Most small businesses close within the first two years.

Freelance marketers might dabble here and there, then say they have years of experience. But for a full-service marketing agency to last a decade, lots of things have to go right.

Bringing a complete marketing team under one roof creates the potential for world-class service no individual can achieve alone. It also means the stakes are higher. Investing in top training, tools, and technology involves shouldering real overhead.

To survive, let alone thrive, marketing agencies must deliver real value. Only proven results keep clients coming back and attract new ones. As New York Ave rounds the corner toward its tenth anniversary this June, we’re grateful for everyone who helped us reach this milestone.

It’s a time to reflect, to articulate the lessons learned along the way.

The biggest one? Things change.

The Rules Are Changing, and Your Marketing Agency Must Change with Them

It’s often said that people make a buying decision on emotion, then justify it with logic.

Some things never change: It’s as crucial as ever to connect with customers on an emotional level, and the drives that motivate them are familiar and human. But creating an authentic bond is more complex than ever. You need to frame and present your message just right for your audience.

For the rest of your company’s life, virtually every new customer you meet will hear about you online before they meet you in person. The way marketing is leveraged has changed, and it will continue to evolve – which is why it’s essential to hire a marketing agency that moves with it.

The single biggest shift in the last ten years is the turn toward inbound marketing.

No one wants to take time out of their day for an obnoxious, unwanted cold caller – that approach never worked for the majority of small, service-based businesses, anyway. Today, customers want control over the pace of their decision-making, and they’re willing to do research on their own.

No matter what industry you’re in, companies like yours need to preview the value you have to offer before you will ever make that first sale. A few years ago, this was the purpose of professional blog writing. As we enter 2023, there’s been a dramatic pivot toward video storytelling.

Unless a solar flare wipes out the internet, odds are customers won’t go back to being told what to do by pushy sales pros. But what they want and how they want it continues to change. What worked six months ago may fall flat tomorrow. Agencies that don’t keep up fall behind, and so do their clients.

To stay nimble in an ever-changing world, a marketing agency needs to focus on continuous improvement.

How Ten Years Taught New York Ave to See Over the Horizon

For a marketing agency and its customers to flourish, it’s not enough to throw things at the wall and see what sticks. We were among the first East Coast marketing agencies to embrace scientific marketing. In this case, scientific means using real data derived from how your prospects and leads actually behave.

Every time someone visits your website, follows your social media, or joins your email subscriber list, they provide you with a treasure trove of data. This information is how you consistently improve your services and customer experience to reach your growth goals.

One critical way a marketing agency helps is by separating signal from noise.

Data collection has gotten negative press, but it’s behind best-selling products and lasting brand loyalty. On a practical level, data sparks insight so you don’t waste your marketing spend on what’s not working. Every month is a chance to refine and seize better results.

That’s one of the core concepts that make marketing work, no matter how the details change.

And at New York Ave, we think it’s pretty exciting.

It’s impossible to know what the next big trend will be, but it’s always possible to identify it as it takes shape, then position yourself to make the most of it. Every change brings with it business opportunities.

You can’t direct the wind, but you can adjust your sails.

Choose a Marketing Agency You Can Trust to Stand With You for the Next Ten Years

Now, we’re inviting you to be part of the next leg of our journey.

Your goals for your business are your North Star. New York Ave is the agency you can trust to be your navigator – with proven strategies and sound advice to keep you on course. Contact us to begin.