Following last week’s piece from Lindsay Bennett on agencies five biggest branding mistakes, Kathleen Gunther, founder of Gunther Consulting, has a series of top tips on how agencies can actually start branding and marketing themselves properly.
Agency marketing is often an afterthought for a number of reasons. It’s a ‘how long is a piece of string’ type of question however, given ‘marketing’ covers everything from your metadata through to the style guide for your visual identity.
For anyone who has ever worked in an agency, the answers are pretty obvious. Bandwidth is the biggest issue, matched with a lack of resources. This is especially true now in a recession (aka cost-of-living crisis), with budgets slashed and client-side marketing team headcount diminished. Clients have simultaneously become even more demanding because more demand has been placed on them.
For agencies with specialisations, specifically digital only, PR or even branding agencies tend to stick to what they know. For integrated agencies, it’s whichever department has the most influence or inertia from committee-led decision-making.
I’ve seen this first-hand when meeting agency founders lately. No matter what type of services they offer, there is a common thread.
Like all B2B service-led organisations, the issue is pragmatism and process.
Once you know who you are, why you exist and what your USP’s are, the key to any agency’s brand salience starts with showcasing the work. Closely followed by culture and adding value to their people or community in whichever way relates to their brand proposition.
Of course, their visual identity matters a great deal, but that can and should evolve. It’s just one part of the brand.
People buy people. Particularly in the age of AI when half your Linkedin feed is AI dot point dribble and when Meta and Google make up 70% of all digital advertising spend in Australia.
Every agency knows the output is only as good as the brief, the same goes with marketing. Empower your team to think about a campaign amplification from the briefing stage.
Marketing automation is not exclusive to data and digital platforms. You can apply the same lens to your client work which IS also your best marketing tool.
- Add the cost of an awards submission and video showreel in the scoping stage.
- Make a web case study and press release part of the campaign launch plan.
- Raise the profile of your team in PR through individual award submissions and writing op-eds and blogs through industry insights.
This then consistently feeds your content calendar, which you can amplify across owned and shared channels.
Most importantly, review your analytics monthly and do quarterly SEO audits to ensure your website is discoverable. Optimise your content strategy month to month based on these results.
If you don’t have the marketing resource in-house, outsource it. Just like your clients do. There are plenty of fractional and freelance options out there, or partner up with non-competing agencies for contra work.
It’s not rocket science. It’s pragmatism and process.
Build marketing into your agency’s DNA
The agencies that excel at brand building don’t treat it as a separate initiative, they weave it into their operational fabric. When your entire team understands that every client project has a dual purpose, delivering exceptional results for clients while generating marketing assets for your agency—the “we don’t have time” excuse evaporates.
This mindset shift requires leadership commitment. Each project kickoff should include the question: ‘How will we leverage this work to strengthen our own brand?’ This becomes especially powerful when your agency specialises in a particular industry or solution, allowing you to build cumulative thought leadership that compounds over time.
Remember that your clients want to work with successful agencies. Being vocal about your achievements and expertise isn’t just self-promotion; it reassures clients they’ve made the right choice. The most successful agencies understand that marketing isn’t something you do when you have spare time—it’s an essential part of your business strategy that deserves equal priority with client work.
In today’s competitive landscape, the agencies that thrive aren’t necessarily the ones with the most brilliant work. They’re the ones who successfully communicate their brilliance to the world.
