Anyone who wants to succeed in a market is well advised to think about differentiation and to deliver quick-witted arguments in the form of special skills. This requires identifying the digital challenges of the future as soon as possible in order to be able to respond to the problems of potential customers with tangible products and services.

But not only companies have to rethink their business models, processes and structures in the course of the digital transformation, agencies need to reinvent themselves constantly as well to stay competitive. Important is to think disruptively and have technology skills.

The tasks of digital agencies are becoming particularly complex, granular and require specialist knowledge in various disciplines. A digital agency that provides marketing services to meet its clients’ needs, has to engage with a variety of tools and emerging trends, which may inevitably mean specializing in strategy and implementation.

Key challenges in the dynamic business world of digital agencies are above all:

1. Increasing competitive pressure: more and more media houses and traditional management consultancies are entering the market and competing with digital agencies for customers and skilled employees.

2. Consolidation of the scene: business consultancies are increasingly buying digital agencies to provide customers with a full-service experience. Consequently, there are fewer and fewer independent, owner-managed interactive agencies.

3. Skilled labor shortage: there is a shortage of skilled professionals such as UX designers, web / software developers and online marketing experts.

4. Interplay of data and creativity: data analysis and strategy know-how are an important addition to the creative power of an agency. Those who do not learn here will fall by the wayside and won’t find buyers for their human creativity.

5. Speed of Innovation: The "Speed of Innovation" is driving digital agencies to be inventive and to start experimenting with new technologies and digital products.

Overall, the challenges and problems of digital agencies are often similar to those of their own customers. That's why it makes perfect sense for digital agencies to try out and test the digitalization ideas, products and services that they have developed, before releasing them to the customer. This approach makes sense in particular when it comes to digital products, where there is generally a lack of willingness to innovate or create something truly ground-breaking, such as AI solutions, machine learning, and the potential for automation.

Specialist knowledge in the field of software and technology is therefore a must for the digital agency of the future, in addition to human-emotional component such as e.g. empathy and entrepreneurial thinking.

By Daniela La Marca