Here are 10 reasons why a small digital agency may be a better fit for your company.
1. No Complacency
When you work for a big corporation, “you’re just another number”. When you work with a big agency, you risk the title of just another client.
A smaller digital agency is beyond passionate about performing well and doing a good job for its client. This means that the agency is constantly having to learn and evolve to stay ahead of trends and technology, which in turn places their client at the top of their industry too! As soon as the agency has been briefed and has everything they need from their client, the agency does what they do best. The best part? As a client, you can rest assured that you’ll get their best work, as the terms and deliverables are clearly laid out at the start of the relationship.
2. Transparency
At a boutique digital agency, you also get boutique customer service. No being put on hold, or waiting for your account manager to relay the (correct) message. You can reach them immediately and there is no game of broken telephone! As a client, you can easily find and read client reviews about a particular agency online, or even see if their style complements your product before choosing to go ahead with this relationship.
Communication lines should always be open. At Wolf and Halo, we firmly believe that everyone should know where they stand on the project, has the same goal, and knows what is being done to reach this goal.
3. Flexibility
A smaller agency’s sole goal is to satisfy its clients while providing their best work. Sometimes this means a change of creative direction, but not to worry… A small agency can steer with immediacy without crashing. Sometimes it means working till 1 am to meet a deadline. Flexibility.
4. Relevance
Forward-thinking companies want to be ahead of the trends. They want better than the latest. At a smaller agency, they’re always learning, thinking, and growing, staying abreast of trends, predictions, technology, and concepts. This allows a better result, which brings us to the next point of a small agency.
“I think we really like the ability for our smaller agencies to move quickly and move at the speed of the realities of the marketplace. And we really are attracted to that because we want to move at that same speed.”
– Andrea Brimmer, CMO at Ally Financial
5. No Red Tape
Ah, bureaucracy. Rigid and redundant “rules” that need to be followed. Also, known as the kryptonite of innovation by interfering with out-the-box thinking, ultimately, preventing things getting done.
Studies have shown that bureaucratic processes and out-of-control collaboration are the culprits to blame for the slow pace at many companies.
Luckily, you won’t find any of that at a small agency. Just innovation, quick thinking, and getting on with it!
6. Make It Happen
With a small team of creative thinkers, your boutique agency really just wants to give you the best results deliverable. No buzzwords or digital jargon to confuse you and impress you, and certainly no excuses. They know what you want and they’ll do their best to make it happen.
7. Affordability
When you hire a smaller agency, you’re adding a valuable member to the team, except you don’t have to pay for sick days, annual leave, or provident funds… You aren’t even responsible for the skyscraper office space overlooking the mountain, office supplies, and software programs!
It’s no secret that a large-scale agency comes with a cheque to match. This is because they know that big corporates can afford it and that if there is a client that wants to work for them, they’ll pay it, whatever it is. When you come across a smaller, boutique agency that can maintain or even improve quality at a lower, more humble, more realistic price…why wouldn’t you want to work with them?
“Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people.”
– Steve Jobs
8. For The Love Of…
Of course, the smaller agencies still need to make money, but the truth is, more often than not, they’re not consumed by numbers. The signs of a real creative thinking company, right.
It’s not just another job, not just another client, but instead, there is a genuine excitement for every project.
9. The Ringlemann Effect
This refers to the tendency for members of a group to become less productive as the size of the group or team increases, also known as “social loafing”, which can be (usually is) detrimental to a workplace. Defined by Simply Psychology.org as “the concept that people are prone to exert less effort when working collectively as part of a group compared to performing a task alone.”
Think back to uni, it makes sense. You know someone else will be there to pick up the slack because they still want a good group average. That’s one thing you’ll never have to worry about when hiring a smaller digital agency. We are our own harshest critics. Deadlines are our jobs and motivation, innovation and productivity are quite literally second nature to us!
10. Sunk Cost Fallacy
The sunk cost fallacy is a phenomenon experienced more often and in everyday life than you’d think. Especially in business. It happens when “we continue an action because of our past decisions (time, money, resources) rather than a rational choice of what will maximize our utility at this present time.”
Basically, just because you ate a cockroach on a stick in Thailand and made it look great (debatable) on Instagram, does not mean you’ll come back home and scour the land for cockroaches to snack on. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again…smaller agencies really have the client’s best interest at heart. If they don’t produce, it’s not going to be great for their business either. As opposed to a big agency, smaller ones can remain extremely open-minded and take a top-down approach. Maybe newsletters worked well in the past for a certain industry, but not so much for yours. After a careful analysis, it could be found that a social media takeover is better suited for your brand awareness. A smaller agency has the ability to adapt and overcome.
Get In Touch
When you hire an agency, you are not just hiring one person. You are hiring a team, which brings diversity and fresh perspectives. A diverse team, albeit for only one project, can help solve problems faster and offer strategic insight. Chat to us on Whatsapp or fill in the contact form. Provide as much detail as you can and we will get in touch with you to get the ball rolling!