One question we’re often asked by organizations searching for a marketing agency partner is:
Do you specialize in my industry?
The answer from Creative Noggin is not a simple “yes” or “no”.
We don’t specialize in any one industry but have extensive experience in quite a few.
We’re used to quizzical looks after we say this because industry experience is the mark of a good marketing partner, right?
Not necessarily.
What are the advantages of choosing an agency that specializes in your industry?
What benefits are there to partnering with an agency that has broader industry experience?
Let’s take a look.
Why hire an agency that specializes in one industry?
Agencies focused on your niche can be a solid answer when you have unique challenges within your industry and need highly specialized content.
1. They know your industry REALLY well.
It’s true. When a marketing agency specializes in one industry, like solar panels, hotels, or healthcare, they know that one industry inside and out.
They understand your market, speak the same lingo, and have experience growing businesses just like yours.
Their initial research when partnering with you would focus on your current marketing efforts and learning how your business differentiates itself from competitors.
2. They are familiar with best practices for your industry.
Think about the education industry or government entities. They have very different goals and market to different demographics who need different messages presented on different platforms.
This means it won’t take much time to get an agency that specializes in a specific industry up to speed. After all, they already know all the players and the ins and outs—the big names, the audience, the events to attend, the best marketing platforms for your niche, etc. They know what to do and what not to do because they live and breathe your industry just like you do.
On that note…
3. They know who your competitors are.
When the team you’ve partnered with specializes in your niche, they will know who all the industry players are right out of the gate. This might be because they work with them or have worked with them. Your competitors are likely the same competitors as their other clients.
They should know what’s working and what’s not for businesses like yours because they are expert marketers in your industry.
It can be a huge advantage to have this inside knowledge…
But it may not be what’s best for your business.
Why hire an agency that works in multiple industries?
What can an agency with broad knowledge of marketing in multiple industries provide for your business?
1. They bring fresh eyes to your marketing.
Marketing agencies outside of your niche can provide a fresh look at your position in the market because they see your business differently than you do.
Instead of spending all day, every day, eating/sleeping/breathing your industry, an agency like this needs to do new and deeper research than you normally do to find out what is happening in your industry, business, and marketing—including taking an in-depth look at where the industry is headed.
This provides an opportunity for a new agency to really get inside the head of your target audience, see what they see, and get insights into their experience and perspective.
When we start working with a new client, our team at Creative Noggin always starts with our Discovery process, where we do a deep dive into both our client’s business and their industry.
We aim to answer questions like:
- What is the experience consumers have with your brand?
- What is unique about your offering?
- Who are your top competitors, and what are they doing with their marketing?
- Who are your primary, secondary, and tertiary target audiences?
- What are your business goals for the next 1 year, 5 years, 10 years?
By talking to our clients at length and doing in-depth research like this, we get to know them and their industry, inside and out.
Which leads us to…
2. They bring innovative ideas.
When you’re looking for a new marketing agency, are you looking for someone to keep doing the same things you and your competitors have been doing?
Or do you want a new look, new campaign, and new ideas to help you stand out?
When a marketing agency comes with fresh eyes, they can offer innovative ideas to level up your marketing.
For example, we had a recent new client with a franchise who was having trouble meeting sales goals in one of their markets—a location we are very familiar with! While we hadn’t worked in their industry before, we had worked with franchises and understood the market they needed to reach, so we had a lot of ideas to help them reach their goals.
We launched landing pages, digital ads, and radio ads in strategic places with messaging specific to the location we were targeting.
Within just five months, we improved their sales by 20%, were asked to take over marketing for additional locations, and helped with marketing for the grand opening of a new location.
3. They provide unique strategies to stand out from your competitors.
The first questions potential clients ask us are often about industry experience, areas of expertise, and pricing, but what makes a truly great marketing partner?
We would argue it is an agency that aligns with your core values, works alongside you and your team to guide your marketing strategy, and isn’t a “yes” man (or woman, in our case).
Those are different qualifications from whether or not someone works solely in your industry.
Expanding your search for a marketing agency partner allows you to find someone to bring experience from outside of your industry that, when applied to your business, gives you an edge over your competitors who are all doing the same things.
These are ideas that can help hone your marketing strategy and grow your business.
Another recent client worked in an industry we were new to. After a request to start including some language about “available rebates” in the marketing, we asked some questions and did some research… and found an opportunity to launch a full campaign about something no one else was talking about in their service area.
Instead of merely adding a few words to Google Ads, we:
- Created new landing pages focused on a specific rebate
- Launched a new Google Ads campaign targeting the exact areas where the rebate applied
- Wrote a blog post to increase organic traffic
- Created a direct mail piece for this targeted audience
- Sent an email campaign to their current subscribers
The first email we sent generated 88 leads in just 1 hour, and the quality of leads from Google search ads increased drastically when the campaign was launched.
This successful campaign happened simply because of a small request from the client that we helped them realize was a huge opportunity for their business.
The bottom line.
There’s no wrong way to choose an agency: a specialist in your industry or one that brings insight from a wider experience.
It depends on what your organization needs right now. Start by finding an agency aligned with your goals and values with a team that cares about the work you do. Then dive in and discuss the details to see if they’re the right fit.
Exploring marketing agencies?
We are a team of marketing experts who work with clients across numerous industries. We begin our relationship with a deep dive Discovery process, then partner with you to guide your marketing, all while focusing on authenticity and helping you exceed your goals.
If you need fresh, innovative ideas and expert marketing to help you stand out from your competitors… we’d love to help! Reach out to us to talk to one of our marketing strategists today.
