Agency owners understand the need to become profitable. But most people do not know how to do it or even measure their profitability effectively. With more brands beginning to take their work in-house, there’s a real enemy to contend with, and every agency owner must understand the basic principles to secure their spot in the market. If you’re yet to scale your agency, you should visit https://sobeviral.com/start-your-marketing-agency/.
However, if profitability is a major concern for you, here are some tips for implementing improved agency profitability.
Improve employee and resource utilization rate
One of the biggest assets you have as an agency isn’t the unrealized leads out there but the existing resources you have in-house. Most agency owners focus more on what they don’t have and ignore their in-house investments. Surely, you have put a lot of resources into hiring the best hands for the job. Consider the hiring and onboarding process, employee training and retention, payments and benefits, etc. These are investments you should leverage to deliver more results.
While your in-house team is important, it is also important to ensure they are both efficient and effective. A great way to cut unnecessary costs and improve profit margin may be to use time tracking software to measure employees’ time and activities. For those whose services or jobs aren’t as straightforward, using a Key Performance Index (KPI) is advised. Doing this will help you reduce excess weight, improve in-house efficiency and productivity, and help develop better results overall.
Focus on converting potential leads
Potential leads are money left on the table. You can either snatch or leave them for your competitor’s taking. Although you may be unable to convert 100% of leads generated, you should focus on converting a decent amount of your leads into one-time and potential long-term paying customers.
If you aren’t already generating leads for your agency, there’s a high chance that you’re doing something wrong. Work on your lead magnet and ensure you’re providing your target audience the results they wish they had. By showing your potential customers what you do and what they could enjoy, you can easily convert them into customers.
It is also important to build trust and confidence in your brand. A good way to build this is through review generation and results sharing. You can also prioritize engaging your potential clients better through email marketing. You can stay in your potential customer’s consciousness with an effective email marketing plan.
Reduce lead response time
You’d agree that more internet users seek quick answers to their problems or inquiries. A lengthy lead response time can significantly affect your conversion rate, especially as your lead will likely go with a competitor with a quicker response time.
In a recent study by HBR, online leads have been proven to have a short life, and many of them get cold after long wait times. A key to improving your lead conversion rate is by responding quicker to messages and inquiries, showing the lead that you care about them and how they’re treated from scratch.
Cut down on Overservicing
Overservicing is a big issue among many companies, not just in the digital marketing space. Many companies offer services outside the scope of the product or package the customer purchased. While this keeps the customer happy, it cuts deeply into your profit margin as employees spend more time handling those seemingly small tasks.
A great way to reduce this is to clearly define your services and what it entails. You can also adopt a better project management tool that ensures better planning of services and expected turnover.
Cutting down on those extra hours here and there may be the key to unlocking your agency’s full potential.
Grow existing customers
Most agencies make the mistake of relaxing once they’ve converted a lead. This mistake can be costly, especially because a bird in the hand is worth more than thousands in the bushes. A great way to scale your agency is to focus more on growing your existing accounts. Helping your existing customer grow means you’ll reap the benefits of larger marketing budgets.
Always remember that businesses you’ve helped scale will have more confidence in your expertise and will be easily convinced to invest more money with you.
Prioritize Communication
Communication is one of the most important strategies to keep existing customers happy and bring leads into the fold. Always ensure that you’re communicating with your customers and giving them the latest updates on what you’re planning, what you offer, and how you intend to make their lives easier. You should also prioritize responding to inquiries and addressing issues raised by paying customers.
Doing this helps your customers and clients feel valued and heard. It also increases their confidence in your brand.
