Diversification Will Help Marketing Agencies Increase Growth in 2022

vcita is a Business Reporter client.

With more than 25,000 marketing companies and agencies in the UK, there is no shortage of competition in the market. With so much choice of potential clients, it can be hard for marketing agencies to find their niche and establish themselves within the industry. Among several elements that pose a threat to marketing agencies’ ability to grow, the main pain points include the plethora of options and large amounts of churn from clients, and the struggle to turn one-off projects into long-term clients. 

However, there is no better time than now for marketing agencies to expand their business offerings and grow their bottom line. Covid has rapidly accelerated the demand for digital transformation across industries worldwide, and even those that initially rejected technological advances have moved many of their day-to-day activities online. 

Diversifying their offerings

A marketing agency’s diversification to a complete business offering means that a one-time client will more likely become a loyal and lasting one. The more services a marketing agency can offer, the more revenue streams it can generate, and offering additional services keeps marketing agencies at the top of their clients’ minds by closing the loop and becoming a comprehensive solution to their clients’ needs. Diversification allows the marketing agency’s solution to become an integral part of their clients’ day-to-day operations, increasing stickiness and reducing churn. 

In addition, diversifying offerings helps marketing agencies elevate their services and stand out among their competitors. Many clients want the full package when it comes to marketing services, and having the ability to meet their needs means further growth. 

Focusing on clients

By knowing their target audiences, marketing agencies can better understand which services to expand into. However, it can be tempting for an agency to start adding services that may not be relevant to their audience, causing them to lose money and time wasted marketing those services to deaf ears. Instead, focusing on their clients’ needs will help agencies home in on relevant services and better personalize their offerings. 

While diversifying their offerings, it is imperative that marketing agencies focus on the tools and resources their clients are asking for, which support them in their daily business operations. By offering complementary solutions that easily integrate with their core services, agencies can go beyond lead generation to help their clients convert more leads into paying customers, which increases stickiness and customer loyalty. 

Expanding through partnerships

For many marketing agencies, expanding offerings and growing business can seem like a steep challenge or even a cumbersome process that adds work without the promise of a bigger bottom line—training sales teams, learning to market their new services and nurturing their clients while seeking new ones, all on their own. Instead, marketing agencies should explore partnerships such as the one vcita offers, where marketing agencies can gain access to a wide array of new services, such as online booking, CRM, invoicing, email marketing and more, all on their own platform. 

To diversify offerings, marketing agencies can leverage the help of a company that has the experience and the know-how, as well as a dedicated success team. This partnership will help them sell and upsell services while also offering out-of-the-box capabilities—ultimately streamlining their time to market and allowing them to better serve their clients without the hassle of having to develop their own products. 

Devising an upselling strategy

Upselling allows marketing agencies to focus on the clients they already have and grow their bottom line with them, instead of constantly trying to find more clients, which is much more expensive than nurturing existing ones. To upsell successfully, marketing agencies need to know their clients’ pain points well and be able to explain their products and services in a way that assures the client that they cannot go without them. 

It is in marketing agencies’ best interest to consider new service offerings and explore how they can upsell them to clients. Upselling helps increase stickiness and loyalty with clients by following them throughout their journey and supplying them with what they need when they need it. 

Marketing agencies should seize the day

With the pandemic having propelled digital adoption and digital marketing, now is the best time for marketing agencies to diversify their offerings, focus on their clients’ needs, partner with a strong, complementary solution provider such as vcita and devise a successful upselling strategy. Running a marketing agency is exciting, but it doesn’t have to be exhausted by the search for new clients. Using the clients they have and expanding proportionately will help marketing agencies grow in 2022. 

—Itzik Levy, CEO, vcita

This article originally appeared in Business Reporter. Header Image credit: iStock id1222811180