We work with marketing agencies of all types and sizes – from Vancouver, British Columbia to Orlando, Florida and everywhere in between.

All too often we run into agencies that have built their business on referrals and networking – with you marketers helping them along as you move from job to job…but eventually those opportunities thin out and eventually fade away…and the new realities set in.

Great agencies know how to balance smart, well thought out marketing programs for themselves – that surprisingly look a lot like the programs that they put together for you.

In my opinion, those are the best firms…the ones that walk the talk.

Living the agency life vicariously through the lives of our agency clients and talking with agencies that we don’t work with every day, gives us perspective unmatched in the industry.

This Fall (September 9th) I’m presenting at Hubspot’s Inbound convention and talk about the 11 things that get in the way of an agency’s success.

They are:

1. Agencies do the same stuff – hard for you to distinguish
2. What agencies think is unique, often isn’t
3. Many have a “if I build it, you will come” philosophy
4. Believing that inbound marketing alone wins the day
5. Not maintaining a consistent inbound program
6. Making their content all about them (and not you)
7. Managing their marketing in a haphazard way
8. You’re reading competitor’s content (that which is good)
9. You want agencies excellent at what they say they do
10. You all recognize that agencies do the same stuff
11. Agencies wanting to be the next “Crispin”

What does this mean for you, the marketer?

I share these only because I believe they can help you look for better firms.  That agency which lives by the practices they preach to you…should be practices they live by every day.

And those agencies that don’t recognize that it’s not just about the creative product, but the business and strategic partnership…in the end will do a better job of distinguishing themselves and will make for better partners for you.