If you’re an inbound marketing agency owner, then you have a lot to be thankful for during this holiday season. While I know it might seem like your hair is on fire most days and clients have become more and more demanding there has never been a time when so many tools and resources are available to delight every client.
The challenge for most of us has become how do we leverage the tools and resources efficiently and at the right time to enable our agencies and our teams to deliver on our service promise—we’ll get you leads.
Here’s what I think we all have to be thankful for in 2015.
The Timing
So many elements are coming together at the perfect time. Buyer behavior has changed and people are not interested in being interrupted by ads and interruptive marketing anymore. Technology like ad blocker software, DVR, spam filters and caller ID are making it easier and easier for people to avoid bad marketing. Consumers today, in all industries, don’t want to be sold, we want to be educated.
In addition, clients are asking for more from their agencies. It’s no longer ok to deliver a website and consider your job done. Press releases, new logos, emails and brochures are not enough to satisfy a smarter more demanding client. Today they want results. They want leads, new clients, increased revenue and they want to move their metrics today.
The Tactics
For the first time in the history of marketing we have all the tools and tactics required to create a repeatable and scalable Marketing Machine for our clients. We know how to get them found, we know how to engage prospects on the web, we know how to plan for different devices, we know how to convert them from a visitor and into a lead and we know how to nurture them along their buyer journey educating them until they’re ready to say yes.
We have all the tactics, we know how to put them together, we know how to track them and optimize them over time. While creative is definitely a major part of this exercise, it’s become much more mechanical and thus much more repeatable. The trick is in the optimization and the utilization of data to make decisions based on fact instead of opinion or assumption. Clients are asking for results and we’re in a position to deliver.
The Technology
Once you have your processes, systems and methodology down, then and only then should you be looking for technology to future streamline and deliver efficiencies. Applying software to bad processes and broken systems is a recipe for disaster.
The first tool to consider is software that automates the repetitive tasks associated with inbound marketing and inbound sales services. This application of technology works for you and it works for your clients, so regardless of who’s working the program the software should be applied in a similar way.
Not all automation software is created equally. If you’re practicing inbound and you’re all inbound, then you want the inbound principles represented in the software. If you simply want to automate more traditional marketing activities, then the type of automation software you apply might not matter as much.
There are other technologies to consider too. Software to help evaluate search engine optimization, A/B testing, social media performance, paid advertising and influencer marketing. One of the newest tools is Tap Influence, software that helps measure, automate and improve the efficiency of influencer outreach. Tools like this and others are popping up every week, so keep your eyes open but don’t be distracted by the latest shiny object until you’re ready to operationalize the software across your entire company.
The Community
Having worked in travel, software, information services and IT I’ve never had the pleasure of working in such a collaborative and supportive community. The agency community and specifically the inbound agency community is ripe with people who want to help. So you don’t have to figure it all out on your own.
Today there are a number of options to get help. Even if it’s a quick question or you need directional advice on whether to go left or right. Start collecting the contact info for people who are willing to help and reach out when you feel like you’re stuck.
It’s actually rare that all these elements are converging to present the perfect storm for agencies to emerge from the world of commoditized pricing, RFPs and confusion. Going forward we won’t have to sell “hope” as a strategy packaged in a wrapper of creative. Now we’ll talk to clients about their business results and we’ll have the tools, techniques and technology to deliver real revenue growth.
We have a lot to be thankful for and I wish you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving.
Start Today Tip – It’s only going to take one simple shift for you to get your agency on the journey we’re discussing above. You simply have to admit that clients aren’t looking for fancy creative, or single solutions anymore. Today they want results. The sooner you start moving your agency down this path the sooner you’ll be able to take advantage of everything we as inbound agency owners have to be thankful for. The speed at which our industry changes is going to increase, get ready to take advantage of those changes today.
Interested in making major progress toward inbound in 2016? I have a few slots available for new consulting clients, if you'd like to have me help you with your business in a one-to-one scenario, let's talk about your agency. Schedule your time by clicking on the buttom below.
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