Did you hire a digital agency? You are wasting your money
Updated: Oct 15, 2021
Let me guess. You needed some digital marketing help and hired a web agency hoping it would have solved your problems?
Well, let’s face the truth. Hiring a digital agency is one of the biggest mistakes you could make and now, I’m gonna explain why.
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AGENCIES ARE TOOLS, NOT CRAFTSMEN
Entrepreneurship needs a wide range of skills and if you don’t know how to do digital marketing, it’s totally fine. Because your only responsibility is to guide the business. You must be the entrepreneur and no one else.
If you outsourced your digital marketing, it means you have understood this concept.
Outsourcing web marketing activities, like the creation of a website, online paid advertising, lead generation, SEO and many others, can be very effective. But only if you know how to do it.
Let me explain it with an example.
Let’s say that you understand the importance of investments, but you are not savvy enough to undertake financial operations alone.
Where do you go?
Usually, you have two choices: you go to the bank or to an independent financial advisor.
Everyone knows that the first choice is wrong.
If you go to the bank, they may advise you for free, but the conflict of interest is enormous. Actually, the bank itself is paying for the time of its financial advisor and it is giving a free consultancy, because it expects you to purchase stocks in which the bank has an interest.
Instead, if you pay for an independent financial advisor, they will give you options that only match your own interests.
It’s the same for digital marketing.
You needed help, so where did you go first? Did you hire a digital agency or an independent digital marketing consultant?
In this article, I don’t want to discourage you from hiring a digital marketing agency, but I want you to open your eyes and recognize that an agency is a tool like a bank.
You go to the bank when you know exactly what you need and how to do it. You should do the same with a digital agency.
A web agency is just a tool, nothing more.
If you still think that an agency has the answers you need, I’ll prove you wrong.
Do you know what an agency business model is?
Keep reading and find out. After discovering how it works, you will change your mind, I promise.
DIGITAL AGENCIES BUSINESS MODEL IS A TOTAL BUST
Agencies usually adopt a matrix organization structure. As you can see from the image below, a digital agency team works for multiple projects simultaneously.
According to the size of an agency, there is a general manager who supervises department managers and several project (or account) managers who take care of the workflows, deadlines, clients and other activities for each project.
Department and project managers work together to coordinate technicians. They should be the real digital experts who get the job done.
A project is generally a paid commission from a client.
This is how an agency works internally, but how does it work from a customer perspective?
Clients don’t communicate with a digital marketing expert
Agency sales reps approach customers. They quickly analyze customers’ needs and match them with the agency services.
It doesn’t matter whether a service is the best solution for a client. The only objective is selling stuff. And it makes total sense. If they don’t sell, they can’t pay their bills.
Entrepreneurs think to receive a professional consultancy by talking with a sales rep or a general manager. These roles don’t have the necessary technical skills and expertise to provide an accurate solution, since it’s not their job.
Besides, they can’t be impartial.
They work for an organization which offers distinct services and empl