How to Make Your Digital Marketing Agency Profitable Even in the Face of Uncertainties?

The crash of the economy by the rampaging coronavirus is unprecedented even in a world that is familiar with economic turbulence. The restrictions imposed on physical access by customers to stores, malls, service providers, etc. have thrown into sharp focus the need for businesses to embrace digital marketing even more than before.

With the demand for digital services booming, digital marketing agencies have to scramble to adapt very quickly to the changes in the environment so that they can meet the new demands of their customers and maximize their profits. In a business environment where competition is intense and there is a pressing need to keep on reinventing the marketing process; it can be very difficult for digital marketing agencies to sustain themselves profitably. Some useful tips:

Facilitate the On-Boarding Process 

While as important as it is to impress clients with your credentials and originality of approach to providing marketing solutions, it is also equally vital for digital marketing agencies to provide a simple method of on-boarding with them. It is important to keep in mind that if you have a bureaucratic system that clients need to go through to establish a relationship, it is likely to result in many prospective clients abandoning you in favor of agencies that implement a more straightforward signup process. A painless system of establishing a business relationship reflects well on both your professionalism and your intent to take the relationship to a higher level.

Optimize the Agency Website 

It is well understood that digital marketing agencies will undertake to tweak the websites of their clients for optimum performance, however, if their own websites look amateurish, it can reflect very badly on the credibility of the marketing agency. You cannot blame clients if they do not want to establish a relationship with a marketing agency that has a poorly designed and non-optimized website. You need to set your own house in order first by making sure that your website has all the vital information necessary for convincing the client that you have the right credentials and the expertise to enhance their digital marketing footprint. Make sure that the user interface is top grade, the navigation is intuitive, and the site is optimized for mobiles, and the content, including detailed case studies, is well put together and presented interestingly and engagingly. Spend enough time on getting the SEO right so that you are among the top-ranked sites on Google for the most important keywords in your sector. According to Forbes, it is vital to implement a content marketing plan that is both robust and SEO-driven.

Invest in Your Human Resources

Even though digital marketing agencies have a very large number of specialized tools for tracking and measuring the performance of digital marketing channels, the real value-addition that is made by an experienced online marketing services agency is analyzing the current performance, identifying weaknesses and opportunities and laying out a comprehensive digital marketing strategy that will boost the marketing performance of the client and achieve the desired ROI. The originality of approach and the implementation of strategic marketing vision is something that only very experienced and skilled human resources can do. This underlines the need for the marketing agency to hire the best talent, invest in their skill up-gradation, and nurture their careers so that they have a formidable force to cater to all client requirements. Keeping track of their productivity using one of the many project management tools available is essential for streamlining activities and incentivizing motivated performance. Agencies should also have a well-defined recruitment policy to attract and retain young talent. Remember, digital marketing is a young person’s game, and often it is the entry-level talent that is better clued into the aspirations and motivations of young consumers. Having adequate fresh talent will also indemnify you better against the inevitable attrition at various levels in the agency.

Invest in Technology 

Unlike in the past, contemporary digital marketing is almost totally focused on the measurement and interpretation of analytics. This makes it essential for the agency to invest in the right technological tools so that they can build an integrated marketing system for clients. While there are plenty of free resources online, agencies should invariably look beyond them and purchase the more advanced paid versions that have far more enhanced capabilities. However, it is also important to have people who are skilled in interpreting the mountains of data that are typically thrown up by the tools. It is the gaps between technology and strategy that clients cannot bridge with their own talent and they seek help from external digital marketers. The more capable the agency is in interpreting analytics and suggesting the way forward, the more valuable the agency is to clients. The pricing of the services by competent agencies can be far more than the rest of the market offering undifferentiated capabilities.

Explore the Potential of Clients before Signing Them On 

When casting the net for prospective customers, digital marketing agencies are liable to receive expressions of interest from a wide assortment of clients. While you are interested to drive your bottom line, it is very important to research the aptitude of these leads for long-term potential. You do not want to end up with a list of clients who will consume disproportionate time and effort and be a drain on your resources instead of driving your profits. If you feel that you do not have the competence to service the needs of the clients or that there is not enough potential in the relationship, you should be very clear that it would not be in the best interests mutually to establish a relationship. However, doing this diplomatically is essential to avoid any impact on your market goodwill.

Conclusion 

The race to acquire and retain clients can often become so intense that agencies forget to keep the essential balance between the services offered and the charges. Often, they end up over-servicing the clients and giving valuable services like strategic planning free. The consequence is that ROI turns negative and more importantly; clients fail to appreciate the value of the services. Using project management tools can help you to stay on track and stop the erosion of your margins.