The marketing agency capability review matrix

Review where your marketing agency is at and the next steps you should take with our new tool

A question I have been asked when I work with agencies to grow their digital marketing services is ‘how can we benchmark our approach to growing our digital services?’

To answer that I have used the excellent benchmark framework that that Smart Insights has used for other areas.

These one-page templates let you quickly review where you are on a five point scale (from laggard to market-leading). You can spot gaps in your approach to transformation and your capabilities.

The services transformation matrix

I divided this particular benchmark matrix into two areas:

Your ability to grow with existing clients or to attract new business to any and all digital marketing services.
Your ability to service that work effectively and profitability.

The specific digital services you might offer (from site design and build to SEO to social media community management etc.) will be determined by you, your business goals and the audits/research and planning you’ll carry out.

How to use the capability review matrix

The capability transformation matrix comes from the model developed by CMMI and has been used globally by businesses over the past 25 years.

The benchmarking matrix is based on looking at each area of agency services transformation and determining where you are on the journey.

Score your agency from Level 1 to Level 5 for each area. Each level builds on the previous one, so that you move from ‘newbie’ / laggard in the market, through to an award-winning, exemplary, market-leading agency. By knowing where you are now, you can focus your efforts to improve.
You can then create a plan for each area.

In terms of creating a plan of action for each area, below are links to specific guides that we have in the Agency Growth Toolkit that should help you plan and deliver your transformation.

Transformation area	Existing Agency toolkit resource
A. Planning digital marketing services	1. The capabilities benchmarking matrix accompanying this blog post. 2. You may also want to use the BCG matrix to triangulate your thinking if you already offer some digital services.
B. Value Proposition	1. Start with this post and accompanying video. 2. Then look at our guide to demonstrating your VP, online.
C. Existing client growth	1. Read this post first: 2. Then access the template within the Agency Growth Toolkit.
D. New Business Framework	1. Read this post first. 2. Then access the template within the Agency Growth Toolkit: 3. For specific insight into creating a great proposal see here
E. Pricing & Estimating	1. Read this post first. 2. Then access the template within the Agency Growth Toolkit. 3. See this post also.
F. Process & workflow	An overview of guides and resources linked to managing digital marketing services.
G. Teams / resources	An overview of resource and time management. Understand the potential roles you may need to offer digital marketing services.