Two of the biggest challenges for any agency, whether it be digital marketing or otherwise, would be communication and diversity. If you asked any marketer, the chances are that 90% of the responses would point straight to diversity and communication as an issue. Sometimes, with regards to communication, it can’t be helped and the working relationship will just never exist, but in other areas, it can often be because of the attitude towards various personalities. When it comes to diversity, however, it is increasingly important. In fact, as noted by Recruitee, jobseekers nowadays demand it, with 67% saying it can be when considering a prospective employer. Digital marketing agencies take note!
Being able to be flexible as a company when managing clients is a real unique selling point for agencies. Teams who are diverse are able to rely on various opinions and knowledge in all sectors, whether it be on the creative side or the administrative side. Diversity breeds opinions and different outlooks, which can lead to people changing the way you communicate as an agency. At other times it can often be that a change in direction is needed. Below, we discuss why having a diverse workforce can help clients and agencies work together.
Account Manager Relationships
Whether it be subconsciously or not, unfortunately in business clients will speak to agencies in an appalling manner. Whether it be in a harsh or aggressive manner, the relationship sometimes just does not work. That’s okay, but recent studies have highlighted that sometimes a switch-up in Account Manager can be the best route forwards.
Battling with the subconscious
Even though they won’t say it out loud, there are some clients who simply would prefer to work with a woman Account Manager rather than a man. As a digital marketing agency, Maximizon tested this theory out as they were thought to come across as a masculine brand, but wanted clients to realise that there was more to them than that. The agency has plenty of women working within the teams, and they are in high-ranking positions, but there was a lack of women in the Account Manager department. Therefore, the team decided to experiment. There was a particular who client who was demanding, abrupt and rude to their original Account Manager. The department decided to switch the roles around and surprisingly enough, the client became much more receptive to its approach. It is done in the same way as gender-based marketing. The results were always positive, which was never in doubt, but the reporting and responses to the reporting were the negatives.
Responses to different personalities
Many businesses in the past and present have opted to use pseudonyms to either make the company seem bigger or mask their employees’ real names for privacy reasons. When choosing this option, customers or clients tend to be far more receptive if they think they are talking to a woman, rather than a man. Again, the agency noted that this approach did appear to be more friendly, but that it seemed to be done subconsciously. The manner of the approach from the digital marketing agency did not change, but the responses from clients did. This was quite disturbing as it highlighted that the quality of work did not necessarily matter, nor the results, but merely who was sending the emails or on the receiving end of them. In fact, reflecting on this was really quite shocking.
The agency did not plan to find these results, but it helped them to prove a point to the client who was being troublesome that they were not looking at the data. In digital marketing, and in any industry, this should never be the case. Clients employ agencies for a reason, and it shouldn’t matter who is on the other end of the email or phone, if they are meeting targets and the data shows that, then that is all that matters.
Outreaching with different personas
Other companies have tried using these techniques when outreaching prospective clients or webmasters. It tends to be that you are much more likely to receive a response if you are a woman (or using a woman alias) and you work in marketing. This approach can actually set businesses back, without them realising it. It takes out that personal element and actually means that a company is lying from the outset, which can’t be good for either side as immediately removes the trust element. Furthermore, what if the client wants to speak on the phone? Then a different member of the marketing team whom they think they have been emailing will have to take the call and won’t be as caught up on the account. It is also not fair to the employee who is having to take control of the relationship and be accountable for this aspect.
Maximizon’s team is incredibly diverse, meaning they don’t have to use women aliases but can adapt their approaches to clients. Everybody in the team at the digital marketing agency based in Derby has the same level of ability but in their own specialist niche. There is no hierarchy, and this is why a diverse team can succeed. They are able to adapt their methods if there is a troublesome client and deal with them in a way that does not ruin the business relationship.
Work with a diverse digital marketing agency
If you are looking to work with a digital marketing agency then it is recommended that you work with a team that is diverse and can cater to all your needs. Don’t work with a company that is stuck in its ways and does not know anything about customer service. It’s much easier if you are able to work with clients and vice versa if there is a range of people they can talk to. That way the relationship can be repaired and the work will still be of top quality!
