How do you spot a true full service digital agency anyway?
Formal indicators such as staff size, turnover and portfolio don’t fit here.
There are companies with 500 employees, which provide only one service, and there are small boutique agencies with 15-20 people delivering a truly full service.
I believe that there are four main indicators by which a client can distinguish a real full service digital agency from those who try to mimic it.
So, what are these indicators?
1. Well, full service
First of all, the agency should have a really full cycle of services.
Starting from the strategy and ending with all common digital channels. These directions should be not just declared, but be supported by the real competence of employees, case studies and financial turnover. By the way, this does not mean that the production of all these services must be concentrated within the agency.
2. Strategic vision & ability to execute
A real full service digital agency
- must have a wide strategic vision,
- must understand what channels will work,
- what will be effective and what will not work.
In other words, the agency should have the necessary competence to form a full-fledged digital strategy. If there is no strategic unit or at least one strategist in the agency, it is too early to call it full service, sorry.
I will not put it in a separate point, but it is just as important to have end-to-end analytical competence.
3. Perfect customer service
A full service digital agency must have perfectly tuned processes of customer management, be able to manage it from A to Z, both in terms of overall strategy and through specific channels and projects. This is impossible without a properly built organizational structure and business processes.
If there is no single point of contact and the client is moved from one manager to another (based on services provided at the momentum), if tickets in support are lost and are not implemented by SLA, if you can talk about the strategy only with the CEO of the agency (because only he understands it) – then it is not a full service digital agency.
4. Ability to work according to the agency scheme
Agencies are not called “agencies” for nothing.
This word means that the company acts as an intermediary. Therefore, one of the important indicators is the ability of the agency to manage a network of contractors without a quality sacrifice of services provided to the client, regardless of whether it is fulfilled inhouse or subcontracted.
The customer should not bother about that at all. A full service digital agency should be able to render any exotic service, like 3D-printing or the augmented reality, – even if it does not have such competences in house.
This, after all, is what distinguishes the agency from a production company.
So, Can Full Service Digital Agency Build You a Business?
Sometimes people come to us who do not have a working business or product.
Can we build it?
GRIN tech does it all design, development, and marketing.
Is it enough?
Well, here is an example: GRIN tech can build an online store and set up marketing channels, but there is much more in e-commerce beyond the shop and ads:
- Sourcing product(s)
- Handling fulfillment and returns (yes, even if Amazon does that for you)
- Managing back office (e.g. accounting, cash flow)
The marketing mix is based on how good you are with sourcing (or producing) the product. Because if your competitors spend $100 on customer acquisition, we can can’t make a miracle for $10.
So while we can’t build a whole business for you, we are eager to take responsibility for the product (online store) and marketing.
We expect it to be a joint effort, where the client brings vision, budget and Unique Selling Proposition to the table and GRIN tech builds everything digital-wise.