How Agencies Are Honing in On Their Ideal Clients and Embracing a Niche
If your agency’s marketing and growth efforts are falling flat, the problem may be that you don’t have a pulse on your ideal client and the niche or niches that your agency embraces.
Many agencies tend to cast a wide net regarding how they market themselves and conduct sales efforts. This actually harms the goal that they started with: agency growth. Spreading yourself too thin by trying to reach a vast audience is a mistake many agency owners make.
Growing your agency is likely on your mind every single day. But did you know that most agencies grow when they embrace 1-3 niches and spend time developing their ideal client profiles?
Don’t stress. This post will provide everything you need to know about honing in on the ideal client for your agency and embracing a niche. Knowing your audience and industries you serve leads to a tremendous upsurge in profitability.
Gathering the Information and Data to Determine Your Agency’s Niche and Ideal Client
Before you take the steps to determine your agency’s niche and ideal client profile, you need to gather some data and insights. This can be done through market research and analyzing data about your current clients.
There are a few strategies when you’re ready to gather information and data to define your niche and ideal client profile such as:
Survey current clients
Identify which industries are the most profitable for your agency
Look at the characteristics of your current clients such as company size and job roles
Peruse marketing budget of current clients
Identify pain points that your agency solves
Get a pulse on the current tech stack that your target audience uses
Why Embracing 1-3 Niches is So Crucial For Agencies
Data shows that most brands are willing to pay more for an agency with expertise in their industry than a broad agency that claims to serve everyone.
Each industry has nuances and connections that need to be made. Once this is established, marketing becomes more streamlined, and you’ll land new clients.
I know it can be scary to cast a smaller net but I’ve been doing this for over a decade and can assure you that when your agency embraces 1-3 niches, more clients will come on board with your agency.
Starting with one niche is the way to go. As your team and capacity grows, you can add one or two more industries, but I would cap it at three.
Building Ideal Client Profiles
Now that you’ve honed in on your niche, it’s time to understand your ideal client. Keep in mind that client profiles are different from buyer personas. A client profile largely concerns the company or brand they work for or own.
To create these valuable profiles, you need insights into the following characteristics of the companies your target audience owns or works for:
Industry they are part of
Size of their company
Revenue and budget for marketing
Tech stack they use
Common pain points
Services they need
Communication preferences
What problems make them want to work with an agency
This list of 8 characteristics that make up your ideal client is a gold mine. Copy and paste your information for each bullet point into its document, print it out, and hang it on your computer. This 8-trait profile should steer all marketing and sales efforts. Period.
Stop Casting Wide Nets With Your Sales and Marketing
Now that you have embraced a niche and developed your ideal client profile, marketing, lead gen, the sales process, and thus landing new business become much easier because you can tailor your efforts accordingly. Not to mention, you won’t have to cast such a wide net anymore.
Now that you know the industries, company size, etc., that you need to target, imagine how streamlined your sales and marketing will be! Things like lead gen and PPC are also suddenly more targeted, saving time and money while generating more conversions.
Final Thoughts: I’m Ready to Do More to Get In Front of My Ideal Clients and Land New Business!
Once your niche is defined and you’ve spent a good amount of time crafting your ideal client profiles, it’s time for the fun part.
Experiment with different lead magnets for lead gen, master your email marketing communications, button up your social media presence, earn editorial features in high-profile publications, write guest posts, and run a blog for your agency. All of these things will grow your agency once you’re equipped with the right audience insights.
If these strategies sound a little overwhelming, most likely because you spend a lot of time doing fantastic client work, The Campfire Circle, an agency that grows agencies is here to help and you can get in touch with us here.
Have you embraced a niche for your agency? We’d love to read all about it in the comments below!
