When people think of the acronym SaaS, they tend to think first of the words “Software as a Service”. Increasingly, though, marketing agencies are using the term to represent “Strategy as a Service”.
Rather than focusing on the separate components of a company’s marketing in disjointed isolation (delegating website design to one agency, for instance, and SEO to another), a full agency service places all your needs ‘under one roof’.
The bedrock of any reputable full-service marketing agency is its ability to define and execute a well-rounded marketing strategy. A key part of this is developing a clear value proposition that communicates the unique benefits and differentiators of their service, helping clients understand why they should choose one agency over another. Having a clear direction in your service strategy is crucial for aligning services with business objectives and ensuring efficient resource allocation. Luckily for you, that’s exactly what we’ll be talking about today – the (many) benefits of Strategy as a Service.
1. Strategy as a Service Appeals to Both the Agency and the Client
The Agency
One of the most obvious benefits of providing Strategy as a Service is meeting everyone’s needs. On the agency’s part, it offers precisely that – agency! Working from the strategy upwards enables agencies control on both macro and micro levels of marketing – rather than working with what’s already there.
Every variable, asset and factor can be determined in a way that’s been deemed best by the agency, allowing them to create customized strategies tailored to each client’s needs. Building an effective team is essential for executing service strategies and ensuring successful outcomes. Agencies also use key performance indicators to measure the effectiveness of their strategies and ensure continuous improvement. Collaboration among teams is crucial in developing, managing, and monitoring various aspects of the service strategy. In other words, it offers agencies the greatest autonomy over marketing projects, both in the shorter and longer terms. In turn, this enables greater alignment with the client’s company and its progress as a whole.
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The Boat Analogy
A good way of thinking of it is as a boat on the ocean; the agency that doesn’t offer Strategy as a Service is left to come in and, more often than not, try and patch up holes on a leaky vessel. It can do the job (to an extent) but it’s a reactionary approach lacking any kind of real thrust forwards. You’re trying to focus on simply getting the boat back afloat rather than steaming off towards the newer, better climes that you want it to. Does it leave you able to survive and keep going? Yes. But thrive? Not necessarily.
However, the agency that provides Strategy as a Service typically gets onboard (no pun intended) with the client much earlier. In fact, it gets to draft the ship’s entire blueprint and design it the way it wants to, for both optimal efficiency and results. This is achieved through a structured approach, ensuring that every aspect of the strategy aligns with business objectives and customer needs. The process of developing and implementing this strategy involves a series of interconnected steps, from initial collaboration and mapping to iterative refinement, which lays the groundwork for long-term success. It might take a little more time to get going, initially, but once that groundwork has been laid, then you can go full steam ahead.
The Client
From the client’s perspective, an agency offering Strategy as a Service is appealing because it saves time, effort, and money. Utilizing an agency that specializes in online marketing strategy research makes it far easier for the client to check on progress and be part of the strategy-making itself. The alternative? Checking in on the progress of many separate agencies, being frustrated by how they never quite seem to get on the same page.
The former doesn’t just lend itself to revamped marketing results – after all, nobody knows the client’s business better than they do – but it also often leads to far longer-lasting business relationships. Understanding and meeting customer expectations is crucial for building trust and loyalty. Implementing personalized strategies and CRM systems can significantly enhance customer loyalty by fostering long-term engagement and encouraging ongoing advocacy. Enhancing the customer experience through tailored strategies further strengthens these relationships. Suppose the client feels their input is genuinely valuable and that their ideas help shape strategy. In that case, they’re far likelier to sustain that relationship than they would otherwise, especially when agencies analyze customer needs to deliver effective solutions.
Cost
Cost-wise, Strategy as a Service offers the most fiscal efficiency; using individual agencies for each separate marketing component might each individually be cheaper than using a full-service agency. Collectively, however, they’ll almost always be more expensive than the full offering.
With limited resources, agencies must prioritize initiatives and ensure optimal allocation to maximize impact. Effectively managing resources is crucial to maximize results and improve overall efficiency. Tracking labor costs and project expenses helps agencies maintain control over budgets and staffing efficiency.
Strategy as a Service streamlines this further as a clearly defined approach ensures the leanest spend whilst guaranteeing better results. A well-executed strategy helps achieve business objectives by aligning efforts with overarching goals. Effective project scheduling and resource management can help maximize profit margins by reducing costs and improving efficiency. That’s because everything can be more meticulously planned, optimizing overall efficiency, and you’ll get better conversion rates than you would by simply rushing into your marketing, with long-term benefits achieved through strategic planning.
2. Strategy-Led Thinking Garners Greater Long-Term Results
The nature of the digital landscape is far removed from what it once was. Rather than focusing on individual projects or one-off campaigns, businesses today put a more nuanced focus on continuity and brand evolution; in other words, on so-called “bigger picture” thinking. Continuous improvement is essential for achieving long-term success, and adopting a strategic approach can help create a sustainable competitive advantage.
Nowadays, it’s simply not enough for an agency to develop a pithy one-line product slogan or a nice, glossy online PDF brochure. Instead, companies want to see how agencies can drive their profits and brand forwards, not just over days or weeks but also over months or years. That’s not to say that individual projects and more granular work doesn’t still have their place – far from it.
Strategies must be aligned with business objectives and business goals to ensure that every initiative supports the organization’s overall direction and long-term growth. A well-defined service strategy benefits the organization by improving alignment with business goals and optimizing resource allocation. Organizations can leverage structured planning and KPIs to enhance service quality and gain a competitive advantage through more effective implementation of service strategies.
With Strategy as a Service, they fall under the scope of a broader, more holistic strategy; approaching them with this bird’s-eye method facilitates greater interconnectedness between different campaigns and greater forward brand momentum overall, emphasizing the value of a strategic approach and seeing the big picture in service strategy.
3. Strategy as a Service is Like Formulating the Perfect Recipe
If you’re a budding cook or baker, then you’ll know the importance of the following; using the right quantities of ingredients, adding them in the correct order and the duration for which to cook/bake. And indeed, successful marketing requires much the same approach; resource allocation is essential, for instance – how much of your budget you put towards SEO compared to PPC, for example, or weighing up whether email marketing would be more beneficial than influencer marketing. Identifying the key components of a successful marketing strategy—such as customer actions, contact points, and support processes—is crucial.
At the foundation of effective marketing lies a well-defined service strategy that aligns all efforts with organizational goals. Traditionally, marketing efforts were focused on the product, but the evolving approach now emphasizes a strategic, service-oriented mindset that is central to digital marketing offerings.
Optimizing service delivery is also vital to ensure that your marketing activities achieve the best possible results and enhance customer satisfaction.
A strategic plan provides direction and structure for your marketing efforts, ensuring that every action supports your overall objectives. At every stage, it’s important to develop detailed plans that address each aspect of your strategy for maximum effectiveness.
‘A’ Comes Before ‘B’, Which Comes Before ‘C’
Then there comes the order to apply your marketing processes and services. For instance, it’s all very well shouting from the rooftops through the form of advertising (whether organic or paid) and clamoring that people should visit your website, but if the website isn’t up to scratch when they land on it, then it counts for very little.
A crucial part of this process is mapping out the customer journey, which involves identifying key touchpoints where customers interact with your service.
This is the epitome of inefficiency and wasted effort; a poorly structured website, or one that’s aesthetically unappealing, is going to have people bouncing off it almost straight away. In this way, then, you can see the importance of going about your marketing in the right way. Understanding the entire customer journey allows you to address pain points and improve marketing effectiveness. Conducting customer interviews is also a valuable method for gathering feedback and identifying areas for improvement in the customer experience.
Someone very wise once said that “it’s about working smart not harder”. That’s certainly very true when it comes to marketing. If you have strong foundations; a solid, well-optimized and appealing website, or are looking to launch a successful website, you can branch out from there. If you’re looking to improve your website quickly, read our previous blog featuring tips to improve your website’s user experience!
Knowing When to Start a Campaign (and When to Stop it)
The best marketing campaigns (and everything contained within) know which times to run. However, what’s arguably more important is that they know when they’ve overstayed their welcome. A business should always be looking to innovate and strive for the next proactive step they can be taken; this includes developing new strategies based on customer insights gathered from focus groups and customer surveys. Generally speaking, you’ll start to see diminishing returns on a marketing campaign after about three months.
Strategy-led work is beneficial as you can plan several campaigns at once. This means that you’ve got something to move onto straight away without having to rely on a no-longer-performing campaign. Collecting customer feedback is essential to refine campaigns and ensure they meet evolving customer needs. This looks better from an external perspective, too. If a brand has significant marketing ‘downtime’ between their major campaigns, then any momentum generated by previous campaigns can quickly fizzle out, reducing the opportunity to attract new customers through continuous innovation.
Planning Makes Perfect
You’ve no doubt heard of the saying “practice makes perfect”? Well, in the case of marketing, we might more accurately say that “planning makes perfect”. Starting with strategy creation enables you to go about your marketing in a considered, methodical and logical manner. Everything is done in the appropriate amounts, at the right time and for the most beneficial duration. A well-thought-out strategy also features contingency and puts you in a position to adapt should you so need to. Effective problem solving is crucial for overcoming obstacles and uncertainties, while regularly identifying areas for improvement within your strategy ensures ongoing success. It is important to identify areas of your service or performance that require attention, as this ongoing evaluation helps you pinpoint specific aspects that can be enhanced for better results.
Additionally, the ability to manage the implementation process effectively is essential for achieving your marketing goals.
4. There is No One, Single Online Marketing Strategy Template
Whilst there are similarities and shared traits between many marketing strategies, there’s no getting away from the fact that each marketing strategy is unique to the business in question. Analyzing the specific industry and market is crucial to tailor strategies that address the unique needs of each business. Businesses often face significant challenges in strategic planning and adapting to new market environments, which must be considered when developing effective strategies. A cookie-cutter approach, therefore, will only ever get you so far. It is essential to understand the target audience and their pain points to ensure the strategy resonates and delivers value.
Whether it be the services offered, the scale at which it provides, or any other number of factors, businesses aren’t homogenous, nor should they be treated as such. For example, legal services require a highly customized strategy to meet specific client needs and ensure alignment with organizational goals. Mapping customer interactions across various touchpoints is key to understanding how value is created throughout the customer journey. That’s why Strategy as a Service is undoubtedly such a good idea for most businesses, particularly for small businesses. These companies display more variety than most, so curating optimal online strategies for small businesses is even more important.
Strategy as a Service is ideal because it works around the principle of creating a bespoke plan designed to work seamlessly around a company and its business model, rather than trying to make a square peg fit in a round hole, so to speak. Collaboration between different departments is often necessary to develop effective strategies that address all aspects of the business. In fact, the more online marketing strategy research you carry out, the more you’ll be amazed at how comparatively few agencies offer this service, and how detailed plans are essential to guide the implementation of customized strategies.
Beware the Allure of ‘Quick Results’ Rather Than Strategy-Driven Processes…
Seeing agencies offer ‘instantaneous results’ is almost always a big red flag. It indicates that they’re not taking the time to learn a client’s company or put together something especially for them. They’ll more likely be offering a generic marketing template that superficially offers attractive results, but that doesn’t necessarily translate to conversions or ROI. It is critical to conduct a thorough analysis and apply a strategic thought process when developing effective strategies, rather than relying on superficial metrics.
A good example of this would be with PPC (pay-per-click advertising) – an agency might well get you lots of clicks, with eye-wateringly appealing figures, but look beyond that, and you’ll see that very often that doesn’t equate to conversions, simply traffic. It becomes a question of quantity over quality. Incorporating competitor analysis at this stage can provide valuable insights that inform your overall business strategy and help tailor your approach to the market.
In most cases, the whole point of advertising is to lead to conversions. So, if you’re not getting those, then it doesn’t matter how many ‘clicks’ you’re getting. Effective marketing should integrate business strategy and sales objectives to ensure that efforts are aligned with long-term growth and value creation. Remember that, in the field of marketing, if it sounds too good to be true, then it virtually always is!
Final Thoughts
A good marketing strategy is the foundation of any business success in today’s saturated business world. Fortunately, we’re here to help out with exactly that! So, if you’ve been searching for online marketing strategies for small businesses or startups, then look no further! Contact us today by emailing hello@passionates.com or calling us on UK +44 2080 896881, US +1 646 693 2287. Alternatively, you can fill out one of our super straightforward contact forms! If you’re interested in becoming part of our brand through our affiliate program, find out more and join us today.
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