Search agencies need to keep the personal touch

4 February 2010

The news last month that Latitude had gone into administration and was then miraculously saved by an MBO (nma.co.uk 12 January 2010) has shaken the search community.

This is exemplary of an industry that has attracted entrepreneurs and investors: people with five-year business plans to grow an agency, sell it off, then exit cash in hand. These are people versed in making money but not necessarily in running agencies, nor in client servicing. Nor, in some cases, are they people particularly interested in search.

The end result is that clients become dissatisfied quickly, tenures are short-term and commercial models have insufficient longevity during which agencies can develop long-term growth and profitability.

Sadly, there will be more search and digital agencies faltering in 2010. But there’s a collective lesson here: we must all take responsibility for ensuring that the search marketing service industry doesn’t become commoditised and that our services can continue to add value to brands and businesses. If we don’t, more clients will take search in-house. Or clients will be duped into thinking that so-called technology companies can reproduce our craft in a more automated and cheaper fashion.

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