Happy New Year!
As we’re all getting our year started, we figured we’d give you some ideas on how to grow your digital marketing agency in the coming year.
Some of these may seem “normal” or “obvious,” but despite this fact, lots of business owners fail to do them. Others may be new to you. Even if you do one or two of these, they will help your business move forward in 2018.
1. Set 2-5 Goals for Your Agency to Reach This Year
This may seem very basic and boring. However, it has been shown that a goal written down is a goal you are more likely to act on.
These don’t need to be complicated goals. It’s better if they’re realistic goals you know you can reach.
For instance, adding 3 new clients in the first 3 months of the year is a very reasonable goal, especially if you use one of our Audit Funnels and follow up with the offer of a free Facebook Ads Audit to those who are interested.
Another reasonable goal is a specific figure of how much your digital marketing agency will bring in at the 6 month point and by the end of the year.
Once you have these amounts in mind, you can determine how much you need, per client, to make those amounts, then work to get that number of clients.
The High-Ticket Client Acquisition Tool Kit includes a spreadsheet that calculates how much to need to charge per client. You can get this course as part of our FunnelDash Academy offerings when you sign up for a free 14-day trial of our Pro or Agency level subscriptions.
Break Your Goals into Manageable Chunks
A large goal can be intimidating if you tackle it all at once.
Break your goals up into manageable chunks. For instance, once you’ve set a large goal, write out steps you’ll take to reach that goal and figure out approximately how much time each step will take. Then put that list somewhere you’ll see it every day. This will help remind you of what needs to be done.
As you finish each step, cross it off the list. (There’s something very satisfying about being able to put a big line through a task, or checking it off.) You’ll see your regular progress and you’ll have stimulus for future goals.
2. Set Aside Time Every Week to Work Toward Your Goals
Having goals is great. But if you don’t work toward them, they remain goals instead of becoming achievements.
There’s a distinct difference between working in your business (managing client accounts, running campaigns, etc.) and working on your business (things that will move your business forward). If you don’t take time for the latter, you’ll never grow your agency.
Set aside 5-10 hours a week to work on your business. Yes, that sounds like a lot of time. But it’s really 1-2 hours every work day. And you’ll be amazed at what you can get done in an hour, if you focus on what you’re doing.
Use this time to:
- Build automation systems to make it easier to run your business. (For instance, your Instant Audit Funnel.)
- Write a monthly newsletter for your current clients.
- Write a weekly blog post to keep potential clients (and Google) interested in your website.
You can do it an hour or two at a time, or you can set aside a block of time each week. This time will probably need to be flexible, but do it every single week. By the end of the year, you’ll see significant progress on the growth of your business.
Don’t Freak Out If You Don’t Meet Your Goals
The point of setting goals is to work to achieve them. If you don’t, life will go on. But don’t beat yourself up about it. Keep working toward those goals and note your success as you move forward.
If you do meet your goals, set new ones to work toward.
3. Measure Your Successes and Failures
Keep track of what works and what doesn’t. When you measure your results (bad and good) you’re more likely to manage them and work toward improving them.
This may sound obvious, but a lot of agency owners don’t do it, because they’re too busy running campaigns for their clients or managing other aspects of their business.
Select 2-4 key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure in your business and keep track of them regularly. This gives you a way to see how your agency is growing, week-to-week and month-to-month.
Remember, you can learn a lot from your successes, but you can learn as much, if not more, from your failures.
4. Make Time for Professional Development
You can’t operate in a vacuum. You need to know what’s going on in your industry and your clients’ industries. You need to keep your skills up, as well as stay informed about your clients’ customers latest concerns or problems.
Take time to read industry magazines, blogs and articles. Go to at least one conference each year, even if it’s local. Get involved in a networking group in your area. Create a mastermind group of your peers, so you can help each other when you run into problems.
And yes, take some of that hard-earned money, and spend it on courses to improve your skills. Then go through those courses, so you can give your clients better service and improve their ROI.
5. Follow Up with Former Clients and Potential Clients Who Said No
You spend so much time and effort to bring new clients into your agency. Don’t waste all that effort! It costs far less to market to people who are already aware of your business and have expressed interest than to market to people who have no idea who you are.
Follow Up with Former Clients Who Have Stopped Working with You
If they left because they weren’t getting the results they wanted, see if they’re doing better with their new agency. If not, make them a good offer to see if you can get them back.
If they stopped running Facebook ad campaigns because they had nothing new to promote, see if they’ve developed any new products or services.
Follow Up with Potential Clients Who Turned You Down
Many of the potential clients who had to say “no” to you before just weren’t ready to use your services. It’s always worth checking in with these folks to see if they’re ready now. And it’s better if you reach out to them, because they already know who you are and will remember they were interested in working with you.
Sending a personal email every quarter is a polite, yet non-intrusive way to start. This keeps your agency top-of-mind and lets them know you’re still interested in them as a client.
Writing a monthly newsletter to everyone on your list, past, current and future clients, is another good way to remind them of your existence. You can highlight successes, show off case studies or announce new services.
Get More Ideas to Grow Your Digital Marketing Agency in 2018
If you’re committed to making 2018 the year for your agency, our phenomenal masterclass, How to Build a 7-Figure Marketing Agency has the answers you’re looking for, including:
- How to pick your profitable niche for your agency and make 7 figures selling Facebook ad services.
- How to gain instant authority with prospective clients even if you’re not a Facebook ads expert and they’ve never heard of you before.
- How to get high ticket clients that are easy to manage and happily pay $2,000 – $5,000 per month.
Save your seat for this incredible masterclass and get your new year off to a great start!
Which of these improvements are you going to make for your agency this year? Tell us about it in the comments.
