Key Success Factors for Web-Agencies

With the bursting of the bubble, the husks are now separated from the grain when it comes to Internet-Agencies. But even though the Internet-"hype" is luckily over by now, the medium is still developing at a breathtaking pace.

The long-term successful agencies will distinguish themselves by being able to recognize important trends with the new media in good time, act upon them, and adapt their offering accordingly - thus gaining a competitive edge towards other agencies.

Below, ten of these possible trends are briefly described; subject to change, without claming to be complete; However, collected in the strong belief that these statements will continue to separate the husks from the grain in the short and medium term:

1. Communication does not (only) mean "Internet", and Internet does not (only) mean "website"
Finally, agencies will come to understand that the Internet is not necessarily and automatically the right choice, even though the clients thinks so ("We would like to have a website!"). Because eventually a different medium is better suited to reach the pre-defined targets in the best possible way, and the Internet will only be considered as a supplement - or not at all.
Likewise, agencies will come to realize that the Internet is not only about a "website"; There are a lot of ways to communicate, like promotion sites, interstitials, e-mail marketing, viral marketing, banner, sponsorships, etc., to name but a few.
Agencies that are unwilling or unable to understand this most basic of rules will have little chance of surviving (or will have to make do with clients who can't separate the husks from the grain themselves).

2. Strategy/concept as the basis
Too many web-projects are still done in order "to do something", and not based on the foundation of a thought-through and sound strategy with a good concept. Successful agencies will not just produce the looks, but also the brains (in terms of strategy and concept) - the looks will "only" give the strategy an outer appearance (which still makes them to remain very important). The "big picture" (i.e., a truly holistic view) will become more than a mere buzzword. This includes assessing the fine line between a short-, medium- and long-term perspective (in other words: agencies will be less merely striving for a quick "cash-in" as opposed to a long-term client-agency-relation).

3. Databases: (almost) everything will be dynamic
In the near future, the IT-department will be massively gaining importance. This is mainly because of the rising need to build dynamic and personalized websites (requiring a lot of IT), tools for maintenance and control (e.g., shops, CMS, and especially more powerful tools for web-analysis!), as well as interactive applications [from currency converters to interactive calories calculator or whatever]).

4. Content will be gaining importance
Pure technology and graphics will be less and less the main focus of attention, but the content of a website will be central in the efforts to make the site successful. However, this will more often than not mean "less is more", i.e. it is not about just dumping the archives anymore, but to make sure that the user is able to quickly find the right information (including a better structure, navigation, and copy of the website). However, clients will less and less be prepared (or able) to provide the contents themselves - rather, they will expect that the agency's strategic concept also includes a plan for which content to be made available where and in which form - and where those contents come from. Good agencies will consequently even draft a content-plan (that includes updating and a time-line) and thus gain a competitive edge.

5. Flash & Co on the move forward
In the medium term, website will no longer be able to do with simple HTML. Demands increase while users expect dynamic and impressive websites - and increasing bandwidths will allow this development to happen in the near future, too (including i-TV). Key words here are flash, d-html, java, or database-driven sites.

6. Cross-media marketing & integrated media concepts
A website will no longer be able to live in isolation (by the way, it never has), but will have to be part of an integrated cross-media approach. Synergies between different media will be used, with the specific characteristics of each format being taken into account. Integrated thinking will not be an added bonus, but simple necessity.

7. Personalization will be key
Users will increasingly expect and demand to be treated as an individual - this time for real. If personalization is limited to a personal greeting on the homepage ("Welcome back, jsmith!"), it just won't be enough. In the medium term, this will in fact not be confined to personalized websites, however, but actually lead to truly personalized products (especially in the service industry). But don't panic: it will not be about real 1:1-communication, but about perceived 1:1-communication (i.e., dialogues to be perceived as truly personal, though they actually are not). New tools will be creating new possibilities here - and be changing current mindsets.

8. Departments better working together
In a lot of agencies, the different departments (strategy, IT, graphics, project-management, etc) are still too separated from each other, resulting in a real lack of interdisciplinary solutions. This will substantially change - specialists only dealing with their own topic will make way for experts with a more comprehensive understanding of all adjacent areas. Finally, this will get us a new quality in the solutions created.

9. Support and maintenance will be a long-term business
A lot of agencies (and some of their clients) are still living by the rules of the classic media (e.g., print or TV), where the project is finished when the campaign is put on air. With web-projects, however, the actual work only starts when the sites goes online; and most companies substantially underestimate the efforts required to keep the site up-to-date. Furthermore, project-managers are often not trained for these tasks, nor do they have the necessary technological infrastructure (e.g., Content Management Systems) at their disposal. As a consequence, a lot of companies are looking to "outsource" these maintenance-tasks. Smart agencies will take that into account and offer valuable services accordingly.

10. Internet gets mobile
Admittedly, this is not totally new, but "wireless" will soon actually become relevant (and available to a large user group). First attempts have already been made (e.g, location-based services by the telecom-companies), others are to follow. GPRS is a start, the success of Japanese NTT DoCoMo pioneering, and UMTS will give Europe a huge push (provided the telecom-companies don't have to file for bankruptcy first). The hunt for the "killer applications" has already begun. Visionary agencies are already starting to be prepared.

Because in the end, there can be no doubt that the Internet as a medium has just started to develop. These developments are not reversible, nor can they be stopped. You can either ignore them, or anticipate and act upon them. And the husks will continue to be separated from the grain.

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