What is a full-service digital marketing agency?
The total annual spend for digital marketing in the United States will reach almost $120 billion in 2 years. That suggests that companies will continue to sink more of their marketing and advertising dollars into online channels and, as a result, some of that will flow towards digital marketing agencies.
Reliance on these agencies grows out of their potential cost effectiveness and ROI positive returns. That said, if you’re thinking of turning to one for your online advertising and marketing efforts, it’s wise to understand what a full-service digital agency does and how it compares to a niche agency.
One Stop Shop With Diverse Talent and Resources
A full-service digital marketing agency provides your business with a one-stop shop for online marketing and advertising services. These include:
- SEO
- PPC (Pay Per Click)
- Email marketing
- Content marketing
- Social media marketing and advertising
- Video marketing
- We design and support
What’s more, a full-service digital marketing agency provides more than the tactical digital marketing deliverables. It also delivers and oversees an integrated strategy that incorporates these services to your best advantage. This multi-pronged approach allows you to launch a coordinated effort that integrates your marketing and advertising initiatives. From SEO to PPC to content or social media marketing and more, your strategies support one another to achieve your overall goal like increasing your brand awareness, sales, conversion rates, revenue, and overall business growth.
The average investment for a full-service digital marketing agency depends on the scope of services being offered, but budget for a range of $2,500 to $12,000 per month for small to midsize businesses looking for more leads. A large corporation, especially B2C, will typically spend a lot more because they gear some of their digital marketing towards brand awareness.
Companies partner with full-service digital marketing agencies for several reasons:
- Aligning their online marketing strategies
- Improving their web marketing and advertising results
- Maximizing the time of in-house team members
- Broadening their use of digital marketing strategies
- Accessing specialized skill sets in one place
Because the offerings of a full-service digital marketing agency are comprehensive, they lend themselves well to a subscription type service that can meet your needs at various points of the customer journey and the sales and marketing life cycle. For example, you might begin with SEO services, incorporate PPC, and request the agency help manage your email and social media marketing campaigns. That’s why it’s smart to partner with a full-service digital agency if you’re looking to invest in more than one service on a long-term basis.
Understanding the Process
Like a well-oiled machine, a full-service digital marketing agency thrives on process and methodology. It all begins with a thorough initial consultation where your business goals, market position, and current strategy are evaluated. Based on these insights, a comprehensive digital marketing strategy is tailored to your unique needs. This plan is a precise blend of different marketing channels – SEO, PPC, email marketing, content marketing, and more. Once the strategy is greenlit, it’s time for action. From crafting compelling content and designing captivating creatives to optimizing your website and managing social media platforms, every cog in the agency machine works in unison to bring the strategy to life. And the work doesn’t stop at implementation. The agency constantly monitors performance, fine-tunes tactics, and recalibrates strategies to ensure ongoing improvement and maximum ROI.
Examples of Full Service
Imagine you’re launching a new product. A full-service digital marketing agency might start with market research and competitor analysis to identify potential opportunities. Then, they’d likely develop a SEO strategy to boost your product’s visibility in search results, design a PPC campaign to drive immediate traffic, create engaging content for your website and social platforms, and perhaps even produce an animated video to demonstrate your product’s features. Now, suppose you’re rebranding. The agency might guide you through a complete website redesign, manage a SEO migration to maintain your rankings, rework your social media profiles and content, and execute an email marketing campaign to announce the new brand to your existing customers. In each scenario, a full-service agency can provide a coordinated, multifaceted approach tailored to your specific goals.
Benefits and Drawbacks
Working with a full-service digital marketing agency has its advantages. Having a single team that understands your brand inside and out can lead to a more cohesive and effective marketing strategy. It can also save you time on management and communication since you’re dealing with one entity instead of several. Plus, full-service agencies often have a breadth of expertise that can be difficult to match in-house. However, there can be drawbacks. It might be harder to find an agency that excels in all areas, and the cost could be higher than working with specialized agencies or freelancers. But remember, the key is to consider your unique needs, resources, and long-term goals when weighing these factors.
Choosing the Right Agency
The hunt for the perfect full-service digital marketing agency may seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. Begin by identifying your marketing needs and goals. Look for agencies that have experience in your industry and a track record of achieving results for businesses like yours. Don’t be shy about asking for case studies or references. Take the time to meet the team who’d be working on your account, and ensure you feel comfortable with them and their approach. Finally, transparency is crucial. Your agency should be upfront about costs, strategies, and realistic expectations.
The Depth of Specialization, Risk of Fragmented Project Engagement
By comparison, a niche marketing agency specializes in one to two services and essentially hasa staff with expertise in one or two areas. In other words, if you hire a digital agency that specializes in SEO and/or web design, you could not use them for those email and social media services, and you would have to turn to another niche agency for those specific services.
The drawback is that you end up working with multiple teams at different agencies. You have todeal with different work styles and teams operating in different places. You may be risking the benefits of practices and communications based on similar styles and standards and the proximity that facilitates a seamless process. Plus, it places the burden of coordinating various components of your overall project goal on you. In a worse case scenario, it can result in lost time, miscommunication and misunderstanding, and lower performance outcomes.
Make no mistake, though. Management and talent are strong at niche agencies. But because of their specialization, they work particularly well for single-focus, one-time projects like a web design or redesign.
Our Case Studies:
See the capabilities of our full service digital marketing agency with our client case studies here.
Cleaning Company Digital Marketing Case Study
Pool Company Digital Marketing Case Study
Door Company Digital Marketing Case Study
Our Ballantine Service
As a full-service digital marketing agency, Ballantine can provide you with project convenience that saves you time, optimizes service performance, and exposes you to the breadth of digital strategy and account management services.
Our goal is to take the stress and hassle of getting your marketing right off your plate so you can concentrate on what you do best … running your business, maximizing your expertise, and delivering on your core services.
If you’re interested in taking your business to new heights, give us a call and let’s talk about our many services offerings and how an integration of a few or many will help you grow your business.
I'm the Director of Digital Services and Partner at Ballantine, a family-owned and operated direct mail & digital marketing company based in New Jersey. and started in 1966 by my great uncle!
