Pros & Cons of Using a Niche Marketing Agency December 20, 2016
A Niche Marketing Agency will only work with clients in a specific industry. For example, they will solely market Dentists, Lawyers, or Hotels. They exist in the interest of efficiency. Doing general industry research and pre-building a library of logos and website templates allows them to serve their clients much faster than a traditional agency.
Fresh Inc. is a broad-spectrum marketing agency, meaning we don’t just accept clients of different backgrounds and disciplines, we embrace them! This brings a lot of diversity to our portfolio and we can use this knowledge to better help future clients in other industries.
Many potential clients struggle between choosing an agency like Fresh Inc. as opposed to a Niche Marketing Agency. We’ve put together a list of Pro’s & Con’s to help educate you on the differences. Be aware that every marketing agency is unique and may not conform to these parameters.
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LOCATION
Pros
- Working with a local agency means you can meet in person to communicate ideas and revisions.
Cons
- Different time zones can make it difficult to get a hold of someone on the phone.
- Lack of face-to-face contact often leads to miscommunications and frustrating wait times.
LOYALTY
Cons
- A Niche Marketing Agency will work with your competition.
- If they have a great idea pertaining to your field of business, who’s to say they will give it to your business and not another client?
UPFRONT COST: BRANDING
Pros
- Upfront cost is lower when you purchase a logo “a la carte.”
- Research costs are lower because they already have a base of knowledge in your field.
Cons
- You may not receive all of the logo files you need to carry out your brand in the future (i.e. horizontal options, vertical options, B&W, Pantone Colour, etc.)
- If the required files are not provided upfront, you will have to pay someone to build them for you after the fact or pay extra to have them built.
- Considerations on how the logo will be used in application may not be made (i.e. Will this fit on a pen? Will this fit on a Billboard? Square? Rectangle?)
UPFRONT COST: WEBSITE
Pros
- It is initially less expensive to go with a industry specific agency because they have pre-built website templates.
Cons
- It can cost your business more money in the long run due to dependence on their technology.
- Some agencies use custom or specific technology that cannot be easily edited by designers outside of their organization.
- The costs of long-term cost of website maintenance and technical support can add up quickly.
- If the company goes out of business, your site goes down.
TIME: BRANDING
Pros
- Since they have many pre-built logos, you don’t have to wait for design.
Cons
- If you buy a logo a la carte, it has not been field-tested in your market. How will your audience respond to your logo?
- You will not have as much input in the logo design, fonts, and colours if it has already been completed.
- A change of heart on the logo after a launch will result in replacing costly items such as signage, apparel, etc.
ORIGINALITY
Pros
- A market-specific agency usually has a library of pre-made logos specific to your field.
Cons
- These logos will often consist of rejected options from previous clients including your competition.
- These logos are generic and not necessarily made with your business or name in mind.
- Research is pre-done and broad. As such, it may not be specific to your location or demographic.
- The designs may be noticeably similar to others in the field who utilized the same designer/agency.
- Designers can become uninspired if they only work on one industry and, as such, don’t do their finest work.
WEBSITE STRUCTURE & LAYOUT
Pros
- Viewing their pre-set templates before committing to your website build allows you to easily visualize the end product.
Cons
- What you see is what you get
- Options for customization may not be available or come at a premium cost.
- Other competitors in your field can be or could be utilizing the same template, which makes it difficult for your business to stand out.
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO)
Pros
- You don’t have to provide keywords because these templates often have a pre-set of keywords targeted towards your industry
Cons
- Your competitors using the same service provider will have the same keyword generation which will prevent you from standing out
- Additional customization to keywords or SEO can come at premium prices
TEMPLATED WEB DESIGN
Pros
- It’s easy to provide content when you have the design is already complete.
Cons
- You run the risk of your site looking like your competitors.
- There are no unique attributes that will make your business stand out.
- Templates do not allow for scalability of your website. As your company grows, your site should be adaptable to changing/adding pages as needed.
CUSTOMER/TECHNICAL SUPPORT
Pros
- If problems should arise with your website, many service providers offer 24 hour customer support
Cons
- Your issues or project changes are done in queue and order of priority which means it could be weeks before your changes or issues are resolved.
CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS (CMS)
Pros
- Some providers will offer in the blank Content Management Systems so you can edit and update your website yourself.
Cons
- Some CMS providers are developed in countries which may not have Canadian Accessibility Standards (WCAG) integrated into their back-end. If your website becomes audited you can potentially be financially penalized daily until you bring your website up to standards.
- CMS interfaces can be frustrating to use and often require training.
- If a CMS-trained staff member leaves your organization, you will now need to train someone else to use it.
RISK
Cons
- Always ensure you own the hosting and passwords for your website. This will ensure ownership of the website in the event of an agency going bankrupt.
- Some technology is agency-specific. This means you would have difficulty transferring to a new agency or designer because they will not understand this technology.
