12 Types of Agencies to Market and Grow Your Business

Originally published July 21, 2022. Updated October 30, 2024.

Regardless of where you are in your business, you need marketing to grow. 

If you’re a startup, good marketing can help you establish your place in the market and attract new customers. For mature and stable companies, it can help you stay relevant regardless of how many competitors challenge your position.

However, not every company can prioritize marketing in its day-to-day operations or has the resources to hire massive in-house teams. 

To access top-notch marketing expertise without having to recruit more people or disrupt your operations, your next best bet would be to work with a marketing agency. In this blog, we’ll talk about different marketing agency examples and the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Credit: Freepik

FULL-SERVICE AND SPECIALIZED MARKETING AGENCIES

Marketing agencies can be full-service or specialized.

Full-service, also known as integrated agencies, offers a complete range of services. This is an excellent choice if you’re starting your marketing from scratch. They can help you with branding, strategy, and execution across all relevant channels. In case some services need to be outsourced, they’ll likely take care of that for you.

Specialized agencies are more focused on specific expertise. If you have an existing marketing team but need additional support, specialized advertising agencies can get involved in a specific area.

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF MARKETING AGENCIES?

• Digital Marketing Agencies

Maximizing digital platforms is imperative for most industries. Digital marketing agencies can help you establish your online presence across different touch points. 

If you’re starting from scratch, a digital marketing company can help you build your digital ecosystem with services that include a website, social media, PPC, and more. This way,  you can easily be found, known, and purchased by your audience.

• Traditional Advertising Agency

Traditional advertising agencies specialize in campaigns through print and physical locations. Examples include newspapers, magazines, billboards, lamppost banners, etc. 

Typically, big companies work with traditional marketing agencies because coverage can be costly. Results can also be challenging to track and target. However, they can provide effective ways to reach mass audiences and establish brand recognition.

• Advertising Agencies

Ad agencies specialize in creating commercials and promotional materials. They can help you translate your brand message into media that your audiences can consume. 

Advertisements can include posters, key visuals, merchandise, videos, and others and can be shown on various media platforms.

• Account-Based Marketing Agencies

Industries that work with luxury or high-priced items, such as real estate, car sales, IT solutions, and other B2B brands, rely on personalized services and customer service to secure sales. 

Account-based marketing agencies can provide the right type of support for these companies. They help companies give ample attention and care to customers so they can be retained and thoroughly accommodated.

• Public Relations Agencies

While we all like to believe that providing good products can ensure profit, that’s not always the case. Public perception can significantly affect many businesses. 

To improve your company's reputation, you work with the media through interviews, feature articles, press releases, press conferences, and others. Having a good relationship with the media can help you increase your credibility through the testimonials of trusted sources.

• Branding Agencies

Your brand encapsulates what your business stands for in a way that connects with your target audience. Done right, it gives you a unique position in your industry and differentiates you from your competitors.

Branding agencies assist companies in identifying their values and vision so they can use them to establish relationships with the people they cater to.

• Production And Design Agencies

Specializing in creating media materials, you can tap production and design agencies to execute concrete concepts. There are production agencies for graphic design, web creation, application development, video, and other forms of media.

When working with production and design agencies, it will be helpful to communicate your brand’s tone and aesthetic. Experts in execution can help you produce content that your audiences can engage with.

• Social Media Marketing Agency

To drive traffic into your eCommerce shop or company website, consider meeting your target audiences where they are: on social media. Today, barriers to entry for content creation are almost non-existent. However, the challenge lies in setting yourself apart from the crowd.

Social media marketing agencies specialize in targeting specific audiences and optimizing posts and ads so you can reach the right people. Their services can include, but are not limited to, blog creation, ads generation, etc.

• Web Design Agency

Your website is your company’s storefront in the digital world. That said, ensuring that it’s user-friendly, visually appealing, and updated, can affect how your audiences perceive you and the quality of your services. 

If you’re an e-commerce website, this is even more crucial. The intuitiveness of your website can directly affect your revenue. 

Web design agencies can craft websites your audiences will love to use and engage with. Many can also ensure privacy and security features, which are vital if you solicit sensitive information (such as credit card and bank details) from your audiences.

• Content Agency

Creating content is a good way to improve your website’s SEO. This increases your likelihood of appearing on search engines when your audiences type in relevant keywords. Successfully securing these spots will improve your credibility and website traffic.

Content agencies can assist you in optimizing blog posts, articles, or copies that both your audiences and search engines would love.

In the SEO game, it’s all about quantity and quality. If you don’t have the resources to pour much effort into content creation without compromising the rest of your operations, consider outsourcing this effort instead.

• Event Agencies

Events are tools for experiential marketing. It engages the senses to provide a visceral experience of your brand. Brand events include product launches, concerts, conferences, open houses, meetings, and incentive trips. They’re great ways to engage communities, raise awareness, and build customer loyalty. Event agencies specialize in designing, coordinating, and producing such experiences.

Events take a lot of work to plan and execute. For a small concert, for example, sponsors need to be wooed, venues need to be reserved, performers and hosts need to be screened, rehearsed, and hired, merchandise designed and produced, and so on. From concept to completion, it will involve several specialists and generalists working together to create a solid experience.

Most event agencies already have established processes and contacts to ensure smooth operations and high-quality materials. Tap into their massive resources by availing yourself of their services.

Image: Freepik

• Media Buying Agencies

Once you’ve identified the best channels for your promotional materials, you’ll need to find and negotiate to ensure they’re shown. 

Media buying agencies specialize in securing ad inventory for brands. Whether on television, social networks, or physical spaces, they normally buy spots in bulk to secure lower prices. This makes them great gateways for a more affordable way to get placements. 

HOW TO PICK THE AGENCY FOR YOU

There is no one-size-fits-all rule in finding an agency. At the end of the day, the right choice will be the one that can result in the most benefits for your business. To push you in the right direction, here are three things you can consider:

• Requirements: What type of service do you need? If you need end-to-end help, working with an integrated agency might be good. However, if you only need support in a specific area and lack a massive budget, you can evaluate its specifics and pick the agency with the most expertise for the job.
  
  
• Budget: How much can you spend? If you have limited funds, identify things you can take care of on your own and only spend on initiatives that you have no capacity to push on your own.
  
  
• Specialization: What type of product and target audience do you have? Specialized agencies pride themselves on their expertise in niche areas. For example, promoting B2B IT solutions can differ greatly from how you market sports equipment. Marketing an IT solutions software would require specific knowledge to appeal to a specific type of customer. Meanwhile, sports equipment is relatively universal.
  
  
  

WRAPPING IT UP

Marketing is a vital part of growth regardless of where you are in your growth as a business. Whether you’re a freelancer looking for clients, a startup scouting for investors, or a company securing your place in your industry, marketing agencies can give you access to professionals with years of experience and expertise.

While a marketing management firm can amplify your efforts, it will be your responsibility to clearly communicate your project goals and collaborate on your workflow. Use team collaboration tools like Workamajig to streamline this process internally and externally. Workamajig’s marketing project management software was built specifically for creative agencies of all types. Explore the benefits of Workamajig and see how its many features will become the single source of truth for your agency and help grow your agency into a more profitable business.

Sit back, relax, and enjoy your work. Workamajig’s got this.