An advertising agency’s goal is to ensure that its clients’ commercials ultimately result in higher earnings. Therefore, in order to accomplish this goal, an advertising firm must carry out a number of tasks. The range of services that can be provided to clients directly depends on the size of an advertising agency. Larger agencies typically offer a wider range of services than medium- and small-sized ones. Below is a list and explanation of the functions of advertising agencies.
Functions of Advertising Agencies
Take a look at the top 8 roles of advertising agencies.
1. Advertising Plan
Advertising agencies either create or assist in the creation of advertising plans and programs for their clients. An advertising plan requires coordinated efforts and research data to be prepared. The agency needs to be well informed about the products in order to carry out this duty. It may relate to the following:
- The advantages of the product
- Its track record
- Its place in the market
- The advantages, disadvantages, and weaknesses of its competition.
The advertising business should evaluate the firm’s distribution strategies and the market conditions at the moment.
A thorough understanding of markets and consumers is also crucial. It’s crucial and essential to know what people buy, why they buy it, where they buy it, how often they buy it, etc. It can be necessary for an advertising agency to do research to find this data. Another crucial step is to match the advertising team with the product positioning plan.
An advertising agency may provide a proper media mix to its client since it is aware of the characteristics of each advertising channel. For this, it is necessary to understand the target market, its media habits, and its exposure.
2. Creation and Implementation
This is one of the main functions of advertising agencies. The advertiser will receive a draught of an advertising plan from the advertising agency for approval. Once accepted, the agency is often tasked with carrying it out. The scene is set for generating an effective commercial to suit the advertising media when the agency enters into contracts with the appropriate media. The copy will be written, layouts will be created, graphics will be created or photographed, advertisements will be created, and marketing messages will be ready. The service space has been billed.
3. Co-ordination
Another crucial duty of an advertising agency is coordination. In order to secure the long-term success of the advertising strategy, it must maintain effective coordination between the customers, sales force, and distribution network. The purpose of the advertising campaign must be to support sales representatives, distributors, and retailers in their efforts to increase sales for the client. Numerous companies also offer specialized services in fields like market research, publicity, product literature production, etc.
4. Research
Research could help them give their clients better presentations. It might enable copywriters and artists to produce more effective commercials for their customers.
5. Mechanical Production
This department’s job is to combine the copy, illustrations, and layout into a successful printed advertisement. It goes without saying that this division works closely with the copy and art directors.
6. Traffic
In ad agencies, the terms scheduling and control are referred to as traffic. Each advertisement is given a work schedule and a routing sequence by this department, which is also in charge of monitoring it as it moves through the agency’s various stages.
A prepared advertisement is sent to the media outlets that will run it. Only once copy, illustrations, mechanical manufacturing, and customer approval are completed on time will it be possible. The task is given to the production manager or the account executive in advertising agencies without a separate traffic department.
7. Accounting
The accounting department of an agency’s typical tasks includes monitoring the appearance of advertisements in the media, comparing media invoices to release orders, paying media bills, billing clients and collecting payment from them, and managing record-keeping, bookkeeping, and other office duties.
8. Communications
The main goal of this department is to cultivate and preserve goodwill among all segments of the public. Publicity and corporate advertising are the methods utilized to communicate with the general audience. Building deeper relationships with clients and the various segments of the public, including customers, employees, middlemen, and shareholders, is the key responsibility of this department.
Final Thoughts on The Top 8 Functions of Advertising Agencies
Advertising companies assist businesses in creating marketing plans that fit their objectives and financial constraints. They plan and execute advertising campaigns on behalf of clients covering everything from ideation and storyboarding to design, film, photography, copywriting, marketing, legal, and distribution. The functions of advertising agencies include market research, client management, establishing public relations, and campaign planning and execution.
