Why don't advertising agencies deliver results?

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Marketing in the 21st century is more complex and multifaceted than ever before. As a result, many companies prefer to commission external advertising agencies. This is often associated with high costs and a great deal of uncertainty. But despite high investments, companies often find that the results delivered are rather inferior. But why is it that advertising agencies that are experts in marketing still deliver inferior results?

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Now, why don't advertising agencies deliver results? There are 2 basic factors that lead to poor results from marketing agencies: Client mistakes and advertising agency weaknesses. There is nothing a company can do about the advertising agency's weaknesses. But mistakes can be avoided even before hiring an agency.

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Many companies that commission external advertising agencies already have a solid knowledge of their target group and have planned a budget for marketing and advertising measures. Now an advertising agency should use this budget to reach the target group and convince them of the company's product or services.

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The problem, however, is that once the ball has been set rolling, weaknesses or missed targets can only be recognized when the advertising campaign is already well advanced and a large part of the budget has been used up. This makes it all the more important to recognize potential sources of error before these important decisions are made. We have identified common sources of error and warning signals.

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Wrong decisions by the company

Before an advertising company can even start advertising, the company placing the order must decide on an advertising company and provide it with certain information. Unfortunately, this is where mistakes are already made that can affect the advertising campaign in the long term.

Insufficient market research

Small and medium-sized companies in particular often believe they have an accurate picture of their customers or target group. However, this image can be superficial or only reflect a small part of the market. If this image is then distorted by personal wishes or even illusions, high advertising costs can lead to a complete miss of the market. An accurate understanding of the market and customer profile is therefore essential to enable an advertising agency to deliver positive results. 

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Specific wishes:

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A good advertising agency knows how to address the customer in exactly the right way, in the right tone, with the right information via the right channels. However, it is more common for clients to contact advertising agencies with specific requests. These requests are often based on personal opinions, preferences or ideas based on half-knowledge.

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It is not wrong to discuss specific ideas with the advertising agency. However, this should be an open exchange and not the transmission of instructions. Don't forget that many advertising agencies' fees are not based on success, but on the size of the job. If the client has a certain request that they insist on and are willing to pay for, no advertising agency will turn down the job.

No clear framework defined

As already mentioned, requests that are too specific can be a disadvantage. Nevertheless, it is important to set a clear framework for the advertising agency. This saves time on the part of the advertising agency and later also the time of the client, as there is a solid basis for cooperation. A framework for the desired advertising campaigns should therefore be discussed at the beginning or at the latest after the market research analysis. Only those who instruct the advertising agency correctly can hope to achieve the desired results.

Mistakes made by the advertising agency

Advertising agencies also make mistakes. The unfortunate thing is that these mistakes initially cost the client money, as the advertising company is paid for the service provided and not for the success achieved. It is therefore important for companies to recognize warning signals at an early stage in order to be able to make changes in good time.

Wrong tone of the campaign

In order to communicate properly, an advertising agency does not have to follow a specific scheme. It must understand the benefits of the product or service precisely in order to be able to emphasize the most important aspects. It is also important to know the target group and potential customers precisely. This includes the exact problems of the customers that are solved by the client's product or service, as well as the "tone" of the industry.

Wrong platforms

Some advertising agencies often have preferred platforms that they use; others offer the full range of media platforms. However, the goal of an advertising campaign is not to reach the maximum number of people, but to reach the right people. Thus, platforms should be selected and purchased that will gain your company the maximum number of impressions from the target audience. This decision should not be based on preferences, but on the consumption habits of the target group.

Yes-sayers!

The customer is always right! Unfortunately, this saying is too often used to deflect responsibility away from oneself. Especially in marketing, the customer may sometimes be wrong. As mentioned before, specific customer wishes may not be based on facts, but on personal preferences. A good advertising agency therefore does not simply say "yes" to every request made by the client. The client's comments should not be seen as instructions, but rather as suggestions. After an analysis and evaluation, the client's proposal can be assessed and the client's wish communicated openly.

Holding on to the customer

Even if advertising companies are naturally dependent on their customers' orders, they should not hold on to a customer at all costs. For example, there may be different expectations for a set budget. If a client regularly comes up with new requests and ideas that take up the advertising agency's time without adjusting the budget, this often becomes apparent when the delivered quality of the advertising agency's work decreases. An advertising agency should therefore be able to openly tell the client that either the scope of the service needs to be adjusted or that it is time to take a break. 

No fresh ideas

Advertising agencies like to show their references and the work they have done for other clients. Particularly successful or creative advertising measures are often shown to you as a potential customer or can be found on the advertising agency's website. This gives you, as the client, the opportunity to assess whether the advertising agency has really looked at your company and customer profile or whether they want to sell you an existing advertising campaign that has been adapted to your company. Even if the advertising campaign may have been successful for others, this is not a promise of success for your company. A common reason why advertising agencies do not achieve results is that the advertising agency simply wants to put a new face on an old project. An entrepreneur should know his advertising agency well enough to avert such attempts at an early stage.

Success analysis too late

Regular exchanges with clients and open communication also include the presentation of interim results and completed milestones. However, many advertising agencies would like to skip this step. However, evaluating interim results is particularly important for the client in order to be able to adjust advertising measures if the desired results are not achieved. This may not always be advantageous for the advertising agency, as it can mean extra work, confusion in the schedules or even the termination of an advertising campaign.

There is another way!

Traditional advertising and marketing agencies, which sell their advertising measures like a product, have found it difficult to present their customers with a forward-looking and success-oriented concept due to the changes that came with digitalization.

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With these changes came the birth of innovative companies that recognized the new market situation and challenges and offered customer-oriented solutions.

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One such company is MORE. MORE joins companies as an external marketing department and is involved in the long-term success of the company.

MORE has a very direct and close relationship with the client company and achieves maximum results.

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MORE does not intend to win a maximum number of clients, but rather supports a maximum of 12 companies at any one time.

MORE's omnichannel strategy delivers the best marketing results and therefore growth for client companies.

mmmorr employs experts in the fields of web, SEO, social media marketing, Google and meta advertising, email marketing and branding.

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The combination of possible different marketing channels, different experts and long-term cooperation, which is based on the success and turnover of the client company, guarantees you an external marketing department that delivers results. This makes MORE the ideal partner for medium-sized companies and the perfect complement as an external marketing department that delivers results rather than advertising.

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