10 Marketing Trends Still Worth Watching

It’s hard to believe we are halfway through 2019 already.  We thought we’d look back at marketing trend predictions and see how accurate they were.  Here are 10 from Entrepreneur magazine that we think are still worth watching:

1. The marketing funnel is shifting.

2. Content is everything

3. Chatbots aren’t going anywhere.

4. AI continues to grow.

5. People are cautious about security.

6. Voice search is getting louder.

7. Vertical video is on the rise.

8. It’s time to focus on Gen Z.

9. Visual searches are taking off.

10. Influencers have different identities.

Click here to read the full article:

The Three Most Important Benefits of Working With a Single Agency Partner

The agency model has continued to evolve over the last decade as the trend toward specialization continues to grow.  According to the recent article, The growing complexity of the Agency Model for Marketers, from The Drum Consulting, there are at least 20 identifiable agency models today leading to confusion among marketers when it comes to choosing the right agency partner. 

At VWA, we’ve always believed that the full-service agency model offers the most value to marketers, no matter the size brand or budget.  There are many benefits of working with one agency partner for all of your marketing needs, but we have identified three that are the most important ones.

1. Enhanced Integration

What marketer do you know that doesn’t want or expect a consistent, seamless, multi-dimensional brand experience for their customers and prospective customers?  Unfortunately too many times when employing the multi-agency partner model, campaigns fall short of this goal due to lack of communication, a unifying strategy or an effective approval process.  When working with one invested agency partner, your team is working as one entity to devise a compelling, unified voice for your brand and extend that into every aspect of the brand’s persona from advertising to merchandising to customer service.

2. Sharper Insights

With so much focus on measurement and analytics, it’s easy to lose sight of the importance of synergy between the message and the medium.  When a creative agency develops content with a particular objective or goal in mind that conflicts with what the  media agency is focused on, you can end up with a disjointed effort and analytics reporting that doesn’t add value or sometimes even make sense.  Integrated campaigns with aligned creative and media KPI’s provide sharper insights that are more actionable.  

3. Improved Efficiencies

Utilizing one agency partner can save you real money in fees or commission, allowing you to allocate more of that budget to content development and media placement.   Agencies that function as an AOR have the ability to be more flexible with their staffing and pricing models leading to more efficiency across the board for their clients.   Additionally, with all processes being handled in-house by the same teams, speed to market and quality control also increases. 

VWA is a client focused, media agnostic, full-service advertising agency headquartered in Atlanta, GA.  To learn more, visit vwaatlanta.com.

WHY IN-HOUSE AGENCIES STILL NEED OUTSIDE HELP

Last year, Ad Age reported (click here) on the skyrocketing growth of internal agencies with 78 percent of members of the Association of National Advertisers reporting some form of in-house agency. 

While this may seem like an alarming statistic to traditional advertising agencies, it really shouldn’t be.  One of the primary reasons for the rise in in-house agencies is the increasing demand for branded content and the ability to produce it on a daily basis to feed content strategies.  Some agencies have done a better job than others of recognizing this market need and adapting their business models while others have been slower to catch on.

However, whether your agency offers branded content development or not, agencies still offer value to advertisers with in-house agencies.  Here are the top 3 reasons:

1. Outsider Perspective – Your agency is an independent partner tasked with driving results for your brand.  That independence allows for the development of ideas without restriction, which can help lead to work that breaks through category norms or challenges conventional thinking.

2. Talent – The most talented creative professionals are drawn to creative environments where they have the opportunity to work on various brands and marketing challenges and rub shoulders with others in their industry.  Even some of the best designed and run in-house agencies are still operated within a corporate environment with corporate standards and more oversight, which may be less appealing for some.

3. Cost Savings – Marketing needs can vary throughout the year.  This can make it challenging to have the appropriate level of staff available at all times or to make operations financially efficient.  Agencies can assist in picking up the slack throughout the year with an ever-ready talent pool that knows your brand and your team.

Of course there are more than 3 reasons to consider investing in an ongoing relationship with an agency partner for ancillary services.  But the overall benefit is helping you run your in-house agency more effectively and efficiently.  

To learn more about VWA, visit our website, www.vwaatlanta.com or call 404-355-0127.