How continuous improvement benefits our clients

In our previous post, we talked about what being the continuous improvement agency means and what Creode’s 5 principles are behind our approach. But in the interest of putting benefits before features, what does continuous improvement in marketing mean for you if you’re client-side in marketing? So, in the interests of keeping things nice and neat, here’s 5 benefits of working with a continuous improvement agency.

You have more clarity

Well, joking aside about the boring aspect of stability, it really should mean that clients do sleep better at night. Think about it: marketing departments agree on marketing plans for so many quarters ahead. Then the majority pray that their PPC campaign will do the trick, that their site will convert more browsers into buyers and that their creative campaign has got it right, first time. The continuous improvement approach looks at the touch points—and the mechanics behind them—and tests, tweaks and improves them. Then measures the impact of those changes. And then implements repeat improvements, so progress is incremental—but always geared towards success.

Your team sees success

A real benefit of the engagement element of our principles is that different members of your marketing team are not only engaged, but they see those incremental improvements influencing success in their particular area of responsibility. Think of it as working with an incremental gains agency rather than a digital or marketing agency. Those transparently clear incremental gains motivate them even more and we get into further dialogue about where else we can make improvements. Not only that, your wider team—including your senior team—see tangible progress. And of course, we like that, because that opens up yet more opportunities for our clients.

And talking of dialogue …

You have one point of contact for many areas

We’ve found accountability to be quite a big gap previously for clients. For instance, they may have used a creative marketing agency to create a campaign and a paid media agency to implement that campaign on websites and social media. That can create a gap of responsibility should the activity need to be progressed either to make improvements or rectify any issues. And for the client, that creates a problem. Because we take an integrated approach and look at where your touchpoints can be improved across your channels, you have one point of contact from which to agree the next steps.

Which means …

You have more control

Think about your day-to-day work. The calls you make. The conversations you have. And the mental gymnastics you perform when speaking to different partners. Now think if there were fewer calls to make, but you get more done. Not only that, but the people you were speaking to were coming to you with opportunities for improvement rather than you going out to a lot of people with fires to put out and issues to overcome. Now doesn’t that feel better. A little less chaotic. More controlled. And when you have more control, you can not only get more things done, but you can do those things better and focus more on making sure your team thrives, too. You can also place far more informed decisions into your marketing plan, all with good reasons behind your actions.

And that means …

A more sustainable way of working

Sustainability is a very important factor in everyone’s lives these days. But in the context of a client/ agency relationship, we feel it’s key to achieving more long-term success, both brand-wise and personally in our clients’ individual professional careers. Working out things together in partnership, analysing and acting upon what works—and what doesn’t, planning routes to success and seeing the incremental growth, then building on that, trumps this: building something with an agency, not taking note of what is and isn’t working, missing opportunities, perhaps getting increasingly frustrated and then, not only feeling like you may have to appoint another agency, but rebrief, re-educate and start again.

That is not opinion, but fact. It’s unsustainable and in the long term doesn’t benefit either the client or the agency. The client/agency relationship should be a little like a marriage; sounds like a cliche, but it has to be worked on. There may be things that don’t work and things that work amazingly well, but if the agency or client doesn’t take notice of either, or discuss them together, nothing will improve in future. Then there’s trust. Once you’ve been working together for a while, you get to know what the other party’s about. The client knows the agency will deliver on their promise and the agency becomes accustomed to what the client wants and needs.

Continuous improvement in marketing? To some marketers, this might not sound like the excitement they signed up for. But ask some of the clients who’ve been with us for 5 years or more and they’ll tell you:

When you have this much transparency, much more control, a completely invested team and an intelligent plan you’re carrying out, the excitement of riding here, there and everywhere on a bucking bronco is soon replaced by cruising along to your destination in comfort, accompanied by a team you know and trust to reach success.