With so many big-name agencies dominating the marcom space, it is a familiar tale that the small agencies are often overlooked.
Why? This is largely due to a shared perspective amongst some enterprises that the larger firms are a “safe bet”, which is of course understandable given their obvious successes. But is this really still the case in present day?
The marketplace is evolving like never before. Digitalisation is empowering smaller agencies to become increasingly competitive by doing more with less. Businesses are subsequently beginning to now take note and assess what is truly being achieved with their money by the bigger names, and if their approach needs a revamp.
Outlined below are some of the benefits of working with smaller agencies:
- Quality – It’s not an outlandish claim to say that the big-name firms are often guilty of spreading their efforts a little thin across their broad and expansive client list. This is only understandable when the majority of businesses that they work alongside would be considered ‘priority’ by the smaller agencies.
A big client working with a small agency will benefit from being treated exactly as that would suggest. Here there is a greater commitment of efforts to ensuring that the client’s goals are being met, and therefore the best people are put on the job to guarantee that this happens. A big-name client will always be more valued at the smaller agency, and this will inevitably be reflected in the work that is provided.
- Speed – No matter the industry or line of work, time is always a crucial factor. In smaller teams, processes are more streamlined and projects generally have a faster completion time. There are fewer people to clash heads with, allowing for content review stages to be less than what typically exists in larger agencies.
The traditional agency structure often found in the larger firms can be quite limiting when looking to innovate and think of new ways to meet the evolving needs of the client. Small agencies benefit from a less-structured approach, an environment in which creativity can develop better. With fewer barriers, original ideas occur more frequently, and can be activated and applied at a faster rate.
- People – Instead of handling just one component of a single account, staff in the smaller agency are used to having a much broader scope of capabilities. Working across the entire company, those at small agencies are able to get involved in every aspect of a project, thereby benefitting clients by removing over-dependencies on certain specialist staff. There is also the advantage of being supported by smaller teams. Better able to communicate and collaborate with one another, teams of fewer people generally benefit from greater clarity – both between themselves and with the client – and stronger internal relationships. This ensures that communication siloes are almost non-existent in the smaller firms, as each employee’s voice is heard and every opinion is valued.
Ultimately, there is no question that you should be choosing to work alongside the agency that is in the best position to meet your specific needs. Just don’t discard the little guy before he’s had his say.
