Digital Darwinism: Marketing Agencies Evolve or Become Extinct

Gone are the days of Volkswagen’s “Lemon.” The evolution of advertising has upended traditional marketing and has transformed marketing agencies across the globe. Technology has pushed the boundaries of traditional media, and marketing agencies have been forced to adapt to stay alive. 

Consumers today are savvier than any other time in advertising history. Interruption-based marketing–the norm for decades–has gone out the window as technology allows consumers to choose when, where and how they interact with brands. Digital media has placed the power in the hands of the consumer. 

Back in 2011, Gartner research predicted that “digital strategies, such as social and mobile marketing, will influence at least 80 percent of consumers’ discretionary spending” by the end of 2015. A Forbes survey last year found that 81 percent of respondents said social media posts from friends and family directly influence their purchase decisions and 78 percent said a brand’s social media posts influence their decision. 

To keep pace, marketing agencies have evolved.

Authenticity in advertising has become essential in reaching consumers, as marketing is no longer a one-way street. Digital platforms have forced marketing agencies to become a part of conversations that are already happening. To do so, marketers have to find an unobtrusive way to insert themselves into these conversations, through creative, engaging and useful content. 

Consumers know when marketers are manhandling them, and technology now makes it easy to escape such heavy-handed advertising. By cloaking marketing in a veil of interesting, informative content, advertising agencies can create a win-win situation for brands and consumers. 

To do this, many agencies have transformed from generalists to specialists by choosing a certain niche client base. These agencies focus on one specific target audience and the companies that look to market to them, such as vegan businesses or dog product companies.  

Marketing companies have also had to adapt to the changing nature of relationships between clients and agencies.

More often than not, companies are using separate advertising firms to handle print, online, mobile and other platforms. As such, agencies are expanding their repertoire into recent online-based trends such as video, mobile-first and content marketing. 

The emergence of reliable, real-time data has forced advertising firms to evolve in the realm of accountability. Reach and impressions are a thing of the past. Technology now allows marketers – and their clients – to track along multiple metrics, such as website traffic, leads, click-through rates and other such measures. 

Technology has changed advertising forever. Marketing agencies have had to roll with the punches or be left behind in the digital dust.