Smaller agencies have struggled to get a shot at larger client accounts. Many larger companies feel that boutique agencies don’t have the creativity, the expertise or the resources to manage their marketing and communication needs.
This belief is changing as companies increasingly shift investment away from traditional media into digital and particularly social media.
Some of the key reasons that small agencies can provide better resources for larger companies are:
1. Small agencies are populated entirely with people who deliver – fundamentally in a small company you can’t hide-out and not produce – staff are simply too visible. This means that clients benefit from only working with passionate and engaged people who love what they do.
2. Small agencies tend to be owned and managed by people that have extensive and diverse experience, are heavily involved in driving client strategy, creative and production – and have a deep understanding of how a business functions because they are running one. In larger agencies, more often than not, the senior leadership are less involved in the creative process for clients – their time is consumed just running the behemoth.
3. To a small agency, a larger client account is their most important piece of business. To a big agency, that same client is just part of a portfolio of large clients. And this is even more problematic from a service perspective if your budget is considered relatively small by the big agency.
4. A small agency will recruit people specifically to suit your needs whereas large agencies are more likely to allocate people they already have on payroll who may or may not be a good fit for the work.
5. Because the big agency is big, you as a client are funding their infrastructure and bureaucracy. With a small agency, your budget will go further…and smaller companies by their nature are more cautious and cost-conscious – not only in how they manage their own financial resources but also in where and how they commit your budget.
This is not to say that big agencies don’t have their place. Dependent on your needs, particularly if your account has a heavy mainstream media spend, large agencies have the media buying power and financial resources that are vital to your success. But if you are looking for a nimble, agile and dynamic approach to your marketing spend, boutique agencies have a lot to offer.
