How to Grow a Digital Marketing Agency Pubcon 2015

BUILDING AN SEO/SEM AGENCY TEAM

#Pubcon | @JLoomstein

James Loomstein CEO/Founder

Digital Space Consulting

@jloomstein #Pubcon 2


@jloomstein #Pubcon 5 Why it works Everyone has a role to play Everyone knows what to do

Everything builds on the previous thing

Its not direc9onless

It’s not….we (race cars, race boats, race horses)

Its not we do that……

The AdverEsing Model is Changing

The web is specific and specialized. Thirty years ago, brands had about five different things they could do for marke>ng (direct mail, print, radio, billboard, and TV). Today, over 1,000 different tac>cs exist with new opportuni>es on an almost daily basis.

The problem is that we (the agencies) are not looking at the right problem. It’s impossible for anyone (or any agency) to be a master in everything (crea>ve, development, analy>cs, mobile, content, social, video, email, etc.). The one-‐stop digital shop is a dying breed–the overhyped 500+ employee agency is falling apart.

The problem remains — tying ac8ons and ac8vi8es to results and ROI.

@jloomstein

But the bigger problem changing ecosystem…….

@jloomstein

And you end up saying….

We do that…..

And that… And that…

And that…

And your sales go up

But your cost go up

And your margin gets smaller

And a paycheck someEmes seems so much easier

But you’re growing an agency and don’t hear this and keep grinding….

What’s happening

§  We (agencies) are doing everything and nothing is happening

§  You (agency) need to understand your core offering and find your superpower (everyone has a superpower) §  We work with X, Y, and Z and provide 1, 2, and 3 to the mid-‐market energy

sector

This is probably you: §  Increased sales §  Lower % growth revenue §  Higher overhead costs §  Decreased specializaEon §  Smaller YOY incremental growth

§  How you grow §  Understanding the story you tell / Telling a story people want to hear §  Learning what to say to prospects when you're not for them §  Remembering if you’re everything to everyone—then you’re nothing to anyon

The problem you face with your agency is scalability and repeatability

There has to be a be\er way….

Deciding what type of agency to be and what service to offer ¤  Growth ¤  Lifestyle ¤  Sector ¤  Specific industry ¤  Strategic soluEon (app development)

¨  CreaEng a framework on how we get from here to there…

@jloomstein

Consider this approach instead ¨  Understanding that we live in a knowledge based economy ¨  InvesEng in pla]orms/resources/human capital ¨  Building the right tool box (pla]orms/resources/human capital) ¨  Partnering with agencies that like to work with other agencies ¨  Requiring a minimum threshold for clients to work with you

¤  5/5/5 rule ¤  Case study material ¤  JV to varsity client

¨  Being everything to everyone makes you nothing to anyone

@jloomstein

Understanding Growth Preference: High-‐Growth vs. Lifestyle

¨  High-‐Growth (HG) focuses on growing fast, to maximize valuaEon so you can sell the agency in the future.

¨  Lifestyle (LS) focuses on quality of life, building a well-‐paying job that supports your lifestyle outside the agency.

¨  You want to sell (High-‐Growth), but don’t want to work 100 hours a week to get there (or hire 50-‐100 employees and scale). OR

¨  You want work-‐life balance (Lifestyle), but you’d sell if you got a good offer.

@jloomstein

@jloomstein #Pubcon

Crea9ng a framework Organiza9on

Marke9ng & Sales Team

Services Time

How you scale| Organiza9onally

Building your team ¨  Account Management (AM) = keep clients happy / upsell them more ¨  Project Management (PM) = keep work going smoothly ¨  Subject Ma\er Expert (SME) = bill lots of work to clients Building for the future ¨  If you could wave a “magic wand,” what’s different a year from now ¨  Same magic wand. What’s different five years from now (in 2020)? ¨  Hire for fit – not for talent

?

! When one employee does 2-‐3 of these roles, things fall through the cracks. Split these roles as soon as you can afford it.

Credit: Karl Sakas @jloomstein

How you scale | Marke9ng & Sales

High-‐Growth (HG): •  You need team members dedicated to agency self-‐markeEng and to sales.

Lifestyle (LS): •  You can have billable people doing agency self-‐markeEng

•  You don’t need a dedicated sales team, but ensure people sEll spend Eme on markeEng and sales, or else your lead flow will dry up.

When people do billable work AND markeEng, or billable work AND sales, everything suffers. Focus.


How you scale | Your Team

Building for the future •  Your team is the difference between being an agency owner versus being an

individual markeEng consultant •  If you grow past 20 people, you should add a layer of middle management so that

you don’t have everyone reporEng directly to you

•  Human Capital: we live in a knowledge-‐based economy and the team where the smartest people wins

•  Always be recruiEng (local organizaEons, LinkedIn, Twi\er, etc.)


How you scale | Your Services

Your services ulEmately fit into one of three categories (SIT) •  Strategy (client says: “tell me what to do”) •  ImplementaEon (client says: “do it for me”) •  Training (client says: “teach us how to do it”)

The right services lineup for your agency depends on your growth goals: •  High-‐Growth (HG): You need to offer all three service “buckets,” and you need to

have them Eghtly integrated for cross-‐sells. •  Lifestyle (LS): You can get away with offering only two service “buckets.


How you scale | Your Time

Long-‐Term Strategy

Team Management

Project Management

Client Service

Billable Work for Clients

Sales / Business Development MarkeEng for the Agency RecruiEng Professional Development Admin (accounEng, HR, etc.)

Credit: Karl Sakas

Standardize monthly tasks list, weekly check-ins, scheduled reports

Your objective with your agency is scalability and

repeatability

Stay smart for your sake and that of your agency

Track metrics that matter

Work with agencies that like to work with others

Invest in tools that either save you time, make you money, or make you look

smart <

Create platform partnerships and build an

infrastructure

Pick clients that fit into your system

Find your superpower

Focus on your core Educate & evangelize from the ground up

Stop chasing shiny objects

!

Where to focus your efforts

Ward, “I think you were a liCle hard on the Beaver…”

Do This | Where to focus

¨  IdenEfy your core offering

¨  Pick your super power

¨  Tell a be\er story

¨  Invest in operaEons / non-‐revenue acEviEes (I.e. accounEng, project management, etc.)

¨  Learn that you can either being a meaningful specific or a wandering generality

¨  Fill your roster with the right people (money, technology, client, Eme, recruiter, sales)

¨  Build your team based on energy, hustle, integrity, and talent

¨  Drop the stuff you suck at / double down on your strengths

¨  Understand that none of this is easy

@jloomstein


This is your goal….

Wait….About Me

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1999 – Graduated Bradley University 2002 -‐ Started in digital markeEng

Work for “Big” Agencies Omnicom 2003-‐ 2010

2011 – Started Digital Space

2011 – D/FW SEM 2012 – Pubcon 2014 – SMU MBA Adjunct Professor

@jloomstein

@jloomstein #Pubcon

¨  10+ member digital strategy agency based out of Dallas ¨  We develop brand strategies, go-to-market position strategies, and create digital

marketing amplification models for mid-size companies and brands ($10-$250M) ¨  Passionate about the tools, platforms, and technology used to connect and engage

consumers

And, we do this

24


Execu9on is everything.

Where to connect…..we’d love to chat

DigitalSpaceConsulting.comTwitter.com/eDigitalSpace

[email protected]@digitalSpaceConsulEng.com

@Jloomstein