5 Ways To Optimize Your Agency For 2024
With the holidays being oh so close, I am aware that this may be my least-read blog post. But for those of you who are still working like I am, I want to provide you with a few things you can do during the rest of 2023 to set your agency up so that 2024 is your most profitable year yet!
Having grown and optimized agencies for over a decade, I gave this post a lot of thought on the best strategies that I can give you from my experience. So each of the 5 ways to optimize your agency are tactics I have had a ton of professional success with.
It’s my hope that this post gives you some action items for the rest of the year so you can hit the ground running in 2024.
Get Started on a Lead Magnet
Lead magnets are my agency’s most popular service because they work so well. As an alternative to cold outreach, lead magnets drive organic and qualified leads.
The concept of a lead magnet is simple. You offer something of value on a landing page and gate it with a lead capture form. This is usually things like industry reports, eBooks, and webinars.
You will develop your lead magnet with a strategic theme so that it attracts your target audience and generates qualified leads.
The real force behind lead magnets to land new clients is the nurturing sequence of emails you set up after they download the report.
If you want to learn more about lead magnets, you can check out this post and this post.
Line Up Content in 2 High-Profile Publications Per Quarter
Want to get your agency in front of millions of brands? Then you need to line up your features and thought leadership pieces for 2024. A good rule of thumb is 2 pieces of content in high-profile publications per quarter. An editorial feature written by someone like me and a thought leadership article published by you. And it’s okay if you use a ghost author like me.
Be strategic with the publications you choose. Make sure that their audience is your target audience.
If you’re a strong writer with a good portfolio, you can publish for free on some websites, you just have to do the outreach. This list is decent and has contact information for high-profile publications you can reach out to and submit content.
You may need to hire someone who can place your content in high-profile publications like Forbes, USA Today, MSN, Business Insider, etc. Placing content in these high-profile publications is my second most popular service, so if you want rates for any publications you want to be featured in, contact me here.
Think about the badges you can add to your website for credibility when you get featured in these publications!
Audit Your Current Growth Strategy
Don’t all agencies want growth? Sometimes if things seem slow in terms of landing new clients, an audit is necessary.
When auditing your agency’s growth strategy, here are some tactics to check in on paired with resources to learn more about these growth strategies.
Are you nurturing all of your leads with thought leadership emails?
Do you have a referral program in place?
Hire a specialist to do an SEO audit of your website to learn if you need to make changes
If you’re doing cold outreach, stop and do a lead magnet instead
Are you earning and leveraging social proof?
Are you actively implementing thought leadership and expertise?
Has your agency embraced a niche?
Do you have a plan in place to upsell current clients
Should you add a new service or two to round out your offerings?
Gain a Deeper Understanding of Your Target Audience’s Target Audience
Of course, you know YOUR target audience intimately. But to really impress potential clients, you need to also have a deep understanding of THEIR target audience.
For example, I did an industry report for an agency that specialized in marketing home services brands. Instead of surveying marketers at home services businesses, I surveyed 300 people who had purchased home services within the last year and got their insights. This extra step went a long way, as the report actually got an award!
Earn and Leverage Social Proof
The reality is that brands DO want to hear about your agency. But, they DON’T want to hear about it from you. Social proof offers the third-party endorsement of your agency’s services that potential clients crave.
Social proof comes in a few forms. Testimonials, case studies, social media shoutouts, etc.
To earn social proof, segment out your happiest clients and offer them a small $10 Starbucks gift card if they provide you with social proof that you can leverage.
Earning social proof is just the beginning. Be sure that it gets found when potential clients are researching your agency. Use it in your email marketing, on your website, on social media, etc.
Final Thoughts: There is Still Time to Line Up These Tactics Before The Start of 2024
My hope is that this post helps you fill your time setting your agency up for success in 2024. All of the optimization strategies that I listed are absolutely strategies you can implement yourself.
Things get tricky if you don’t have downtime during the holidays that I do. And that’s where The Campfire Circle comes in to save the day. I’ve personally been implementing these strategies for over a decade, and being a small agency, my clients love how reasonably I’m able to keep my rates. So if you want to discuss how I can help you implement one or some or even all of these strategies so that your agency has ginormous growth in the year ahead, email me at kristen@thecampfirecircle.com and keep in mind I do free consultations.
Is there a strategy to optimize agencies that you use? I’d love to read your insights in the comments below!
