Marketing agencies are great at what they do — strategy, branding, campaigns, creative. But when a client needs a custom website, a web app, or anything beyond a drag-and-drop builder, most agencies hit a wall. They either don't have developers in-house, or their team is already buried in other projects.
That's exactly where Sors comes in. We've been working with marketing agencies across Poland and Europe for years, and the pattern is almost always the same. Here's what a typical collaboration looks like — from the first message to the finished product.
The Brief: "We Have a Client Who Needs..."
It usually starts with a message on Slack, an email, or sometimes a quick call. An agency has a client — let's say a mid-size e-commerce brand — who needs a new website. The agency has already done the brand strategy, the visual identity, maybe even the wireframes and full designs in Figma. What they need is someone to build the thing.
The brief lands on our desk. Sometimes it's detailed and clean. Sometimes it's a Figma link and a sentence: "Can you build this by March?" Either way, we know what to do with it.
Within 24–48 hours, we come back with a scope document: what we'll build, what stack we'll use, a timeline, and a fixed price. No surprises. No "we'll figure it out as we go." Agencies need predictability because they've already made promises to their client — and we respect that.
The Stack: Choosing the Right Tool for the Job
We don't push a single stack on every project. The choice depends on what the client actually needs:
- WordPress — when the client's team needs to manage content themselves, when there's a blog, when SEO is critical, or when the budget is tight. We build custom themes, not template hacks.
- Next.js + headless CMS — when performance matters, when the site is more of an app than a brochure, or when the agency wants something modern that scales.
- Full-stack apps (NestJS + Next.js + PostgreSQL) — when the project is a web application, not just a website. Dashboards, booking systems, client portals — the complex stuff.
We explain the tradeoffs in plain language. The agency can then present options to their client with confidence, because they understand what they're selling.
The Build: Transparent, On Schedule, No Drama
Here's where most outsourcing relationships fall apart — and where we're different.
We don't disappear for three weeks and then show up with something the agency didn't ask for. Instead, we work in short cycles. Every week (sometimes more often), the agency gets a staging link where they can see progress in real time. They can click through it, show it to their client, and give feedback while we're still building — not after we've already moved on.
Communication happens wherever the agency is comfortable. Slack, Teams, email, a shared Notion board — we adapt to their workflow. We're in the CET timezone, so there's no 12-hour delay on responses. When something's unclear in the design, we ask the same day. When we spot a potential issue, we flag it before it becomes a problem.
The typical timeline for a marketing website is 3–6 weeks from approved designs to launch. For web applications, it's longer — usually 2–4 months depending on complexity. But the point is: we commit to a date, and we hit it.
The Handoff: Not Just "Here's Your Code"
When the build is done, we don't just push code and vanish. The handoff includes:
- A staging environment where the agency and their client can test everything before going live
- Content training — if there's a CMS, we walk the client's team through how to use it
- Documentation — especially for custom features or integrations
- Deployment to production — we handle the hosting setup, DNS, SSL, the whole thing
- 30 days of bug-fix support — because things always come up after launch
The agency presents the finished product to their client as their own delivery. We're either invisible (white-label) or introduced as the technology partner — whatever the agency prefers. Either way, the agency looks good because the work is solid.
The Outcome: What Agencies Actually Get
Let's talk results. Here's what a typical engagement delivers:
For the agency:
- A project delivered on time and on budget — no awkward conversations with their client
- A reliable dev partner they can bring into future projects without a new vetting process
- The ability to take on technical projects they'd otherwise have to turn down
- Higher margins — they charge their client a markup on our work, which is standard and expected
For the agency's client:
- A professionally built website or application that actually works
- Modern tech stack, fast loading times, mobile-first design
- A CMS they can actually use without calling a developer every time they need to change a headline
- Ongoing support if they need it
For us:
- A long-term relationship. Most agencies we work with come back within 2–3 months with the next project. Some keep us busy year-round.
Why It Keeps Working
The agencies that stick with us do so for three reasons:
1. We don't compete with them. We're not going to pitch their client behind their back. We're not building our own agency. We're a dev shop that loves building things — and we're happy to let the agency own the client relationship.
2. We communicate like humans. No corporate jargon, no hiding behind tickets. If there's a problem, we say so. If we need a decision, we ask clearly. If something will take longer than expected, we flag it early — not the day before the deadline.
3. The work speaks for itself. Fast sites, clean code, responsive design, things that just work. When the agency's client is happy, the agency is happy. And when the agency is happy, they send more work.
Want to Try It?
If you're a marketing agency and you've been burned by unreliable developers before — or you're just looking for a better partner for your technical projects — let's talk. No commitment. We'll start with one project, and you'll see how we work.
The best partnerships start with a single conversation.