Some agencies have deficiencies in media planning and buying.

Some have deficiencies in PR.

Others have deficiencies in programmatic buying.

All of these things can be reasonably supplemented with outside resources/strategic partnerships that can allow an agency to overcome a marketing agency deficiency like one of those mentioned above.

I’ve seen it on the RSW/AgencySearch side of our business.  Wrote a post not too long ago called “They’re Good When They’re Great” that talked about the openness of marketers to agencies developing good solid strategic partnerships – which means the agency has to do more than just call the partner agency a strategic partner…there needs to be some evidence of cooperation and success in order for it to be valid in the eyes of the marketer.

There are two marketing agency deficiencies that marketers point out in our latest survey (The 2014 RSW/US Agency-Marketer Business Report) which you simply can’t ignore.

A majority of marketers in our survey stated that the top two deficiencies of agencies are:

“a lack of foundation in analytics”

and

“a lack of focus on meaningful KPIs”

These are two areas that you can not let go of when looking for a new firm.  If the agency isn’t talking about these key areas, then you either need to encourage them to, or you need to move on.

Back in the day, the rallying cry for agencies (and marketers) was “get into to digital now”!  Now just being in digital and just creating attractive websites isn’t going to be enough.

Today the rallying cry is “Responsive Marketing”.

I’m not talking responsive websites (that allow you to build a site that works well on all platforms).  I’m talking about building marketing plans that are adaptable and fluid and can move with changing market conditions.

The need for your agency to stay current and think about a results-based approach to developing and executing plans for you is critical.

Marketers tell us in our surveys and we hear them tell us in conferences like Mirren’s Business Development Conference and the upcoming ANA Masters of Marketing Conference that the pressure is on.  Which means it’s going to be on your agency too…or at least it should be.

We hear it from Marketers that call us wanting to look for a new agency.  The number one frustration is most often the fact that their agency “isn’t keeping them ahead of the digital and social curve”.

Don’t let your agency be one of those agencies.

There are plenty of platforms out there that your agency can use to help them manage through the transition into a more responsive marketing agency partner.

You, the marketer, don’t have to go at it alone.