One of the biggest challenges of the advertising industry is keeping pace with the many changes that span all types of media. Almost all advertising mediums undergo constant evolution as technology improves and creative teams find new ways to get more creative. However, with the onset of advertising and marketing through social media, not only is this exciting new medium itself evolving at light speed, but its influence on traditional advertising has effected more change in just a few short years than we’ve seen in probably half a century.
In an industry where speed records are being broken on a daily basis, is your agency keeping pace with this change? More importantly, is your agency equipped to adapt to future change that promises to come at a furious rate?
As the internet and mobile technologies continue to shape the future of the industry, advertising agencies must decide what they are going to be when they grow up. Some agencies will opt to stick with more traditional mediums, continuing to provide strong strategies and messaging in print, outdoor, direct mail, television and other long-standing media channels. Staying with the tried and true is fine, but any agency must recognize the power of the many new mediums whether or not they choose to offer marketing within them as part of their service offerings.
If you decide to venture into social media, mobile marketing or any other evolving medium, it is important to know that your current agency or a new firm you might be interviewing have a grasp on where the industry is today and where it’s likely going. Blogging, tweeting, posting on Facebook and YouTube, optimizing your website for search engines, or marketing via mobile phones not only takes a lot of time and know-how; like any other medium, it takes solid strategy and execution to succeed. The right choice for a marketing partner is a company that can combine the traditional aspects of marketing planning and strategy with the cutting-edge power of the latest technology.
Creativity, of course, is essential and awards for print ads, brochures, truck wraps, radio and television spots and more are great indicators that your agency can draw some attention to your business, but great creative in traditional mediums doesn’t always translate into the more interactive new mediums. Whether you’re using QR codes or mobile messaging, your agency must be able to marry provocative creative with a unique user experience to make a campaign successful. Tools like Twitter aren’t just for following Ashton Kutcher around Hollywood; they’re tangible marketing tools that if implemented and maintained correctly can raise to the first page of Google, right under “Dell Computers,” some one-man garage operation in Ocala, Florida, selling computer parts on EBay. An exaggeration? Okay, maybe a little, but you get the idea.
This isn’t to say that your ad agency has to have a team of ex-Google engineers running your social media or mobile campaign. Many concepts are more time-consuming than they are difficult to master, and although a lot of what’s going on in this arena is fast becoming common knowledge, it takes a lot of concerted effort to pull it off correctly.
The bottom line is that these new marketing mediums are powerful stuff that virtually every business needs to be doing now, in some way, shape or form, either itself or through an ad agency. If you do choose the agency route, however, we know just the one to get you well on your way to turning those virtual online messages that seemingly just flit around in cyber
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