The Top 5 Reasons That Brands Choose Agencies
I recently surveyed 300 brands who hired an agency within the past year and asked them a bunch of questions on how they chose the agency that they did. You can read the full report here, and for this post, I’m focusing on the top 5 reasons that I uncovered in my survey on how brands choose agencies.
My goal is to help you get into the minds of decision-makers at brands so that you can tailor your efforts and become an agency that brands choose.
With me rooting for you and supplying agency life advice, 2024 might just be your best year yet. Marketing requires a little psychology, and once you understand the 5 ways that make brands want to hire your agency, you can tailor your growth plan accordingly.
Expertise
Does your agency embrace a niche? If not, you might want to, and here is a guide to make that happen.
With 79% of brands reporting that they are willing to pay more for an agency with expertise in their industry, embracing a niche or two makes it easy for you to demonstrate your expertise in those industries, landing higher-paying clients.
Since I work with so many agency owners, I notice that a lot of them are afraid of embracing a niche because it’s scary to fish in a smaller pond. But, trust me, you will land more business if you focus on 1-3 industries.
Once you’ve identified the industries you will serve, that’s when you showcase your expertise all over the internet! Think of things like guest posts, industry reports, eBooks, etc.
Social Proof
Social proof offers the third-party endorsement that brands crave when they are searching for the right agency partner. You can read all about it here.
Data shows that when choosing an agency, 76% of decision-makers at brands look for social proof.
Earning social proof isn’t hard, it just takes a little incentive. Start by making a list of your current and past happy clients. Email them and ask for social proof in exchange for an Amazon gift card. You’ll want a few of the following forms of social proof:
Case studies
Testimonials
Social media shout-outs
Once you’ve earned social proof, you need to make it easy to find while brands are researching your agency. You can leverage your social proof through:
Feature it on the homepage of your website
Share it on social media
Incorporate it into your email marketing
Use it in your sales and marketing materials
Link to it in guest posts
Examples of Previous Work
Social proof is great and will land you an initial meeting with a brand, but the real magic happens when you share examples of work you’ve done for brands in the potential client’s industry.
After all, 41% of brands say the main reason why they chose the agency that they did was because they were impressed by the agency’s examples of previous work.
I recommend showcasing your work on your website. A lot of brands like to be self-sufficient and research agencies heavily before reaching out, so having your previous work easy to access on your website will help tremendously.
And, of course, when you’re doing a meeting with a potential client, talk about past campaigns and projects that you have done for brands just like theirs.
If you can share the results, great. But as agency owners, we often sign NDAs, so you may have to keep it generalized, and that’s okay!
Email Marketing Efforts
I find that agencies fall into one of two camps when it comes to email marketing.
The first is that they lead with salesy emails, and the second is that they lead with thought leadership.
My approach falls somewhere in the middle. My emails are thought leadership, but always have a CTA at the end to book a call with me. Subtle but effective.
Since 75% of brands reported that email marketing impacted their decision to hire the agency that they did, email marketing is a strategy that shouldn’t be taken lightly.
A good rule of thumb is to send out 2 emails per week. If you can segment by industry, you can tailor your messages. You can lead with things like your new blog post, social proof, industry data, etc. Keep the email informational and end it with a CTA.
Thought Leadership
Thought leadership attracts potential clients and also keeps your agency top-of-mind when brands are ready to hire an agency.
With so many ways you can get the attention of brands, brands are becoming blind to traditional advertising and want to find an agency that authentically can scale them.
Through thought leadership, you can sprinkle bits of your expertise throughout the buyer’s journey. After a potential client sees your name and work a few times, they are way more likely to become a client.
In my experience, here are the most credible ways to leverage thought leadership:
Actively share insights on social media
Survey your target audience and publish your own data
Lead with thought leadership in your email marketing
Guest posts on high-profile publications
Aim to be cutting edge and maybe a little “disruptive”
Host a webinar
Join HARO and respond to queries
Be a guest on podcasts
Final Thoughts: I Want To Get My Agency In Front Of More Brands!
All of the strategies that I discussed are easy to implement. However, in order to impress brands with these strategies and land new clients, you have to make sure that your agency is getting in front of a lot of new brands so that you can wow them with these tactics.
I find many agency owners spend a lot of time on amazing client work and often don’t have time to grow their own agency. That’s where I come in. I can teach you how to implement these strategies, or I can implement them.
And the whole conundrum of getting in front of more decision-makers at brands can be solved, too since The Campfire Circle is an agency that grows agencies, and you can contact me here.
What do you think the #1 reason is that your current clients chose your agency? I’d love to read your thoughts in the comments below!
