The Agency Growth Blog - For Owners Who Want Growth

Now that you’ve settled into your comfort zone of 12 month retainers the world is going to change again. As we get better at generating leads, inbound marketing agency owners need to consider shifting their engagements to more “pay for performance.”

In 2016 clients are going to be asking more aggressively for pay per lead engagements. Meaning, you cover your costs and potentially make a small profit with a base retainer and then you get paid for every lead generated by your program.

This type of program configuration presents a whole host of challenges but as 2016 gets closer you and your agency are going to have to start getting comfortable with this approach. Clients are going to be asking for it, you’re going to have to deliver it and if you can’t or won’t—potential clients are going to look at that as an indication you’re not confident in your own lead gen abilities.

If you think you’re busy today get ready for an even busier 2016. More and more people are realizing inbound marketing is what they should be doing. Here’s a picture of inbound marketing’s popularity from Google which is a fairly solid predictor of interest. The tide is turning.

Your job as an inbound agency owner is to turn this interest into revenue. So in this article I’ll share with you the ten steps you need to be taking RIGHT NOW to get ready for the increase in interest from companies wanting help with their own inbound marketing programs.

Many of the experts have started to shift their thinking away from interruptive advertising as a way to get a prospect’s attention and towards creating a dynamic and remarkable experience for those prospects. In this Harvard Business Review article, the author talks about this being the new way to differentiate businesses.

So if that’s the case, how do we, as Inbound Agency owners, help our clients create this new marketing experience for their clients? The answer lies in the blending of inbound marketing and inbound sales services together to deliver a fully integrated Click To Close experience for our clients’ prospects.

You went to Inbound15 this year and you’ve returned to your office all full of vim and vigor. You’re finally ready to do it.

You’re ready to go ALL IN on inbound and transform your entire agency into something that one day can be a Diamond Partner for HubSpot.

You wake up Monday, look in the mirror and say to yourself, “now what?” “I don’t have the faintest idea how to start taking my company from (a ___________ agency--fill in the blank) to being a full inbound agency that’s ready to compete with New Breed, Impact, Kuno and Square 2 Marketing.”

Here’s some good news. You don’t have to compete with any of these companies. You just have to get out of your own way.

I’ve been in meetings where the team is looking at you like you’re crazy. No advertising, no direct mail, no trade shows, no banner ads—are you nuts Mike? I’ve had people say to me, “but some clients who really need advertising, we’ll still be able to do it for them right?”

No! We’re an inbound agency and we’re going to get good at using inbound tactics to get clients all the leads they need!

That has to be your answer. Once you get your own head around where the world is going and how your agency needs to position itself to take advantage of that shift in thinking, then you need to start (and start soon) to get everyone on the same page.

It’s really not surprising a lot of the inbound marketing agencies look alike. You’re all saying the same thing about what you do and how you do it. The result is that you’re prospects are confused and they don’t know what makes one agency better or even different than the next.

In addition, HubSpot provided the Attract, Convert, Close and Delight methodology around inbound marketing and I see that on about 50% of the inbound agency websites. As inbound agency owners, you have to be marketers first and inbound experts second.

Last week I spent a few days at Inbound15 with 14,000 inbound marketing pros and there were around 2,000 agencies represented at the event. Today there are more inbound marketing agencies than ever before. What does that mean to you? It means you have to innovate and differentiate your inbound agency if you want to stand out.

Yes you want to be different with your stories and messaging but another way to separate your agency from other agencies is to innovate your delivery model and innovate your service offering.

Vision. Mission and Values Helps You Match Strategy To Hiring

So you’ve decided you want to grow your inbound marketing agency and you’re ready to hire. But are you really ready to hire? Do you have a solid growth strategy in place? Can you articulate your mission, vision and core values for your agency? Do you want to be a ten person, 20 person or 100 person agency? Are you ALL IN on inbound or planning to simply add inbound services to your list of other services?

It’s going to be very challenging hiring if you don’t have these questions locked down in your mind and in the mind of your team members, partners and outside advisors.

Growing Your Inbound Marketing Agency

If you’re working hard growing your inbound marketing agency, then you’re probably looking for changes you can make today to impact that growth tomorrow. Good news, here are 11.5 ways to propel your agency up and to the right.

But there’s better news, you can attend a live, in-person session with me at Inbound 2015, where I’ll talk about each of these items, answer your questions and provide personal guidance to anyone with questions related to inbound agency growth. If you want to attend you can use code HSBLOG for 25% off the All-Access Pass.

Here we go.