Marketing Relationship Survey: The Agency-Client Relationship in 2020

Setup exists to empower and connect marketers which enables us to have a unique perspective on the agency-client relationship. As “marketing matchmakers,” we conduct an annual marketing relationship survey where we ask marketing leaders about both the brand and agency experience to help us understand their interactions and thought processes. 

In late-2019, we targeted senior-level marketers via email, LinkedIn, and social media channels and heard back from more than 230 marketing leaders (62% on the client-side and 38% on the agency-side). 

Company responses included feedback from marketing leaders at Kimberly-Clark, Panasonic, Loews Hotel, The Coca-Cola Company, PODS, PwC, The Home Depot, Red Bull, Inspire Brands (Arby’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, Sonic, and Jimmy John’s), Georgia-Pacific, The Hershey Company, InterContinental Hotels Group, Conair, and Church’s Chicken. The majority of client respondents were marketing leaders (76% Director-level or above) with big brands (54% with over 1,000 employees).

Here are some of the findings about the agency selection process, agency relationships, and marketing spending from the CLIENT PERSPECTIVE:

Agency Selection Process:

• 90% of the respondents said that the agency selection process is complex

• 86% of the respondents considered more than one agency during their selection process

• 71% of respondents agree that it was time-consuming

• 69% of respondents suggested a group of specialist marketing agencies makes more sense than one generalist agency

Top factors in the agency selection process (in order):

1. Agency understanding of client’s business

2. Creativity

3. Specialized capabilities

4. Chemistry

Bottom factors in the agency selection process (in order):

1. Agency awards

2. Agency size

3. Agency marketing

4. Proximity/location

Agency Relationships:

• 1 in 3 respondents said they planned to review their agency partners in the next three months

• 1 in 5 respondents said they feel stuck with an agency partner

• 3 in 4 respondents said they would work with their primary agency partner again if they moved companies, but only 28% called themselves “loyal” to their primary agency partner

• While it is not an official NPS (Net Promoter Score), the clients gave their primary agency an average of 7.27 on the question: How likely are you to recommend your primary agency to a friend or colleague? This is on the border of the Passive/Detractor line - meaning the client is not an advocate of their agency partner. 

Marketing Spending:

Top areas of spending for 2020

(in order - most to least):

1. Video

2. Content

3. Website

4. Branding/Creative

5. SEO

6. Digital Media

7. Mobile

Bottom areas of spending for 2020

(in order - least to most):

1. Traditional Media

2. Multicultural

3. Production (TV, radio, print, etc.)

4. Emerging Tech

5. PR

6. Market Research

7. Experiential

The agency respondents were mostly senior leaders as well (44%) and business development executives (31%) from smaller agencies (91% under 100 employees). 42% were with Full Service (traditional and digital capabilities), 33% were Digitally focused, and 24% consider themselves Specialist Agencies. Of the groups who identified as agencies, 53% of the companies service 10-25 clients, 22% service 26-100, 18% service 1-10, and 7% service over 100 clients.

Here are some of the insights regarding challenges from the AGENCY PERSPECTIVE:

Biggest challenges for agencies (in order):

1. Talent acquisition

2. Scaling for projects

3. Adopting new technology

4. Project scoping

5. Client retention

6. Consistency of work output

Business development challenges for agencies (in order):

1. BD bandwidth

2. Outbound BD efforts

3. BD process

4. Growing existing accounts

5. Marketing the agency

Other insights:

• 27% of agency revenue comes from the largest client

• 33% of leads for agencies come from outbound business development efforts

JUXTAPOSITION between the perspective of Clients and Agencies:

• 75% of agencies think that the number one reason that partnerships with clients end are due to budget cuts, but only 24% of clients say that budget cuts were the reason agency relationships ended.

• 10% of agencies think that challenging the client is important while 62% of clients say they want to be challenged.

The annual Marketing Relationship Survey highlights how brands and agencies can communicate more efficiently. Setup  is honored to live in the in-between to help marketers better understand one another.

Read the entire report for 2019-20 here and then check out how the Marketing Relationship Survey from 2018 compares and how marketing leaders’ prorities shift!