Creative operations. Isn’t that a bit of an oxymoron? 

But how to run a successful, growing creative agency is a real passion for our team at Canto. That’s why our new podcast series, From Chaos to Control, offers essential tips to help creative and marketing agencies thrive. 

We caught up with Tanya Bogin, a global agency MD who has a specialty in growing agencies through finely-tuned processes, operations, and technology.

So, what are the biggest mistakes made by creative agencies, and how can they overcome these to achieve successful long-term growth?

Prioritising growth, not profit

One key misjudgement by creative agencies is defining success in the wrong way. What does your agency prioritise: is it revenue or profitability, pure growth or balance? 

“Often there’s a bit of a conflict between the drive for volume and prestige in an agency, that can sometimes be at odds with being more profitable,” explains Roxanne Lewington, Growth Marketing Manager at Canto, the leading digital asset management (DAM) platform.

It’s a view shared by Bogin, who argues that growing agencies who don’t focus on profitability are heading for a sharp wake-up call.

“I always lean on profitability as the marker of success, because it means you’re operationally sound and have potential for growth,” says Bogin. “Always keep an eye on your cost base. If your costs are creeping up in line with your revenue, you need to start digging into the root cause. It could be that you’re growing so fast you suddenly have an overreliance on freelance staff to scale-up, or it could be that the technology isn’t fit-for-purpose or is too complex or isn’t being properly utilised.”

Neglecting internal operations

In agencies, the client is king. So it’s understandable that all your team’s efforts are focused outwards at delivering on the client’s needs. But neglect your agency’s internal structure and culture at your peril, advises Bogin.

“The success of internal operations is number one,” says Bogin. “Think about the connectivity between employees, between various offices, and also with partners and clients. 

“As you scale and grow, things like training, learning and development, and onboarding become all the more important. And underpinning all of that is the connectivity of software that brings your teams together, both from a management and utilization perspective, and storage and data tracking,” she adds. “There’s a lot of technology behind that.”

Failing to set up systems

Speaking of connectivity and tech, another major agency mistake is choosing the wrong software – or not having any at all. 

Reflecting on an illustrious agency career, previously as Global MD of Craft Worldwide, Bogin explains: “As you grow, you see the manual way of doing things is no longer serving you; your costs go up and you become slower. But bringing in a new system is a challenge of its own. I’ve seen pitfalls where other agencies implement a solution, but only for a subset of the population, and then they don’t document the implementation of it, so people get lost.” 

How can creative agencies avoid this expensive and time-consuming mistake? The key is choosing systems that are fit-for-purpose for your agency, based on your size, the functionality you need, and then investing resources in operationalizing it and doing proper training.

When choosing software, Bogin urges agencies to focus on the dual approach of project management systems, which are “how we connect with each other and brief-in work”, and digital asset management systems that provide a “single point of truth” for all your content. 

“The connectivity between our project management system and digital asset management systems is absolutely essential,” says Bogin. “The ability to brief-in work and pick which assets we need to work on: it ties us on the same system, so there’s a single point of truth.” 

The #1 biggest blunder

But what is the single biggest mistake agencies make? Over to Tanya Bogin: “The biggest mistake agencies make is deciding to grow your own system.

“I’ve seen this across many localisation agencies, they invest so much resources in developing their own system of record, whether it’s management or storing digital assets. Don’t do it unless you’re the best in the industry. Partner with the best in the industry, and make it their job to bring the developments and the investments back over to you,” says Bogin.

Canto’s Roxanne Lewington agrees: “You’re experts in what you do. Find somebody else who’s putting all their energy into being the best at what they do, and bring in their expertise.”

Ultimately, mistakes are part and parcel of running any business. But learning from others’ errors can help you improve operations in your creative agency, and build a platform for growth. Partner with the right software provider, and introduce the right tech for your needs, with the best connectivity, making sure you follow through on implementation. 

Soon, ‘creative operations’ will become the favourite phrase in your vocabulary.

Canto is an industry-leading digital asset management (DAM) solution, pioneering the way with innovative technology to help companies work smarter, smoother, and faster. For more tips, watch Canto’s From Chaos to Control podcast series.