The majority of marketing agencies plan, create and manage marketing for other businesses. That can include strategy, branding, design, websites, SEO, Google Ads, social media, email, photography and video. Operating under one roof, a full-service marketing agency manages the complete process, ensuring a single team drives your strategy straight through to the results.
That’s the short answer. But it doesn’t tell you much about what happens once you work with one. As Operations Manager at Chilli, I see how the work moves through our team every day, so here is what a marketing agency does from the inside.
What does a marketing agency do?
Most agencies do some mix of the following four things:
- Plan: work out who your customers are, what you want them to do and which channels will reach them.
- Create: the content and assets, such as websites, ads, social posts, graphics, blogs, emails, photos and video.
- Run: publish, schedule, manage and adjust that work across your channels.
- Measure: report on what is working and change what isn’t.
Some agencies specialise in one area, such as SEO or social media. Rather than juggling multiple specialised vendors, partnering with a full-service marketing agency like Chilli brings all four core functions under one roof – giving you a single, unified team that understands your entire business strategy without constant handoffs and re-briefs.
It starts with a conversation
Every new client starts with a Discovery Session, either in our office at Birtinya or over Zoom. Before we suggest anything, we want to understand your business, your customers, what has worked before and what hasn’t.
If you come into the office, there’ll be a car park sign with your name on it and someone will ask how you take your coffee. It’s a small thing, but it sets the tone for how we like to work: as part of your team, not a third-party you hear from once a month.
Then a plan
For ongoing clients, requiring more than a single service, your Marketing Strategist puts together a strategic marketing plan. That usually covers who your ideal customers are, how they move from first hearing about you to buying, and the key messages that will reach them. The plan decides what we do and in what order, so the work is tied to your goals rather than activity for its own sake.
Then a full-service team
Full service means every part of your marketing is handled by one team. You’ll have a Marketing Strategist as your main contact and a Marketing Coordinator who supports them.
Your strategist brings in the right people when you need them. You don’t need to brief five different suppliers or chase anyone between them.
What a typical month looks like
For retainer clients, a month at Chilli usually includes:
- Content planned ahead. Social posts, blogs and emails are written, designed and sent to you for approval before they go live.
- Channels managed. Posts are scheduled, ads are monitored and adjusted, and your website is maintained.
- A regular meeting. We meet monthly or every second month. You’ll get the agenda two to three days beforehand, with links to the reports and items we’ll discuss.
- Clear actions. Everything agreed in the meeting is written up as actions, sent to you and assigned to someone on our team to finish before the next meeting.
- An end-of-month report. Your SEO and digital results are reviewed by your strategist before the report reaches you, so it comes with an explanation and recommendations, not just numbers.
Do marketing agencies take photos and videos?
Some do and some don’t. Many agencies outsource it. At Chilli, photography and video are handled by Pepper Productions, our sister company, which works from the same office. That means the people planning your campaign and the people filming it are in the same room, and the footage is shot with your website, ads and social media already in mind.
What you still do
Working with an agency doesn’t mean handing everything over and walking away. The best results come when clients:
- share what is happening in the business, such as new services, staff, events and busy periods
- review and approve work on time, so it goes out when planned
- give honest feedback, good and bad
- tell us about leads and sales, so we can see what is working
You know your business and your customers better than anyone. Our job is to turn that into marketing that works.
What a marketing agency can’t do
It’s worth being upfront about this. No agency can promise a number one ranking on Google, guarantee a set number of leads, or make marketing work without input from you. Good marketing takes time, testing and adjustment. What a good agency can do is give you a clear plan, a capable team, honest reporting and steady improvement over time.
Questions to ask any marketing agency
| Question | Why it matters |
| Who will I deal with day to day? | You want one main contact who knows your business, not a different person each time. |
| Is the work done in-house or outsourced? | Outsourced work means more handovers and less control over quality and timing. |
| How often will we meet, and what happens between meetings? | Regular meetings with clear actions keep the work moving and stop things slipping. |
| How do you report results, and who explains them to me? | A report without an explanation is just numbers. You need to know what they mean and what happens next. |
| What do you need from me to make this work? | A good agency is upfront about your part. If the answer is “nothing”, be wary. |
See how it works for your business
Chilli has been a full-service marketing agency on the Sunshine Coast since 1993. If you’d like to see what working with us would look like for your business, the first step is a conversation
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a full-service marketing agency?
A full-service marketing agency handles all parts of your marketing under one roof, including strategy, branding, design, websites, SEO, paid ads, social media and content. It means one team looks after the whole picture instead of several separate suppliers.
Do marketing agencies take photos and videos?
Some do and many outsource it. At Chilli, photography and video are handled in-house by our sister company, Pepper Productions.
How often will I hear from my marketing agency?
It depends on the agency. At Chilli, retainer clients meet with their Marketing Strategist monthly or every second month, get the agenda beforehand, and receive an end-of-month report. Email and phone conversations always happen in between.
Is a marketing agency better than hiring in-house?
It depends on your business. An agency gives you a whole team of specialists, while an in-house hire gives you one person’s skills.
How do I choose a marketing agency?
Ask who you will deal with day to day, whether the work is done in-house, how often you will meet, how results are reported and what the agency needs from you. The answers will show you how the agency really works.
