Daily Frustrations Of A Digital Marketer
Many long days leave digital marketers thinking why is it what they do. Some days are rewarding while others leave you dumbfounded. Clients are constantly complaining they are not getting enough leads, there is no traffic to their websites, and they are not showing up for terms in organic search that they constantly search for. Nothing every runs smoothly regardless what people lead you to believe. Owners trying to steer companies down cliffs. Sales reps that care nothing about the fulfillment process or expectations, just have intentions on selling as much product as possible regardless if it is the right solution or not. There are pain points on every in house team and on the agency side as well. Having experienced the in house brand side, the agency side, and now the side of owning a digital marketing agency, I find each situation to be unique.
In House
Being in house is nice. Working on one client. Not having to jump around from client to client. Often times the issue is time and resources. Many people in executive leadership roles do not understand the process involved to plan and execute any type of digital marketing campaign. Often times the goals and time frames do not line up for all parties involved. Deadlines change, budgets never stay the same, and no one is ever on the same page. A good leader with the right skills always keeps a team together. Things take time to build and if given room to build, an in house team can really carry any campaign.
Digital Agency Side
The main issues with the agency side is a high turnover rate and harvesting the right talent. Agency roles can open up doors for working on interesting clients and working with some pretty smart people. But the chance of someone staying for any long period of time is slim which constantly uproots teams. Some agencies completely change by hiring and firing large amounts of employees. An example is as of September 2014 a global agency is filling 400+ positions, most of which in NYC. Departments are constantly on different pages, and a lot of the every man for themselves mentality exists.
Agency Ownership
As an agency owner every possible thing that can go wrong at one point or another does. Clients complaining, not enough clients, employee performance, remote team performance, meeting payroll, deadlines, and every possible other issue. I must say that there is nothing like working for yourself. You make your own hours, you have no one to report to, and success is determined by how much time your willing to put in. With all the behind the scenes head aches and challenges I wouldn’t change what I do or the fact that I can help businesses and companies meet their online marketing goals, constantly learn new things, and meet some pretty cool people along the way.
