Online Marketing Agencies: Generalists vs. Specialists

There are online marketing agencies like sand by the sea.

No wonder, because in 2012, the majority of companies discovered the internet as a marketing tool and sales source.

Apart from age and size, the agency world can mainly be divided into two categories: Full-service agencies, which offer all online marketing services, and agencies that specialize in one or more sub-fields.

The best examples of this are SEO agencies, social media or conversion specialists. What are the pros and cons of full service, and what cases are for and against specialists?

Generalists: Jack of all trades, master of none?

Having experience and knowledge in many areas always carries the risk of being able to handle many things moderately well but none professionally.

Being an expert in many different disciplines is hardly possible,

especially in such a complex field as online marketing.

Particularly areas like search engine optimization, social media, or search engine marketing are constantly evolving, making it essential to regularly familiarize yourself with new developments.

Already for time reasons, no person can keep an eye on all developments, all new tools and conditions alone.

Specialists: Over-specialize and you may lose sight of the bigger picture?

Specialization can also have its drawback: Focusing on just one topic may lead to losing sight of the interconnections existing in online marketing between individual disciplines.

If several different specialists or specialized agencies are involved in the development and implementation of measures and do not share their results and strategies, this leads to certain work steps (for instance, keyword research or market analysis) needing to be repeated, and no synergies arise.

Also, composing an overall strategy becomes tough in this constellation and requires a high level of strategic control and advance input from the companies themselves in order to effectively bundle all individual channels and use them for the overarching strategy.

Strategic Advisory: Specialists in the Full Service Agency

Full service means that all online marketing measures are offered so that customers can draw from the full portfolio of channels and strategies.

However, this doesn't mean that only generalists work in these agencies. As explained above, it is hardly possible to be an expert on all subjects and to follow the changes in the market environment.

Thus, generally in full service agencies, specialists of various online marketing disciplines work together to ensure the agency's comprehensive service.

In order for this collaboration to run effectively, it is important that all employees have at least basic knowledge in all disciplines, in addition to expert knowledge in certain areas.

In practice, at internetwarriors, this means customers are assigned their own project leader who acts as a contact person. When a company takes up a wide range of services, experts from different disciplines work closely together to ensure all strategies are developed professionally and executed competently.

Therefore, for companies planning many different online marketing measures, a full-service agency is a good choice as the efficient internal communication conserves both resources and budget and ensures that all synergy effects from the different channels are optimally utilized.

If you need online marketing solutions, contact us!

Our experts will develop an individual strategy for you and implement all

measures competently and flexibly. Get in touch with us!