differentiate, we must dig deeper to crystallize messaging that transcends categories, stands out from the noise, evokes curiosity and appeal, offers a better solution, and implies more significant results.
There is no understating the importance of first impressions in the agency-searching marketer journey. You know what they say. You only have one chance to make a first impression. When someone decides to look for a new agency, they do about 60% of their research and analysis before the agency knows they are being considered. That means those first impressions and subsequent perception building are critical to getting on their list. That’s why differentiation is the first and most important thing an agency needs to consider when cultivating new clients.
Great Relationships
In my experience, many agencies struggle to identify their true differentiators, often mistaking generic traits like “great relationships” for unique selling points. Generic claims like “long client tenure” is expected, not a differentiator. This is where objective data and external perspectives become crucial.
Some default to the relationship because of the fear of missing out. They believe that qualities like a great relationship universally appeals to everyone, and it does, just not in the early stages. If they define their difference as data wizards or embedded in culture or TikTok experts, they might be passed over by marketers who don’t care about TikTok.
When I ask agencies why they call relationship qualities their difference, some admit they can’t find anything else to use. They feel they do the same thing the same way with the same results as others. They have to look deeper, wider, or from a different perspective. Life experience, worldview, hobbies, or even failures can give them something to build upon. One must be able to look at the sum and the parts, the variables, nuances, beauty, and blemishes in an unbiased, objective, and creative way. It’s tough to see if you are on the inside.
Considering the cost of changing agencies, time, resources, interruptions, and expenses, a marketer will be looking to solve some serious problems to go through all this trouble. No marketer ever said she is looking for an agency with good people or has long client tenure, first and foremost. At the same time, effective differentiation might reduce an agency’s addressable market. Don’t be afraid to be specific. Focusing on an industry or problem can make you more relevant to ideal clients. When done right, it should increase win rates because it will attract more like-minded prospects.
Data Will Guide You
However you approach it, you need data to make it work. A differentiator should, well, be different from your competitors. You’ll need to know what other agencies in your competitive and aspirational set are saying to see where you can play. Put on your marketer’s hat and ask which of these agencies stands out, stands for something, looks, sounds, or feels different? If you don’t do the research, you may be embarrassed later.
It should relate to the challenges your ideal client is looking to solve. You’ll need insight on what keeps your marketers up at night, the most pressing problems today, and their vision for the future. Like the marketer, look at your competitive set and ask which of these agencies knows something about my challenges, or has done something about those challenges, and has the expertise to help guide me toward a solution.
It must be authentic, genuine, and true to the agency. You’ll need turn inward to the people, the clients, the suppliers, and partners. Ask them what the agency’s human ingredients are that combine to yield success? Look at your competitive set and ask which of these agencies exude experience, trust, expertise, and the confidence to achieve success.
The opportunities for authentic and meaningful differentiation become clear by layering these three datasets. It’s often a eureka moment, like uncovering that rough, uncut diamond just waiting to be polished into hundreds of facets that make it sparkle. The analogy may sound funny, but the truth is that a great differentiator has so many legs, providing guidance and inspiration to everything internal and external at the agency.
Is this basic branding
You bet! Is it the same thing you do for your clients? Probably! Do you advise your clients that they shouldn’t do it for themselves? Absolutely! If you are the patient, you wouldn’t operate on yourself. If you are entrenched in the agency, your experiences, biases, opinions, and assumptions make it hard to see beyond it all. I’ve even heard some agency leaders counter that they are professionals and, as such, CAN do it themselves. Then, wonder why their pipeline is empty. Don’t DIY it.
A slow or empty pipeline is the point of it all. The cause may be lack of relevance, outdated appearance, out-of-step, too weird, trying too hard, unbelievable, poor differentiation, or other things. Differentiation is the most significant of them all. Good differentiation can go a long way to curing all the flaws and warts. If you don’t stand out and stand apart from all the agency noise, you won’t be noticed, and any other flaw won’t matter.
I’ve had conversations with agency leaders who say they need leads now. They can’t wait for a process to conclude. They can’t afford “nonproductive” time to get to market. Things sound dire. I always reply that I can’t help. You need leads right now because you didn’t do the process. Even the best lead gen effort won’t sell a product incorrectly positioned for the market. There are so many agencies to choose from. A marketer won’t waste time on any that aren’t immediately appealing. I’d love to take your money, but it would be too frustrating for both of us.
A New Way of Differentiation
I spend a lot of time diagnosing agency business development problems. Inevitably, poor differentiation is a part, if not all, of it. It’s a tricky thing. As mentioned, agencies tell me they can’t differentiate because they don’t believe they do anything different. Those who have worked with me on this have found their belief not true. Having been through this many times, I’ve teamed up with a highly awarded ECD to develop a process we can use with agencies to discover and articulate their unique strengths and translate it into a powerful brand and business strategy. It can work with even the most ordinary-seeming unremarkable agencies and their agency leaders who swear they have no difference.
It involves an in-depth exploration into the core characteristics that make an agency different in the mind of marketers, things that are unique, authentic, and genuine but often invisible to people who have been on the inside for extend time. The focus is on internal qualities and capabilities that, when fully realized, create a tangible, differentiated presence in the advertising landscape. As a part of the process, my partner writes a Strategic Brief to guide the integration across new business tactics and other marketing initiatives to ensure all activities are complementary and reinforcing. He also writes a Manifesto to rally the team, stakeholders, clients, and the marketplace. It also guides positioning and outreach messaging, collateral, case studies, et al.
Happy Positioning
If you are still searching for that magic differentiator or are struggling with the symptoms of poor differentiation like no new business results, We can help. Let’s schedule a call. I always enjoy talking about my favorite subject, agency growth.
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