Agencies

What types of agencies are there?

The umbrella term “digital agencies” can be used to refer to various types of agencies with different focus areas, for example:

• IT services
• Web agencies
• Software agencies
• SEO agencies
• Creative agencies
• Design agencies
• Media agencies
• Advertising agencies
• Marketing agencies
• PR agencies

The scope of services provided by digital agencies therefore greatly depends on their respective specializations and areas of expertise.

The driver of development at digital agencies: the customer as the benchmark

Digital agencies are becoming more and more flexible and agile. This transformation has mainly been driven by the clients’ expectations to be provided with solutions that are tailored to their specific requirements and problems. This increasingly means that digital agencies have to align themselves not only with the needs and wishes of their clients, but also with those of their clients’ customers, in other words the actual end users or consumers.

To meet these requirements, digital agencies must be more agile, customer-oriented, and communicative than ever before in their internal organization structures and when selecting their work tools, e.g. software tools. The final product or service of an agency is constantly further developed and shaped by the individual requirements of its clients, and its service repertoire continuously grows as a result. Terms like full-service agency, agile agency, and all-round agency underline this phenomenon.

Digital agencies as the driving force behind digitalization

Almost half of all small and medium-sized enterprises in Germany still haven’t really dealt with the topic of digitalization. Many companies of this size cannot tackle this responsible and forward-looking task alone. This is where digital agencies offer their support and are therefore a driving force behind the digitalization of the German midmarket. Digital agencies consequently play a highly important role, namely that of ensuring the future viability of the German economy.

A digital agency acts as a digitalization partner whose own way of working influences the business model and service processes of its client. This means that:

• agile product development and project management,
• radical customer centricity,
• openness to innovation,
• direct and short communication paths, and
• flat organizational structures,

which are prerequisites for successful business at digital agencies, inevitably rub off on the client’s processes and structures during the collaboration. Digitalization and New Work go hand in hand, with the result that both processes are simultaneously integrated within a company through the influence of digital agencies. Agencies thus drive both digital transformation and the implementation of the World of Work 4.0.

DMEXCO gives agencies their own stage

Although the agency sector is becoming increasingly digitalized, existing client relationship management, project talks, lead generation, new client acquisition, project implementation, and experience sharing frequently still take place in analog form to a certain extent. Close cooperation, understanding, and trust are key here. DMEXCO knows how important agencies are for the advancement of digitalization and provides them with their own platform – the “World of Agencies” format – in its analog version so that they can suitably present themselves as well as network and interact with companies and other agencies.

The biggest challenge for agencies: understanding the goals of their clients

In terms of the professional onboarding of agency clients, agencies must frequently also determine the client’s needs and target group and develop a joint strategy together in face-to-face discussions and in regular meetings. Sharing each other’s experiences and defining joint goals and processes for each client project are just as essential as building mutual trust. The chemistry must be right and there needs to be a high level of acceptance within the client company for collaborating with the agency.

Demonstrating your company’s own expertise, but at the same time letting the client’s ideas take center stage is probably one of the biggest challenges faced by agency employees. For agencies themselves, it is becoming more and more of a challenge to find suitable employees who can cope with the variety and level of responsibility of working at a digital agency. In addition to expert knowledge and appropriate hard skills, soft skills such as

• good communication,
• consulting expertise, empathy,
• transparency,
• commitment, and
• strategic thinking

have long been prerequisites for being successful within an agency setting.