In-house agencies are more valuable than ever. In fact, over the past five years, 20% more companies have established internal agencies. And, corporate studios are not only influencing marketing, but the full cycle from product design to customer experience, for a demonstrable impact on the business.
Beyond cost-cutting and efficiency, in-house agencies are primed to become the center point of the customer experience. CX matters and businesses are starting to understand how to leverage it to make a difference. So, how do you build your team to excel in what you do every day while proactively positioning yourself for the future?
Plan for scale. The focus on content has never been stronger and you need to produce yours in the most cost-efficient ways: balancing resources, budgets and priorities. Though the pressure is high to meet volume demands, keep in mind that formats have changed and are more varied than ever (documents, images, videos, audio files). You should also plan for omnichannel delivery, instituting new project processes that enable your team to scale with the business.
Create partnerships. Even if your in-house agency is growing, external agencies can still be significant contributors—especially for companies focused on building and nurturing their respective brands. You’ll need to coordinate everyone to effectively leverage specialized expertise and experience while maximizing ROI.
Align teams. The impact of your creative work lies in the data. In-house professionals, with their inherent knowledge of the business, are ideally suited to build connections between content and data, transforming flat assets into rich customer experiences. Connect to the relevant business process—from design through CX—and gain a competitive advantage.
Involve others. Internal clients typically review and approve the assets your team produces. Create a global content-review workflow so those who are involved have visibility to the business needs as well as the processes required to ensure accuracy and integrity of your content.
Protect intellect. Intellectual property (or IP) is the lifeblood of most any organization—and the in-house agency is where assorted IP comes together. Position your team as the hub for not only protecting the brand narrative and customer experience, but your corporate IP as well.
Mitigate risk. Posting the wrong image in the wrong place could cost your company millions in fines. Help your in-house agency develop an air-tight asset management system to diminish risk instead of reacting to it.
Many of today’s internal agencies extend far beyond delivering traditional creative services alone—with emerging functions like analytics, content marketing, digital production, and new-channel development. As organizations recognize the need to integrate in-house teams into the business, the question becomes, “how?” Our recent Nuxeo whitepaper, Six Opportunities for In-House Agencies to Excel, is a good place to start.
Julie Allouch is Director of Digital Experience at Nuxeo, an IHAF supplier member, focused on helping companies leverage their creative assets and gain operational efficiencies that reduce time-to-market and increase revenue.