For a business to be successful, leaders must keep a close eye on the health of the business and proactively work towards continuous growth. Too often, business leaders are satisfied with where they are now. This state of mind leaves no room for expansion, which can be detrimental to a business, especially if the competition is working hard to overtake you.
Digital marketing agencies in particular are increasingly in demand, especially as we enter the post-pandemic era. But many agencies target the same group of potential clients and offer the same types of services, each attracting only a small portion of the market—thus not promoting real growth.
Here are four reasons why your agency might not be growing as fast as you’d like.
1. You just lack the skills
This one might be hard to swallow, but a big reason why your digital marketing agency isn’t growing could be due to a lack of expertise. It is common for digital marketing agencies to hire inexperienced employees or use lower quality resources or tools. While this may be due to an effort to reduce costs, it is usually simply a lack of thorough research.
As a result, it leads to poor leadership decisions, such as setting short budgets, unachievable goals, and unrealistic timelines and expectations. Any savvy customer will see this lack of skill and choose not to convert themselves as a regular. Hinge Marketing recently discovered that high-growth marketing services consulting firms are more likely than other companies to have superior skills in five specific areas: data analytics, SEO, social media, project management, and research.
That’s why it’s so important to make sure your agency offers the types of expertise that are most in demand. Your goal here is to educate yourself on the best marketing tools and resources, as well as test different combinations of tools to find the right mix for your digital marketing needs.
Also look for high-level talent. This is particularly difficult in the midst of a highly competitive industry. But positioning your company as transparently as possible, emphasizing your positive work environment and showing relevant benefits increases the chance that higher quality candidates will come to you.
This takes extra time, patience and yes, money. But it will all be worth it once you become more knowledgeable about your deliverables and services, making it easier to scale your agency.
2. You are happy with smaller customers
All too often, digital marketing agencies stick to their list of smaller clients and give up all efforts to further expand their clientele.
While this may be the easiest and most comfortable option, it is risky for an agency in today’s ever-growing market. Sure, smaller customers are more manageable, but it limits your company’s growth to that regular group of customers.
Instead, you should always be looking for bigger clients. Note that we didn’t say more customers. It’s a common misconception that adding more customers will bring more revenue. But in reality, more low-paid, low-value clients will just cause your agency to work overtime and not generate enough revenue.
Pia Silva, founder of No BS Agency, says it best. “You don’t need MORE customers. Instead, you need BETTER customers,” she writes. “Clients who hire you because you are an expert, NOT a service provider. Customers who pay you more because of that expertise. Customers who listen to you.”
3. You fail to deliver the expected results
The best digital marketing agencies know how to provide specialized types of services. As a leader, your job is to ensure that your customer’s needs and expectations are met as seamlessly and efficiently as possible.
Sometimes all it takes to fill these gaps is a smart partnership strategy, says Danit Ianovici of vcita quickly. “Your customers are important to you, and by making them feel like you are their go-to guru for all things business, you can build and foster lasting relationships that will lead to higher bottom line” she writes. “A successful partnership will help unlock new revenue potential, expand your business offerings, and increase customer engagement in ways you might not be able to achieve on your own.”
Unfortunately, not all digital marketing agencies can say that they have achieved this. Without a great network of partners and dedicated staff with capable leadership, your agency will not deliver the expected results. Ultimately, the value of your agency will decrease and the business will not grow. When your business isn’t performing, it’s time to look inward.
The solution comes in the form of optimizing your workflow processes and thinking outside the box about how you are going to deliver solutions. Don’t be afraid to reach out to your employees and ask them where they think the company could improve. Identifying ways to streamline all processes will inevitably help you meet your customer’s expectations more easily.
4. You are skimping on the budget
When discussing scaling a digital marketing agency, cost is usually the first topic that comes to mind. Unfortunately, digital marketing agency leaders underestimate the required budgets when it comes to investing in the right tools and capabilities.
Companies often find creative ways to lower their overall costs, while still expecting to deliver big results that promise to deliver high-quality digital marketing. However, this just won’t work. If you are going to invest in the cheapest products and strategies, you can expect to attract only the cheapest customers.
While there’s nothing wrong with finding cost-effective solutions, you can’t expect to skimp on your budget and still maximize business value. And if you don’t do this wisely, you’re likely to fall behind. A recent Digiday survey found that over the course of 2021, some 64% of independent agencies have expanded the list of services they offer to clients.
Focus your energies on determining where and when you spend your money. Start by understanding your costs and revenue and clarifying your business goals. Then you can better align your budget with your goals and ultimate growth vision. Over time, you will learn how to adjust your budget accordingly.
Rounding things up
Are you having trouble scaling your digital marketing agency successfully?
You may want to consider analyzing these issues and determining whether your business falls into one (or more) of these categories. Then you can determine the best solution for your desk.
Image: Depositphotos
This post 4 reasons why previous attempts to scale your digital agency failed was original published at “https://smallbiztrends.com/2022/04/digital-marketing-agency-growth.html”
