If you’ve never worked with an agency before, it’s easy to get overwhelmed on your hunt for the right one. When a simple Google search brings up thousands of agencies to choose from, how do you narrow it down to just one?

A great place to start is determining what type of agency to work with: a full-service marketing or an advertising agency. Choosing the right one will ensure your marketing dollars are spent as effectively as possible and that your message successfully reaches your target audience.

To aid in narrowing down your search, we’ll break down what a full-service marketing and advertising agency are, what services they offer, and how to determine which is right for your company.

What is an advertising agency?

Advertising agencies focus strictly on the planning, preparation, and placement of ads. Most ad agencies specialize in creating and sharing paid promotional messages through traditional forms of media, and do not offer other marketing services.

Ad agencies will support your marketing team throughout every stage of an ad campaign, all the way from early planning to post-campaign analysis. Here are a few examples of advertising that an agency could help you create:

• PPC ads
• TV commercials and YouTube ads
• Print advertisement for newspapers or magazines
• Influencer posts on social media

To create the perfect campaign for their clients, advertising agencies employ creative and technical individuals to handle different parts of the advertising process. An agency typically includes account supervisors, graphic designers, photographers, market analysts, and content creators.

Traditional ad agencies are most helpful for business looking to target local audiences. A strong ad campaign is results-oriented with clear KPI’s and a budget that makes sense for your business.

What is a full-service marketing agency?

Full-service marketing agencies handle all aspects of marketing, providing not only advertising assistance but also inbound and digital marketing services. This holistic approach creates a more unified marketing plan, which is why they’re also known as integrated marketing agencies.

The staff at a full-service agency will include both technical folk and creatives to ensure they can handle all your marketing, advertising, and promotional needs both on and offline. A full-service marketing agency can help your business with tasks like:

• PPC advertisements
• Content marketing
• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Print and digital media advertising
• Site copy and landing pages
• Social Media Marketing

With insight into every aspect of your marketing plan, a full-service agency can ensure you meet your goals as efficiently as possible. Access to multiple channels means they can see what is and isn’t creating cost-effective leads, and adjust your strategy according.

Full-service agencies are incredibly helpful for businesses looking to grow their business online. They can assist you in not only digital marketing, but also diversifying your digital presence through website development, content creation, social media and more.

Should I use full-service marketing or an advertising agency to achieve my business’s marketing goals?

The marketing world changes faster than ever these days, so to keep your business ahead of the curve, you’ll need an agency that is able to respond just as quickly. Working with a single agency will avoid wasteful spending, simplify your life, and ensure your marketing strategy is unified.

While both a full-service marketing and advertising agency can help create ad campaigns, a full-service agency can create cross-functional campaigns and offer comprehensive marketing strategies. By looking at your business holistically, they can ensure all aspects of your plan work together.

A full-service agency is particularly helpful for small and medium-sized businesses without an in-house marketing team. If your business is growing or shrinking, using an agency allows you to scale up or down as needed and only pay for the services you are using.

An agency can be helpful, even with an in-house team. A full-service team can provide specialists— like graphic designers, market analysts, or social media experts— to complete tasks that your team may not have the time or experience for.

Whether you’re looking to upgrade your existing plan, adjust your approach on a specific channel, or rethink your marketing strategy entirely, Asset Digital Communications can help.