Agency owners spend years building a company that they can be proud of. They work hard on planning and growing their enterprise into one customers can count on. That often pays off in stellar reviews and repeat business. But there’s one problem: a clear view of what your agency is often only happens from the inside.
Your long-term clients understand your agency’s work because they’ve seen what goes on behind the scenes. They know decisions are made with care, the customer experience is taken seriously, and the rare mistake is handled professionally. They have an experienced viewpoint that gives them the whole picture.
That accounts for a small fraction of people who’ve interacted with your agency.
The rest – the hundreds or even thousands who might retain you in the future – have no idea.
When they encounter you for the first time (usually through your website), the average business owner can’t tell if your company is a leader in its field or another flash in the pan. It’s easier than ever to “have a website,” but harder to create one that builds trust so you can move to the next stage of the brand relationship.
Leaders try to address the perception gap, but they often don’t know where to start.
What they do know is this: their marketing doesn’t reflect the quality of their business.
Agency leaders aren’t immune to this. In fact, agencies may be even more vulnerable.
If You Think Your Marketing Isn’t Serving Your Agency, You’re Probably Right
Agency marketing strategy often focuses on giving prospective customers a taste of what they can expect once they choose your brand to meet their needs. Unfortunately, it’s often hard to know what will resonate with the audience you need. Even when you’re great at marketing clients, your own marketing can miss the mark.
When it comes to brand storytelling, Tampa businesses often start with a handful of tactics “everyone” uses. They make sure someone is in charge of blogging regularly, posting on social media, and maybe sending out occasional email blasts. They might know their goal is to be helpful and informative.
Try as they might, though, they find that what “everyone” does just falls flat:
- Blogs get posted, but few visitors read them all the way to the end.
- Social media pieces might get a “like” now and then, but no shares.
- Email blasts are on target sometimes, but they often go unopened.
That might lead to an obvious question: Why the heck does “everyone” do this if it doesn’t work?
As an agency leader, your experience teaches you the opposite lesson:
When everyone is doing something, it’s time to be a little bit suspicious.
Things “everyone” can do lose value.
They fade into the background.
And that’s the opposite of effective marketing.
At its best, marketing is inspired. It starts a conversation with prospective customers that they’re eager to stay in. Even if your agency has dozens of competitors in your local area, you can still publish content that will help you stand out. That all starts by questioning assumptions about what works and what doesn’t.
Notice These Issues With Your Marketing? It’s Time for a Change
Doing a little bit of everything that “should” work can leave you with a pile of marketing assets that don’t quite connect. It’s never too late to switch tracks – but the sooner you notice and correct your trajectory, the better.
Let’s look at some marketing red flags that can diminish your brand credibility:
1. Outdated Websites
Here’s an open secret from the digital marketing world:
A website can get updated all the time and still be “outdated.”
Yes, the most noticeable way a website can fail is being abandoned by its creators. When there are no recent updates, many visitors will move on. Even something as simple as a carousel of recent social posts can provide signs of life that may help newcomers stick around long enough to learn more.
But there are other, more insidious ways of being outdated.
For example, a website that prattles on about “Our Story,” “Our History,” “Our Values” without offering a reader anything that connects to them? That’s outdated thinking – from the days when a website was basically looked at as a digital product catalog. It simply doesn’t help modern clients feel like they know you.
And what about the technical aspect? It wasn’t that long ago when new security standards rendered websites without SSL encryption obsolete. Many small businesses were left scrambling when popular browsers wouldn’t allow users to connect anymore. Mobile compatibility is another issue websites can fall behind on.
When a website is behind the times, most people will assume that the business is as well.
Not only should your website receive regular updates, it’s best when it’s obvious at a glance that those updates are happening. Content should spend more time talking directly to the client than about the business itself, and someone should be in charge of making sure the website meets emerging technical requirements.
2. Inconsistent Photography
We get it. In the grand scheme of things, stock photography doesn’t seem like a big deal. There used to be lots of high-quality resources for stock photography. Where are they now? Most are still operating, packed to the gills with AI-generated images of mice with white-collar jobs and other shots straight from the uncanny valley.
Even worse, though, is what inconsistent photography can say about your brand:
- Team photos that aren’t your actual team members? You have something to hide.
- Customer photos that aren’t your actual customers? This can be an FTC complaint.
- Exterior shots of a facility that isn’t yours or isn’t real? You’re just trying to “look big.”
If someone spends a few minutes on your website and looks at a handful of pages, they can pick up on staged and artificial-looking photography. Unfairly or not, they may judge you for it. Far better to have authentic and consistent photography that paints a clear picture of who you are and what you have to offer.
3. Generic Social Content
Many Tampa brands are social media-savvy, at least as far as knowing that any content they make goes further if it’s distributed on social media. Unfortunately, it’s easy to flood others’ timelines with lackluster social posts that frustrate rather than illuminate. Generic photography often plays into that, too.
Your social feed isn’t just posts; it’s a test run for your clients’ success.
Text-only social media posts have trouble gaining traction, and those with boring illustrations only do slightly better. In a world where most platforms move faster than ever, corporate video production is often the best way to get attention and keep it – especially from first-time visitors who don’t know you.
4. Low-Quality Marketing Video
In a head-to-head content competition, video wins.
But that doesn’t mean just any video will do.
Back when smartphone data was limited, simplicity made sense for video. As speed and bandwidth went up, tastes changed. Now, the average visitor isn’t charmed by grainy “behind-the-scenes” footage. When people tune into a branded video, they expect a polished and professional presentation.
Fifteen years back, video was “easy,” while good written content was a mark of credibility. Now, it’s the reverse. A brand can churn out AI-generated articles in one click, but recording a video that truly moves the needle takes effort. Most Tampa agencies find they don’t have the video marketing expertise they need in-house.
Rather than start from scratch, many top Florida agencies are turning to corporate video production partners.
That’s how to make video for marketing agencies excellent, accessible, and consistent.
Strategic Media Is the Best Way to Faithfully Represent the Business You’ve Built
Strategic media is what your future customers are looking for – and it’s the best way to show off your brand.
Video for marketing agencies isn’t about portraying your company as bigger than it is. It’s about helping your marketing reflect the quality, care, and professionalism you’ve put into your brand. Using professional video production, Tampa agencies can lean into their own expertise and still deliver top-class video marketing.
No matter what stage of growth you’re in, your marketing should be an accurate reflection of your brand – not its weak link. Today, that means video marketing you don’t have to compromise on. Want to find out more? Contact Paper Jacket to get started.