Types of Advertising Agencies and the Best of Each

Key Takeaways
This article will help you better understand the different types of agencies out there and what to look for in terms of effectiveness.
  • Drive Sales with Targeted Marketing: Implement a well-crafted marketing strategy to fuel your sales growth, whether in-house or through an ad agency.
  • Tap into Specialized Expertise: Engage an ad agency to leverage their skills in creating impactful campaigns that elevate your brand.
  • Select the Right Agency for Your Goals: Identify and choose the ad agency type—traditional, creative, digital, or full-stack—that best aligns with your business objectives.
  • Prioritize Conversion Rates: Actively measure and optimize your campaigns based on conversion rates to maximize the return on your marketing investment.
  • TABLE OF CONTENTS
    Types of Advertising Agencies And The Best of Each
    Increasing your numbers means exerting effort so that your market and customer base expands

    You could have the secret to eternal youth in your product line. But if no one knows it exists, well, you know what they say about bears and farts in the woods.

    Ultimately, the success of a business relies on sales growth and trajectory. But to get that sweet, sweet sales growth, you need an effective marketing strategy. The marketing team must develop engaging content and ads for retaining and gaining new customers.

    Sounds good. What could possibly go wrong? A lot.

    You could have an excellent marketing team with talented people on the roll call. But not all company marketing departments successfully build their own organization’s branding.

    That’s why they outsource to advertising agencies to create effective, branded ad campaigns to augment their in-house marketing efforts.

    Why use an ad agency?

    The beauty of advertising agencies is that they specialize in creating a unique campaign for every client. This tickles the target audience’s interest and makes the brand’s goods and services memorable.

    When companies need specialized expertise, an advertising agency can assist them in sustainably growing their business without spending too much on financial resources and time.

    So, if you want to know how an ad agency can benefit your business, you’ve clicked on the right page.

    In this piece, you’ll learn what an advertising agency is and the different types of advertising agencies so you’ll know who to contact for your business needs.

    What is an Advertising and Marketing Agency?

    Types of Advertising Agencies And The Best of Each
    Agencies work together to assist client in attracting consumers for their businesses.

    Advertising agencies provide businesses and organizations with creative professionals who have the knowledge and industry expertise to plan and execute marketing and advertising efforts and initiatives.

    The experts at these organizations choose the best form of advertising for their clients. They ensure that their ad campaigns are integrated into the lives of not only their existing clients but also their potential customers.

    What Roles and Services Does an Advertising Agency Generally Offer?

    At the heart of an advertising agencies service is brand building. Advertising professionals assist in all advertising phases for their clients, from planning each ad campaign to assessing whether the campaign successfully reached the target audience.

    Here are some examples of the most common types of services an advertising company offers:

    • Ad Campaigns

    An advertising agency produces campaigns to meet specific client business or awareness goals. Ad campaigns are linked ads focused on conveying a single brand message.

    Usually, ad campaigns are implemented to support a broader marketing strategy designed to generate sales, leads, and conversions.

    • Social Media Management

    Over the past few years, social media use has increased. As a result, marketing departments have started to go where the target audience is, through social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, etc.

    Also referred to as online marketing, social media management includes pay-per-click (PPC) ads, targeted content, search engine optimization (SEO), and more.

    • Content Creation

    Content creation intends to hook the target audience’s interest and win their trust, then convert them to paying customers.

    Since popup ads are as annoying as a stubbed toe, advertising agencies have started to woo their target audiences with targeted content in blogs, social media posts, and others, often through SEO. Ya know, stuff that doesn’t pop up unannounced and uninvited.

    Types of Advertising Agencies And The Best of Each

    Created content must be engaging for the reader.

    • Graphic Design

    Ads are usually more appealing to the target market when they’re a visual representation of the product or service being advertised. This is why advertising services include graphic design.

    These visual concepts inspire, inform, and captivate their target market, from the company logo to publication designs and websites.

    • Strategic Planning

    No plan? Then plan to fail. A marketing agency builds a creative strategy and plan, and sets objectives, all for the goal of executing the campaign successfully.

    Need Help With Your Agency Growth?

    Well, We Help With Just That!

    Let’s talk about how ScaleTime helps different types of agencies!

    Difference Between Traditional and Digital Marketing Agencies

    Over the years, marketing has evolved from Ancient Roman graffiti on the walls of Pompeii, to newspaper print ads, to TV commercials, all the way to social media ads and SEO. The appearance of new ad channels raised the question of what to call these new forms and the agencies that produce them.

    Traditional ads

    An advertising agency that produces newspaper ads and other print advertisements is what we call a traditional advertising agency. So, whenever you’re in the armpit of Satan subway, and see an ad for a new movie, remember that a traditional advertising agency created it.

    Digital ads

    Meanwhile, a digital advertising agency focuses on creating ads using digital channels such as TV, radio, and the Internet. They’re in charge of creating engaging digital or online content that can convert viewers to customers.

    So, whenever you encounter an ad before your TikTok video starts, remember that a digital marketing agency made it happen.

    In short, the main difference between a traditional marketing agency and a digital advertising agency is the channel or medium used to send the marketing message.

    Traditional advertising agencies use traditional media, such as newspapers and magazines, whereas a digital advertising agency utilizes digital media, such as websites and social media.

    In the next sections, you’ll find some more examples so you can choose the best service possible for your brand.

    Different Types of Advertising Agencies

       1. Traditional Marketing Agencies

    This type of marketing generally uses traditional media to reach local, regional, or national audiences.

    Despite the growing digital world, traditional media is still prominent in delivering information to the target market, especially to a local audience that’s targeted to a specific geographic area.

    If you’re looking for advertising business agencies focusing on traditional advertising, many ranking websites have named Ogilvy the best advertising agency in the industry.

    The agency offers service across the following areas of business:

    1. Brand strategy
    2. Advertising
    3. Customer engagement and commerce
    4. Public relations and influence
    5. Digital transformation
    6. Partnerships

    What sets Ogilvy apart is its streamlined internal processes combined with siloed functions in separate offices. This structure of operations creates a seamless experience throughout all aspects of an ad project.

    But, due to its reputation, Ogilvy’s clients are mostly large corporations, which means that it’s not very accessible to small businesses unless you’re willing to part with a kidney.

       2. Creative Agencies

    A creative ad agency fuses traditional advertising strategies with the latest technologies and trends to create campaigns using the most effective channels for their clients.

    Types of Advertising Agencies And The Best of Each
    Creative agencies include a range of experts and professionals, from content creators to web developers.

    A creative team will include graphic designers, web developers, advertisers, and a content team. They might also offer technology to help you market your goods and services more effectively.

    Some creative agencies specialize in a specific type of marketing. For example, they may offer services like:

    • Online marketing
    • Video production
    • Social media management

    Our pick for the best creative ad agency is Studio B Films in Berkeley, California. Their innovative team can produce high-quality video for the web, television, and even live event coverage.

    Despite its big reputation, Studio B Films takes on clients from small and mid-sized companies. They have hourly rates between $50 to $100 and work on projects starting at $10,000.

       3. Digital Marketing Agency

    Digital ad agencies create and launch marketing campaigns through social media, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, and SEO.

    To understand digital marketing agencies, you must first learn how they launch their ad campaigns.

    Drum roll, please.

    • Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

    SEM uses paid advertisements to appear on search engine results pages (SERPs). Digital advertising agencies bid on the keywords users might enter when searching for a certain product or service. This allows them to place their ads alongside the results of the search queries.

    • Social media (SM)

    Social media marketing helps you engage with your existing customers and to reach new ones. This technique uses social media to build your company’s brand and drive website traffic to increase sales.

    • Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising

    In this marketing strategy, a digital ad agency pays a publisher every time their ad link is clicked. This strategy is usually seen on search engines like Google and Bing and social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

    • Dev Shop

    Also known as a web development shop, a dev shop provides services related to building new web applications or improving existing applications.

       4. Full-Stack Agencies

    Full-stack agencies (also known as full-service agencies) can work in a wide range of marketing disciplines.

    They don’t specialize in just one marketing area. Instead, they have practical knowledge in all areas of your company’s online presence. A full-service agency can operate comprehensive campaigns from the initial phase down to the finish line.

    Our best agency for full-service advertising is Ignite Social Media. Though it has social media in its name, this advertising agency has the capability and knowledge to create strategies and ad initiatives for a full spectrum of industries.

    Types of Advertising Agencies And The Best of Each
    Full-stack agencies may be considered as the jack of all trades

    Some of their offered services include the following:

    • Social strategy development
    • Content creation
    • Influencer management
    • Community management
    • Reporting and analytics
    • Media buying
    • Crisis management
    • Promotion

    Ignite’s prices can go as low as $5,000, making it affordable and accessible to smaller brands.

    Agencies Focus on Conversion

    Conversion is the completion of a desired action that the target audience takes.

    For example, a conversion occurs when a Facebook user clicks on your ad or views a video ad, then takes action considered valuable to you, such as purchasing your product, signing up for your subscription, contacting sales, etc.

    Advertising agencies keep track of conversions, as conversions determine where a purchase came from. It helps you and the advertising team better understand and optimize the campaign’s performance.

    Recap and Next Steps

    Effective marketing strategies and campaigns increase your sales and enable you to achieve your goals. While it’s possible to do this in-house, sometimes, you’ll get more bang for your buck if you hire an ad agency.

    Let’s recap:

    • Advertising and marketing agencies assist businesses in creating marketing and advertising efforts through careful planning and execution.
    • There are many types of advertising agencies that respond to a specific marketing strategy and channel.
    • Traditional advertising agencies execute advertising initiatives through traditional media channels such as newspapers and television.
    • Creative agencies fuse traditional advertising methods with new technology to create campaigns using the most effective channels.
    • Digital ad agencies create ad campaigns specifically designed for digital platforms such as social media.
    • Conversion rates determine if an ad campaign is successful.

    Your goals, audience, and brand is going to determine which type of marketing and advertising you need to move the needle forward for your business.

    Once you’ve got a good idea of what your business goals are, then you can determine with a substantial degree of accuracy if you should go in-house or ad agency to reach those goals.

    Then, contact us and upscale your potential for success!

    Business operations consultant Juliana Marulanda
    Juliana Marulanda - ScaleTime Founder
    Juliana Marulanda is a business operations expert, speaker, and the founder of ScaleTime. With over 20 years of experience across Wall Street, the non-profit sector, technology startups, and family-owned businesses, she now helps service-based businesses.
    About ScaleTime