How Does an Ad Agency Work?

Digital Marketing / October 23, 2019

What first comes to mind when you hear the term ‘ad agency?’

There are many preconceived notions about how an ad agency works that we’ve all heard, like how you have no control, no idea who’s creating your content, or how most agencies over-promise and under-deliver.

However, not all ad agencies are created equal, and how they work in reality might look different than what you believe. Here is a detailed look into how an advertising agency works.

What is a Digital Marketing Ad Agency?

At Bloom, we define ‘digital marketing ad agency’ as a team that helps you grow your business by providing strategic and creative direction and implementation on digital channels. 

They have the tools necessary to plan and execute ad campaigns and lead generation tactics based on your specific needs.

While full-service digital marketing agencies encompass a wide range of marketing services, ad agencies focus on growing your presence online to increase your bottom line. Note that a ‘digital’ ad agency specializes in online growth, whereas traditional creative agencies also develop traditional marketing channels like print, radio, and television.

Agency Structure and Services

Typically, an ad agency is made up of specialized departments to help your business in multiple marketing channels.

For digital agencies, these departments can include:

• Social media
• Paid advertising
• Search engine optimization
• Web development
• Design

However, these departments are complementary to the people you’ll be interacting with as a client of the agency — account managers. Each client is assigned an account manager, who is in charge of all communications between the agency and the client, as well as ensuring the strategy is properly implemented. 

This makes it easier for you to ensure your goals are heard by all departments since you only need to communicate with a single account manager. It becomes the manager’s responsibility to oversee all your campaigns and make sure your goals are respected.

Ad Management and Digital Strategy

Before your agency establishes an ad management and digital strategy plan, they’ll want to get on a call with you to find out:

• What is your current situation
• What are your main goals
• What are your roadblocks

The specifics are different for every client, which is why a great ad agency will take a custom approach to every marketing plan.

Keep in mind that although you may have several goals, a digital agency will want to figure out which of these goals you want to prioritize first and take a focused approach based on this.

Based on your goals and current situation, the advertising agency will get to work to develop a custom, long-term strategy for your campaigns. Upon implementation, your account manager will keep you in the loop about the state of your campaigns and how results are expected to grow in the short-term as well as long term.

Agencies specialized in paid search and social media ads manage every step before and after a campaign launches. Ad agency are usually in charge of writing ad copy, campaign set up (target audience, ad placement, ad formats, etc.), ongoing optimization and measuring and reporting. Some agencies also have the internal resources to implement conversion tracking in order to collect accurate data.

The important factor to remember is that ad campaigns shouldn’t be developed in a vacuum. Every campaign should have a role in a deeper strategy to ensure your business in moving in the right direction. 

Additionally, you can expect your ad agency to optimize and tweak your campaigns as you move forward. This means the best results won’t happen overnight — you should see increasing results over time as your agency further optimizes your campaigns.

Ad Agency Clients

Who do digital advertising agencies work with? Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be a large enterprise to partner with an agency.

In fact, most agencies have a diverse roster of clients in a multitude of industries, ranging from startup food services like Goodfood to established global activewear brands like Lolë who need to scale quickly to please their stakeholders.

This is where the strength of a digital agency lies — because of how diverse their client roster can be, they acquire rich expertise and knowledge that is impossible to gain by working only within a single business. They understand how a certain strategy can work for one business but completely bomb for another.

Hiring or Partnering with an Ad Agency

Think of a digital agency as a new department for your business, working as an outsourced extension of your internal marketing — or independently leading your marketing if you have no internal team.

You can expect to hop on calls weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly depending on your needs, as well as receive recurring reports on your results and optimization plans.

If you’re looking to partner with an ad agency, there are various ways to go about it, but the best way to insure you’re getting personalized quotes is to make a request for proposal. 

Pricing will definitely vary depending on your needs and is often based on your media budget. However, a digital agency’s goal is not to take your money, but rather to take your investment and multiply it to provide the best return-on-investment possible.

Digital Marketing and Ad Agencies in Canada

Canada is a vast, disparate and diverse country, which impact greatly the way companies execute their marketing strategy. 

As an example, Canadian and U.S. brands sometimes set aside Québec in their digital marketing plan, because of the language barrier. If you’d like to know more about this subject, we’ve written a full article explaining why Québec is a great target market for Canadian and U.S. brands. Read it here. 

Working with an agency that understands these types of discrepancies is key for businesses looking to expand their market share. Make sure your ad agency knows the specific realities of the markets and industries across the country and can make decisions that take these realities into consideration, thus increasing your optimization.

A good digital marketing agency should be able to simultaneously help you grow your brand on a global scale while boosting your visibility in front of audiences near you, which helps you make the most of your investment.

Working for an Advertising Company

Think you want your own career in digital advertising? If this type of career interests you, the first step you should take is to find an internship position in a reputable company. We offer an in-depth training program for all interns who work with us.

As an intern, you gain the skills you need to move on up to an entry-level job, such as a campaign analyst or SEO analyst. 

You can opt to specialize in SEO, paid media, business development, or account management depending on your passion and skills.

When chosen right, an ad agency can become your most profitable partner. Learn more about our agency here.