Progency stands for product-led agency, an innovative blend of the left brain and right brain skills aimed at optimizing business results for marketers. It is a new paradigm that brings together the elements of the traditional agency and SaaS framework to drive positive business outcomes. Here are four key points that will help you gain a deeper understanding of Progency.
Creativity meets technology
Progency combines content creation, creative skills, data analysis, and software expertise to produce a unique, all-in-one marketing technology platform. It aims to deliver the outcomes marketers want with a performance/success-based model.
Outcome-based payments
Progency helps the marketing teams outsource the outcomes they want, similar to how partnerships with adtech agencies function (like generating leads, accelerating app installs, and acquiring new customers). The payments are based on the efficacy of the business performance.
Full-service approach
Progency offers end-to-end support to businesses in terms of developing campaigns and strategies as well as coding and analytics. It aims to deliver an unmatched experience to customers by combining content and creative skill sets with number-crunching and software capabilities.
Tightly aligned with businesses
A Progency ensures that it is tightly aligned with the core KPIs of businesses, and as mentioned previously, they are paid on the basis of the performance of the business. It builds on the full-stack martech platform for Email 2.0 execution.
Progency collaborates with both in-house teams and external partners to enhance their capabilities, empowering businesses to achieve outstanding business results.
Why do businesses need Progency?
Gartner’s 2019 Executive Marketing Survey reveals that 59% of digital marketing leaders heavily lean on agencies for their digital marketing execution. However, partnering with them often comes with a fair share of obstacles.
Progency steps in not as a replacement for agencies but as a valuable addition; it enhances the agencies’ support for businesses.
Let’s explore the top two challenges faced by businesses when executing digital marketing strategies and how Progency addresses them effectively.
1. Difficulty in hiring qualified personnel
Finding a qualified individual who can independently conceptualize as well as execute a digital marketing strategy proficiently is challenging. Moreover, locating personnel well-versed in email marketing tools adds another predicament.
Secondly, in the domain of email marketing, frequent staff turnover is a persistent issue. Email marketing managers often experience career mobility within the organization, transitioning between various aspects of digital marketing.
This challenge is further compounded by the ongoing phenomenon known as the ‘great resignation,’ which has led to a continuous influx of individuals entering and departing from their roles.
Churn and the internal learning curve of the business also lead to delays in the execution of the program. Progency enables execution with high velocity, facilitates testing and learning, and optimizes tool utilization.
2. Lack of AI/ML utilization
In today’s scenario, customer data is a goldmine, and marketers understand the need to make the best use of it. However, they don’t utilize AI/ML to the fullest. The top four reasons, as stated in Gartner’s Survey are:
a. existing technology seems to be efficient for current needs
b. lack of human resources to utilize AI/ML
c. lack of technology to utilize AI/ML
d. lack of trust in AI/ML
A significant barrier to AI adoption is the lack of a trusted partner to guide marketers through the process. Many opt to outsource, a strategy that’s gaining traction across various marketing functions.
Email marketing, in particular, is experiencing a resurgence. Rising customer acquisition costs make it imperative to maximize the utilization of first-party data assets, with email being a pivotal channel for resource allocation.
Netcore’s Progency model is positioned to assist businesses in effectively adopting AI by offering expertise, trustworthiness, and support to bridge the gap between the potential of AI and its practical implementation.
Why are product companies a better fit to drive Progency?
Progency versus agency
For a Progency, being interwoven with the product provides several key advantages like high velocity, ability to execute, and leveraging AI, which becomes an important differentiator. On the other hand, agencies are tech-agnostic and may not have the same degree of integration or deep knowledge/ skill to use the platform, which is critical.
With agencies, businesses have to operate on a traditional engagement model, which involves pay on a project basis and high hourly rates. Whereas Progency shifts the focus from payment for the number of campaigns to the outcomes these campaigns generate. In short, the focus is on KPIs, not on billable hours.
Let’s now explore how businesses can benefit further by working with product-led agencies:
- Businesses have an understanding of their particular industry; product-led agencies have aggregate knowledge working in multiple industries. They bring immense knowledge to the ecosystem in terms of content as well as technology.
- For businesses that outsource, the number of overheads involved is very low, with the marketing team driving these initiatives. When they integrate tech, their dependency on their product and tech team increases. However, the Progency model gives end-to-end support with as minimal dependency as possible.
- Lastly, a partnership with a Progency gives space for businesses to try and exit on a project-to-project basis rather than investing time and energy to build-test-exit. Progency, as an extension of the team, possesses rich experience in conceptualizing, executing, and drawing upon knowledge from various brands and sectors. Hence, it can serve as a highly beneficial addition to the business – a valuable and dependable partner.
Now that you have a fair understanding of how Progency can help businesses grow, here are the top four critical use cases where Progency can make a high impact:
EMS
While conversion has been a focus for most businesses, conversation is as important to drive ongoing engagement in the inbox. This stands true, especially today when people prefer eCommerce experiences over retail stores.
EMS is a combination of micro-content and stories in the form of short, informative emails that fit on a single mobile screen. It creates a daily habit through content that customers can entirely consume in 15-30 seconds.
EMS helps in initiating conversations and maintaining consistency of communication with the target audience. It brings value through diverse, tailored content aligned with specific use cases and business objectives.
Customer retention is one of the most significant objectives achieved through EMS. When brands engage users conversationally and not solely in transactional or promotional ways, the likelihood of retaining them increases significantly.
EMS also offers the potential for reactivation by initiating user activity and re-engaging audiences who may be ignoring existing messages due to attention recession. For many marketers, a substantial portion of their audience sits in an inactive state, making EMS a powerful tool to activate them with fresh and valuable content.
Given the high costs of customer acquisition, EMS stands as an exciting strategy for user activation and retention.
Interactive email
AMP for email allows businesses to create interactive and dynamic email experiences that can engage recipients without them needing to leave their inboxes. You can fuel two-way conversations with a web/app-like experience using AMP emails. No click-throughs, no redirections, and higher conversions.
AMP opens up the avenue to a bunch of use cases that can drive business. It enables users to fill out forms, browse products, book appointments, make payments, and give feedback right within email.
Contextual selling
Progency contributes significantly to the success of contextual selling, aiding in the closure of sales cycles. This innovative method involves delivering customized content to precisely targeted audiences at the optimal moments, eliminating the need for extensive research into generic messaging. The company tailors unique narratives for individual users, encouraging immediate purchases.
For example, utilizing historical data, the company identifies users with an interest in beach holidays and proceeds to send them tailored checklists encompassing clothing, accessories, and personal care items. Prioritizing engagement over aggressive sales tactics reduces reliance on adtech budgets for repeat purchases.
Migration and tech support
Migrations and tech support are areas where Progency aids in new technology adoption. Many of us, as analysts, can attest that over the past few years, our focus has often been drawn away from adopting new technologies and implementing fresh programs due to various distractions. In these instances, external support becomes crucial, especially when those closely aligned with the product are best suited to handle these tasks.
Conclusion
The future appears bright for Progency as it continues to explore and address the dynamic landscape of digital marketing. By leveraging product knowledge and commitment to driving business results through performance-based models, Progency aims to provide innovative solutions to marketing challenges.
With more consumers shopping online, there is a growing need for targeting them with personalized, strategic campaigns. Progency is well-positioned to curate and execute such campaigns according to the business objectives and at scale.
The journey ahead promises fruitful discussions and exploration of concepts like Email 2.0. As Progency stakes its claim in this evolving ecosystem, it will focus on collaborating and innovating with brands to drive marketing excellence.
Watch our experts Nicholas Einstein and Smita Kaushik share their views and insights about the era of Progency here.
If you want to scale your AMP email campaigns, the Netcore product-led agency is the right fit for you. We are a combination of robust product and creative agencies that focus on developing, designing, and delivering custom AMP email use cases at scale.
Connect with us to understand how you can benefit from our expertise and experience – we send over 20 billion emails a month on behalf of 6500+ businesses across 40 countries.
