A new survey of creative and marketing professionals outlined their specific challenges and opportunities. Some 57% say their creative team functions as an in-house agency and is regularly involved in strategy.

That’s according to Lytho’s 2022 Q2 Creative Management Report, which examines how in-house agencies have grown and evolved over the last 12 months.

The report found some telling stats.

For example, 38% expect the number of people on their in-house agency to grow over the next 12 months. Also, 64% say internal clients struggle to completely understand the value proposition of in-house agencies. The findings suggest teams must establish better alignment with clients regarding when, why and how they should work with the in-house agency.

In addition, 46% label stakeholder adherence to creative processes as a “work in progress.” Brand management is a strategic capability to ensure better marketing. If goals are positioned correctly, it means less effort to produce the same volume and quality of work.

Erica Fresh, creative operations director at ZAGG, one of the survey respondents, said her agency was moving from traditional marketing and shifting focus to digital channels and content creation. It also went from shooting long-form to short-form content, “focusing on specializing in those short special moments with consumers,” she said.

ZAGG also became less siloed, involving the creative team in every step of the strategic process, which improved communication and output.

As always, creative continue to face ongoing pressures from clients, noting that tight deadlines (48%), unclear project requests (40%) and unexpected changes to a nearly finished project (38%) impact their work.

But many have found ways to improve the process, including improving kick-off meetings and setting up project templates. In the coming year, they plan to improve creative briefs and operational reporting, as well as defining roles and responsibilities.

Respondents expect their teams to expand traditional capabilities, such as creative strategy (31%), marketing and communications strategy (19%) and brand management (16%). In addition, they plan to increase digital capabilities, including digital design (15%), social media design (12%) and web design (8%).

However, as business growth, flexibility in revamping old models is crucial. Karrie Sanderson, Chief Marketing Officer at Typeform, an SaaS company, said having both an in-house team and an external production team can prove beneficial — if it’s a trusted partnership.

Lytho provides creative workflow and digital asset management software used by brand and creative teams to build a creation ops platform.

Findings reveal stakeholders struggle to understand the value proposition and the need to better align goals is crucial.