An agency carries out the execution; a growth leader decides what gets done, in what order and why. Without an owner for strategy and priorities, an agency’s output may not turn into growth. This article covers the difference between creative execution and strategic leadership, the cost of role confusion, and how to proceed in the right order.
The first move of a company struggling to grow is usually to sign with a digital marketing agency. Social media designs get made, ad campaigns get launched, SEO work begins. And when the expected jump in revenue has not happened a few months later, the agency gets replaced. The problem is not the agency’s competence; it is that the company has misdiagnosed what it needs.
The difference between creative execution and strategic leadership
Agencies are an execution function. Tell them what to do and they will deliver it on schedule. What agencies do not solve is your business model, your sales process, your margin structure or the handover problems between your departments. Expecting an agency to build your growth strategy is like asking the builder to provide the architecture.
What the confusion of roles costs
Running an agency inside a company whose go-to-market strategy, positioning and sales-marketing alignment are not settled is like filling the tank of an inefficient engine. The agency brings the traffic and the forms that were asked for, and because the internal system cannot convert that input into commercial outcome, the money is wasted.
Getting the order right
What the company needs first is the strategic leadership that will build the growth architecture. Product-market fit, audience definition, message architecture and sales process have to be clarified. Once that playing field is built, the agency comes in as an execution partner that scales and accelerates the strategy.
An operation without a strategy only lets you spend the budget faster.
How this kind of strategic leadership differs from an agency, a consultant and a full-time CMO is set out in our piece on the fractional CMO model.