Digital marketing is a field that continues to evolve at a rapid rate. New tools, platforms, and trends are emerging almost daily. That’s why it’s so important for marketing agencies to continually reassess their business practices and discover new ways of expanding their services. Here are some helpful suggestions on how to grow your digital marketing agency — no matter where you are with your business right now. If you’re reading this article, we’ll assume that growth is something you want for your marketing agency.
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Measure Everything
Marketers are notorious for their qualitative approach to business, but you cannot effectively grow an organization without some serious quantification. Many successful marketing businesses employ some form of tracking or analytics software to help them measure the return on investment for each marketing campaign. You need to do this no matter what services you offer. From white label Google ads to link building. If you don’t use any type of analytics software, at least start tracking your marketing activities by hand. You can use a simple spreadsheet to track your time, client hours, and the number of leads generated per month. This will help you understand where your strengths lie and where you could use some extra assistance. Try to find out what sort of marketing campaigns your clients are most responsive to. If you’re working on several projects at the same time, you may want to prioritize the campaigns that generate the most leads or are on a shorter deadline. You may also want to consider saving the campaigns that are less likely to convert for when you are fully staffed or have a backlog of projects.
Hiring Is Key
It may be tempting to try to grow your business by taking on every project that comes your way, but this is one of the worst things you can do. You will only end up with a slew of underperforming clients and frustrated employees. Instead, you need to focus on hiring the right people at the right time. If you aren’t able to find the right people for your company right now, then it’s time to stop taking on new projects and hire the right people for your team. If you want to increase your chances of finding the right candidates, you need to position yourself as an attractive employer
Develop a Solid Agency Culture
One of the best ways to grow your marketing agency is to hire people who share your unique vision and values. But before you even start looking for those candidates, you should consider what your digital marketing agency’s culture will be like. What do you want your company culture to be like? If you are an established company, you may already have a company culture. However, it is important to review it and make sure it is still relevant and functional. If you are still in startup mode, you can use this as an opportunity to set yourself apart from other agencies in your area. Your company culture will have a huge impact on your ability to hire the best talent. In fact, data from the Harvard Business Review indicates that companies with strong cultures enjoy less turnover, higher client satisfaction, and greater retention. This is where many of your future clients will come from, so you should never underestimate the importance of company culture.
Promote Continuous Learning
If you want to grow your digital marketing agency, you need to put a significant emphasis on company culture. One of the most important aspects of a strong culture is finding ways to promote continuous learning. In order to stay competitive in this ever-changing field, your employees will need to be regularly updating their skills. There are a number of ways you can promote continuous learning among your employees. First and foremost, you should be actively facilitating company-wide learning sessions. You can host webinars, hold office hours, or organize offline seminars and workshops. You should also consider providing employees with the opportunity to pursue formal certification. This may include obtaining a digital marketing certification or enrolling in a degree program.
Learn to Code
If your business is primarily focused on the creation of content or managing social media, you may have gotten away with never picking up a line of code. However, as your company grows, you may find that it’s time to pick up the basics. New technologies and tools are emerging all the time, making it possible for marketing agencies to handle a wide range of project types. This can help your company to both diversify and scale up. You certainly don’t have to become a full-blown programmer, but you and your employees should know some basic code. You should be able to manage websites, edit content, and troubleshoot various issues. You can take online courses or even join a weekend-long bootcamp. There are plenty of options for marketing agencies looking to pick up some coding skills.
Grow Your Network
Marketing is a relationship-driven field, but many marketers fail to maintain a strong network of contacts. You should always be on the lookout for ways to grow your network, and you should regularly schedule time to maintain those relationships. You can do this through social media, email, in-person events, or even phone calls. Your network can provide you with valuable insights, new contacts, and even potential clients. A strong network of contacts can even help you find new employees. You may be able to refer potential hires to people you know, which can help you to save time and money on recruitment efforts. You can also use your network to find new clients. If you are struggling to find work, you can use social media and email to ask for referrals.
Digital marketing is a field that continues to evolve at a rapid rate. New tools, platforms, and trends are emerging almost daily. That’s why it’s so important for marketing agencies to continually reassess their business practices and discover new ways of expanding their services. If you want to grow your digital marketing agency, you must make an effort to implement these strategies.
