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Why We Market Ourselves

We’re frequently surprised by the number of marketing agencies that brag about how little they market themselves. If this lack of self-promotion is a badge of honor, it’s one we refuse to wear. Often, the argument is that great work and a solid reputation speak for themselves. If this was all it took, our clients wouldn’t need us. Every one of our clients does great work backed by a solid reputation, but they still understand that the value of a marketing dollar lies in sharing that work with an otherwise unaware audience.

So, why should we think we’re any different than our clients? The truth is, we’re not. Like our clients, we’re a brand, and we emphatically believe brands benefit from strategic marketing tactics. It’s why we’re in this line of business. And it’s why we’re not ashamed to enumerate the reasons we believe what’s good for the goose is essential for the gander.

1. We Believe in Putting Proof Where Our Mouth Is

As strategic marketing partners, we wouldn’t feel comfortable recommending anything we’re not willing to try ourselves. Through our own efforts, we’re able to understand modern marketing strategies and tactics inside and out before we steer our clients in any given direction. Now, naturally, marketing isn’t one size fits all. The strategies we use to reach our audience aren’t always going to be the perfect solution for our clients. But as trends emerge and tactics evolve, our own efforts give us the opportunity to build proof points around an approach before we integrate it into a marketing plan for our clients.

2. It’s an Opportunity to Understand Our Clients

Our own marketing efforts allow us to walk in our clients’ shoes, experiencing the thrill of the wins as well as the disappointing losses. It’s how they know we mean it when we say we understand what they’re going through as they push through the more challenging areas of modern marketing. Because we’ve been there. We’ve gone through phases when no one knows our name. We’ve lost leads midway through the funnel. We’ve employed tactics that just weren’t performing. And, we’ve figured out how to remedy each one of these problem areas to come out better marketers on the other side.

3. To Stretch Our Creative Muscles

This is where we get to brag a little. We’re good at what we do. Great, in fact. Just ask our clients. But the reality is we didn’t get this far by sitting back and letting the “work speak for itself.” Our marketing is where we get to take risks to learn and grow our expertise. In fact, some of our most collaborative, demanding projects were born of our desire to use our own agency work to come up with innovative ways to solve the problems nearly every brand will encounter.

4. Great Work Doesn’t Get Noticed Without a Push

As noted earlier, even after we do the best work in the world, we can’t expect anyone to take note if we don’t let them know about it. Sure, there are industry awards and chatter among fellow agencies, but it can be easy to lose sight of the big picture in all of the self-congratulations. We don’t want to undermine these awards. We love recognition as much as the next agency, and they are a great way to demonstrate value when meeting with potential clients. But, those clients don’t always have the time to sift through marketing news, so we have to toot our own horn from time rather than expecting our wins to stand completely on their own.

5. It Makes the Search Easier For Potential Clients

Our potential (and current) clients are busy. Just as they don’t have the capacity to sift through endless award lists, they don’t have time to hunt down the specific information they need in their search for the right agency. Our marketing efforts simplify this process by delivering the details about what we offer to our audience’s desks, inboxes, feeds, and search results. By making it easy for prospects to understand what they can expect from us, we’re also able to target the clients we’re best suited for. As much as we’d like to be, we’re not a fit for every brand. In this way, our marketing helps leads qualify us before walking through our door.

6. To Educate and Build Trust

Marketing isn’t about boastful claims or grandstanding. It’s about education. Educating potential clients about the benefits of your product, and, increasingly, educating an audience about your industry as a whole. This is just as true for our industry as it is for yours. Marketing is a constant evolution and brands want to be informed before they start employing new tactics. We believe it’s part of our job to provide the insights they’re looking for. This thought leadership marketing begins to establish trust before even the initial stages of a partnership. It also makes it easier to work as a team when clients are confident in their knowledge of the tactics we recommend.

7. Because Our Current Partnerships Need to Be Fostered

Just because we’ve won an account doesn’t mean our marketing comes to an end. Our client partnerships are incredibly important to us, and marketing consistently proves to be the best way to nurture these partnerships even when we’re not actively collaborating on a project. Educational blog posts, studio news, expanded capabilities materials, etc., are all essential components of how we provide continued value to our clients throughout every phase of the partnership.

8. It Works

If we didn’t believe in our product, clients would see right through us. How could we ask them to trust us to act as their marketing partner if we didn’t have any confidence in the ROI our services can deliver? We’ve relied on marketing for more than a decade to grow our agency from a two-person design shop to the robust, strategic marketing firm we are today. We did great work back then and we do great work today, but that growth would have been impossible if we hadn’t marketed ourselves.

For these reasons along with all the other benefits we’ve seen marketing deliver over the years, we proudly employ the same strategies we’ve used to help dozens of brands reach their business goals. And we’ll continue to take this tack in our effort to achieve further success as we move through future seasons of growth and development.

Eliza Green
Eliza Green
Passionate about all aspects of content, Eliza has spent much of her career building an understanding of the nuanced needs of various audiences across nearly every vertical imaginable. She leverages this understanding to bring compelling, engaging content to pages of both the digital and print persuasion.