Building and Growing Your Content/Inbound Marketing Agency and Consulting Practice

transcript

Building and Growing Your Content

Marketing AgencyPaul Roetzer

PR 20/20@PaulRoetzer• #cmworld

“Invest in real, valuable, relevant content that your audience wants. . . . Take the time to make it so compelling that

people talk about it and share it.

— Ken Krogue, Forbes “The Death of SEO: The Rise of Social, PR, and Real Content”

July 20, 2012

• Transformation: A Evolving Industry and Ecosystem• Talent: Rise of Hybrid Professionals• Infrastructure: Build to Scale • Integration: The Era of Integrated Services• GamePlan: Market Brand and Sell Services• Open Forum

Agenda

@PaulRoetzer#AgencyBlueprint

• Are writer marketplaces the answer for agencies?

• How do you balance quality with quantity?

• How do you align expectations with services and results?

• How do you achieve and increase profitability?

• Where do you look for talent?

• Is integration of services (search, content, social, PR, web, mobile) essential?

• What are your personal career goals? How about business goals?

• What are your greatest pain points as an agency?

• How do you feel about content services pricing trends?

Open Forum

Transformation: A Evolving Industry and Ecosystem

“It’s not about who we are, but what we, as

marketing agencies, have the potential to be.”

Rise of the Hybrids

• Tech savvy

• Integrated services

• Versatile talent

• Diversified revenue

Cause and Effect: The Catalysts

• Technology innovation

• Consumer behavior

• Business software

• Online applications

• Communication patterns

• Marketing philosophies

• Agency management systems

• Client services

1) Change Velocity

60% of marketers plan to increase their content marketing spending in 2012.

Forrester forecasts interactive marketing spending will reach $77 billion by 2016.

• Basic principle behind inbound marketing

• Consumers tuning out traditional marketing

• Brands lose control, but gain loyalty

• Shifting budgets to digital

• Expanded and integrated services

2) Selective Consumption

80% of chief marketing officers think integrated services will increase in importance over the next five years, according to

a study by The Horn Group and Kelton Research.

However, in the same study, 60% of CMOs indicated that they are unable to find an integrated firm to meet those needs.

3) Success Factors

Custom Marketing Performance Scorecards

The 10 Rules of Transformation

1. Eliminate billable hours.

2. Transform into a hybrid.

3. Think talent and team.

4. Build a scalable infrastructure.

5. Devise an inbound marketing gameplan.

6. Control the sales funnel.

7. Commit to clients.

8. Deliver results.

9. Embrace failure.

10. Pursue purpose.

1) Eliminate Billable Hours

• Billable hours are tied to outputs, not outcomes.

• Clients should not pay for agency inefficiencies.

• We are multi-taskers—distractions lead to higher costs, lower quality.

• Prices should be value based, and results driven.

“Inefficiency is the enemy of success.”

“A real-time world demands real-time agencies.”

• Every firm is a tech firm. It requires immersion and integration.

• Services must be integrated, and silos removed.

• Digital is ingrained into the firm’s DNA.

• Maintain diversified revenue streams—services, education, training, publishing, and licensing.

• Find your role in the emerging ecosystem.

• Collaboration will drive success.

2) Transform into a Hybrid

• Talent is your firm’s greatest asset.

• Build through the draft. Bring in free agents to accelerate growth and take your agency to the next level.

• Recruit and retain A players—high performers who themselves are hybrids.

• Create a career destination, not a steppingstone.

“Talent cannot be replicated.”

3) Think Talent and Team

“The best plan is to prepare for perpetual change.”

• Make decisions that fit your growth goals. This includes hardware, software, staffing, partnerships, advisors and office space.

• Plan for current (0-12 months) and short-term needs (1-3 years), with contingencies for the midterm (3-5 years).

• Expansion is driven by the desire to attract and retain talent.

• Agencies are bound by the limitations of human resources.

• Build agile systems in the cloud, and rely on trusted solution providers.

4) Build a Scalable Infrastructure

“Doing is the key to differentiation.”

• Be original, or at least put an original spin on your brand positioning.

• Clearly establish the agency brand, and then give your team the freedom and support to build theirs.

• We need fewer talkers and thinkers, and more doers.

• Use content and community to build preference and loyalty.

• Run integrated campaigns focused on search, social, content and PR. Prove your abilities by doing it for yourself.

5) Devise an Inbound Marketing GamePlan

• Capture new leads and fill the top of the sales funnel.

• Nurture leads through the middle of the funnel.

• Personalize communications and outreach based on a lead’s interests and past interactions.

• Analyze every step of the way, and tweak activities based on historical performance and lead responses.

6) Control the Sales Funnel“Everything is sales.”

“All clients are not created equal.”

• Loyal clients lead to higher retention rates, greater profit margins, more predictable cash flow, and stronger referrals.

• The greatest value you can bring to clients is staffing their accounts with A players.

• Time-tracking, project-management and CRM solutions are essential.

• The best partnerships have shared values and complementary cultures.

• Case studies are rarely made of conservative companies.

7) Commit to Clients

“An agency’s value is measured in outcomes.”

• Marketing executives—your clients—are drowning in data.

• Prototype agencies turn information into intelligence, and intelligence into action.

• Shift away from arbitrary metrics—impressions, reach, ad equivalency and PR value.

• Adapt to changing business environments and evolve client campaigns in real time.

• Activate builders and drivers.

8) Deliver Results

“Never hesitate to head in a direction others fear.”

• If your model is broke, fix it. Don’t ignore your instincts for change.

• Someone, or something, will eventually disrupt your agency, it might as well be you.

• Fear of failure trickles down to employees, and into client campaigns. Make is safe for employees to fail.

• Disruptors thrive on change, easily tire of tradition, and pride themselves on their agility. They excel at taking calculated risks.

9) Embrace Failure

“It is purpose, not profits, which defines an agency.”

• True entrepreneurs must affect change.

• An agency’s purpose may be innate and unspoken at first, residing in the minds of its leaders.

• Purpose evolves as the agency and its employees mature.

• Success is not easy, but things worth achieving never are.

10) Pursue Purpose

“Purpose eases the pain of the long hours and gives you the fortitude to fail. It makes menial tasks meaningful, and serves as the pivotal

piece of your employee recruitment and retention strategy.”

The Marketing Agency Blueprint

Talent: Rise of the Hybrid Professionals

“High performers—the A players—contribute more, innovate more, work smarter, earn more trust, display

more resourcefulness, take more initiative, develop better business strategies, articulate their vision more

passionately, implement change more effectively, deliver higher-quality work, demonstrate greater teamwork, and find ways to get the job done in less time with less cost.”

— Bradford D. Smart, PhD, Topgrading

• Analyst

• Creative

• Intrinsically motivated

• Listener

• Social web savvy

• Strategic

• Tech savvy

• Team player

• Writer

Hybrid Professional Traits

• Strategic

• Brand centric

• Buyer persona focused

• Optimized for search engines

• Technically sound

• Creative

• Results driven

What makes for great content?

Source: 7 Key Elements of Great Business Content

Buyer persona focused content

• Make personal connections

• Address pain points and bring value

• Demonstrate a clear understanding of your audiences, and know how to engage them

• Promote and deliver in their preferred format

• Do not push growth beyond your ability to service it.

• Build from within through your own systems and standards.

• Identify and nurture high-potential talent.

• Beware of the patience of potential: commitment, perspective and speed.

• Bring in seasoned talent — the free agents — when the time is right.

• Understand implications of higher-priced talent on efficiency, productivity and profitability.

The Draft & Free Agency

Photo Credit: Sports TV Jobs

The Creative Group 2012 Salary Guide

When is it Time to Hire?

The Blueprint Series Presented by HubSpotThe Blueprint Series Presented by HubSpot

• Values

• Services

• Pricing

• Process

• Performance

• Financial strength

Outsourcing vs. Hiring

Content Outsourcing Considerations

• Do you need niche expertise?

• Is it cost prohibitive to use internal resources?

• Can you compete on price?

• If the client outsources to a 3rd party, can you control quality?

• Is writing a core competency?

• Do you have the ability to scale production?

• Do you have a deep enough talent pipeline?

• What’s your capacity for content growth?

• Soft capacity = Monthly service-hour threshold at peak efficiency. Includes room to flex above for major projects and campaign fluctuations.

• Absolute capacity = The danger zone, usually 20% above soft capacity. Your team is spread too thin, deadlines will be missed and quality will suffer.

Know Your Capacity

• Major growth initiatives

• Significant demand from new partnerships

• Deep new business pipeline

• Transitioning of underperforming employees

• Understaffed core accounts

• Opportunity to land high-potential A player

Define Ahead-of-Need Triggers

Infrastructure: Build to Scale

Infrastructure: The structures and systems that facilitate the production and delivery of agency services. Any physical or

organizational element required to run and grow your agency. Core components include financial systems, information

technology (IT), management systems and human resources.

— The Marketing Agency Blueprint, Chapter 4

What are Your Business Goals?

• Revenue

• Employee size

• Profits

• Geographic expansion

• Personal wealth

• Work/life balance

• How will you define success?

• What are your greatest strengths?

• What are your greatest weaknesses?

• Are you in the financial position to take the risks needed?

• Do you have the ability to recruit and retain top talent?

• Will you be happy running a business, rather than doing the work?

What are you building?

• Current = Next 12 months

• Short Term = 1 – 3 years

• Midterm = 3 – 5 years

• Long Term = More than 5 years

Needs and Timing

• Reached five employees

• Used 2x – 3x scale to guide decisions

• Revenue went from $200,000 to $400,000

• Upgraded office space, phone systems, Internet service, hardware, internal network

• Secured option on adjacent office space

• Accommodated current and short-term needs, with contingency for future expansion

• $50,000+ investment

PR 20/20 Example (2008)

Lessons from the Inside

1) Prepare for Perpetual Change.

• Performance history

• Transparency

• Stability

• Continuous innovation

• Customer/community support

2) Build through Trusted Providers.

• Do we have the right leadership team in place?

• Is our current staff happy and motivated?

• Are the processes in place to effectively handle growth?

• How will changes affect payroll and productivity?

3) Understand Your Limits.

One full-time employee = 120 – 140 hours of client services per month

• Finance

• Technology

• Human resources

• Legal

• Accounting

4) Find Reliable Advisors and Mentors.

• Forecast your monthly expenses as you grow.

• Identify and nurture funding sources.

• The best time to pursue funding is when you don’t need it.

5) Create a Funding Runway.

Realities of Costs, Funding & Cash Flow

1. Build a stable, profitable business.

2. Understand your value.

3. Explore your options.

4. Ensure you can service the debt.

5. Never lose sight of cash flow.

6. Know your exit strategy.

What You Need to Know

Agility, Mobility & the Cloud

1. Solve real business problems.

2. Reduce redundancies and avoid feature overload.

3. Have an integration plan.

4. Know the risks and challenges.

Moving to the Cloud

Photo: karindalziel

Things to consider when evaluating a solution

• What problem will it solve?

• Will it enable us to improve efficiency, productivity, or profitability?

• Will it increase the value and results we deliver to clients?

• Will it reduce IT costs?

• Will it create a more secure, stable and reliable technology infrastructure?

Internal Social Network: Yammer

• Post links and resources.

• Manage client services through dedicated groups.

• Add daily agency notes and highlights.

• Encourage collaboration and knowledge transfer.

• Perpetuate culture.

• Keep mobile workforce connected.

• Create real-time communications channels with external client networks.

Customer Relations Management (CRM): Highrise

• Manage all agency contacts — clients, partners, leads, media, etc.

• Track important notes, calls, meetings and emails.

• Provide 24/7 management insight into client services.

• Give employees opportunities for continuous learning through ambient knowledge.

• Track new business deals and manage the lead nurturing process.

• Integrate with web lead forms and HubSpot through APIs.

Project and Campaign Management: Basecamp

• Create dedicated client centers.

• Manage client campaigns with tasks, messages, milestones and events.

• Maintain content marketing editorial calendars.

• Provide management dashboard of all agency tasks by project and by employee.

Time Tracking: FunctionFox

• Maintain accurate time sheets.

• Monitor agency-wide efficiency and productivity.

• Create client activity reports.

• Analyze employee performance and client hours.

• Adjust pricing based on historical data.

Content: Zerys for Agencies

• Client discovery

• Keyword research

• Writer marketplace

• Project management

• Plagiarism detection

• Export and auto-publish

• Analytics integration

The Mobile Workforce

Integration: The Era of Integrated Services

The Service Mix

• Invest the time and training needed to build capabilities and expertise.

• Make digital part of your firm’s DNA.

• Hire and train hybrid professionals.

• Become a doer. Make your agency a case study.

Meet the Demand for Digital & Integration

• Avoid shortcuts (i.e. resist the dark side of digital).

• Build service packages around integrated campaigns.

• Concentrate on content. Become a publisher.

• Create agency partnerships to enhance your service offerings.

Meet the Demand for Digital & Integration

Deliver Results

Become Measurement Geeks

• Learn to love data.

• Integrate measurement tools.

• Train analysts.

• Practice on your agency.

• Tie to services.

• Dig into the data.

Use Analytics to Adapt

• Review analytics reports as part of daily campaign management duties.

• Communicate insights to clients in real time.

• Talk about client analytics as part of your daily meetings.

• Integrate analytics into weekly account manager Yammer updates.

• Conduct internal training sessions on how to process and interpret data.

Activate Builders & Drivers

• Builders lay the groundwork for future success. They are essential, but not always measurable in the short term.

• Drivers make things happen. They are marketing activities that deliver results.

Builders

• Market research

• Brand positioning

• Website development

• SEO

• Copywriting

• Social media

Drivers

• Lead nurturing

• Email newsletters

• Social networking

• PR

• ebooks

• Webinars

• Mobile apps

• Blogging

The Evolution of Service Packages

Value-Based Pricing

The guiding principle was that set prices had to be value based, meaning they were to be determined based on perceived and

actual value rather than the number of billable hours something takes to complete.

— The Marketing Agency Blueprint, Chapter 1

• It is possible to achieve economies of scale in the production and delivery of services.

• Set prices enable firms to package services for specific market segments, such as franchises, and dramatically reduce business development time.

• If you can define the scope, then you can standardize the service and assign a set price.

• They must be value based.

• Transparency creates more qualified leads.

Core Elements

Value-Based Pricing Variables

• Estimated hours (at peak efficiency)

• Hourly revenue target

• Costs

• Perceived value

• Builder vs. driver

• Loss leader

• Service level

• CEO = 600 hours (50/month)

• VP = 960 hours (80/month)

• Senior AE = 1,200 hours (100/month)

• AE = 1,440 hours (120/month)

• Asst AE = 1,680 hours (140/month)

• TOTAL = 5,880 hours

Hourly Revenue Target Example

Target of $120,000 per employee or $600,000

$600,000/5,880 = $102 per hour (HRT)

Price = $20,000

Costs = $8,000 (outside contractor)

Gross Profit = $12,0000

Hours = 120

Hourly Revenue Target = $100

Calculating Revenue Efficiency Rates

RER = [(Price – Costs)/Hours]/HRT

A: [($20,000 - $8,000)/120]/100= 100 percent

B: [($20,000 - $8,000)/180]/100= 67 percent

Primary budget factor = content creation

• Internal = time

• Outsourced = money

What does content cost?

• Traditional = $1/word

• Today = ???

The Cost of Inefficiency

• Hourly rate = $150

• Hours to complete = 3

• Cost = $450

Professional A

The Case of a Press Release: Scenario 1

• Original draft ($150/hr) = 5 hrs or $750

• Sr Assoc edit/review ($250/hr) = 1.25 hrs or $312.50

• Edits ($150/hr) = 0.50 hrs or $75

• Sr Assoc final edit ($250/hr) = 0.50 or $125

• Total = 7.25 hrs or $1,262.50

• Professional A = 3 hrs @ $450

• Professional B = 7.25 hrs @ $1,262.50

Professional B

The Case of a Press Release: Scenario 2

Inefficiency Factors

• Distractions: Marketing agency professionals are multitaskers.

• Time tracking: Clients pay for time that never happened, or they pay for part of our attention.

• Motivation: The value of an employee to an agency is directly tied to how many hours they log, and how many get billed. What’s the benefit of being efficient in that model?

The Efficiency Variance

• Invest in core clients through account development services.

• The agency, not the client, should pay for professional development.

• Take chances with your pricing strategy.

• Use client campaigns to develop new capabilities (i.e. expand services).

• Establish loss-leader services.

All services, and clients, are not equal. There will be variances, and that’s OK. Build for the long-term.

GamePlan: Market Brand and Sell Services

• Step 1: Clearly define and differentiate your brand.

• Step 2: Design and deploy a content-driven website.

• Step 3: Go beyond prospects, and consider the impact of your marketing efforts on all audiences.

• Step 4: Establish measurable and meaningful campaign objectives designed to achieve the primary goals of leads and loyalty.

The GamePlan in Action

• Step 5: Build an integrated campaign: brand, website, search, social media, content and PR.

• Step 6: Establish dynamic budgets that can be easily shifted based on campaign performance and analytics.

• Step 7: Define campaign timelines with milestones, tasks and responsibilities.

• Step 8: Measure everything, and be willing to adapt and evolve.

The GamePlan in Action

Top Lead Generators

• Pricing strategy and service model

• Brand positioning

• Referrals

• Original content

• Personal brands

• Service marketplaces

• Agency partners

• Niche markets

• Networking (the traditional kind)

The Sales System

Sales Philosophy

• Growth in model agencies is driven by the need to attract and retain talent.

• The key to a successful sales system is balance.

• You need the right infrastructure and personnel in place to meet current needs for lead generation, and make your system scalable to long-term goals.

• Don’t let others pressure you to grow beyond your means. Only you know what’s best for your firm.

Questions to Consider

• What are our lead sources?

• How many (quality) leads to we generate per month? How many do we need?

• What’s our conversion rate? How do we improve it?

• How do we rank and prioritize leads?

• How do we track progress through the funnel?

Questions to Consider

• How do we gain intelligence into our leads?

• Who is responsible for lead gen, nurturing and sales?

• What are we doing to nurture leads?

• How efficient and effective are our sales efforts?

GamePlan Keys

• Be original, or at least put an original spin on your brand positioning.

• Clearly establish the agency brand, and then give your team the freedom and support to build theirs.

• We need fewer talkers and thinkers, and more doers.

• Use content and community to build preference and loyalty.

• Run integrated campaigns focused on search, social, content and PR. Prove your abilities by doing it for yourself.

“Doing is the key to differentiation.”

Client Services Series: A Year in the Life of a Hypothetical B2B Account

(Coming in October 2012)

promo code: cmw15

www.MarketingAgencyInsider.com

• Session 1: The Marketing Assessment

• Session 2: The Scorecard

• Session 3: The GamePlan

• Session 4: The Honeymoon (Q1)

• Session 5: The Reality (Q2)

• Session 6: The Tipping Point (Q3)

• Session 7: The Renewal (Q4)