Why Your Digital Marketing Firm Isn’t Growing

You had a dream of becoming the Don Draper of digital marketing — but your agency is hardly any bigger or better than it was when you first launched. While it might be tempting to blame high levels of competition in the marketing space, the truth is that your firm’s shortcomings are likely the result of ineffective strategy and leadership.

Fortunately, if your agency is still operating, then you still have time to make changes that will result in growth and success. Here are a few mistakes you could be making that are almost certainly limiting your agency’s potential.

Some Digital Marketers Fail to Understand Client Expectations

If you are a digital marketer first and an entrepreneur second, you might struggle to manage the client-facing side of your business. Creating marketing campaigns is one thing; meeting with clients, understanding their needs and wants and delivering satisfaction is quite another. Plenty of digital marketing firms leave clients dissatisfied because they have not invested sufficiently in getting to know their clients. You need to develop a comprehensive onboarding system for new clients that ensures you have insights into what they expect from your agency. 

Not All Marketing Campaigns Deliver Expected Results

Then again, what clients expect and what you can realistically provide are often two separate issues. An important element of managing client expectations is helping clients understand the realistic outcome of your efforts. Even the most expensive digital marketing services cannot transform a startup into a billion-dollar venture overnight — and if you allow your clients to believe that your digital marketing agency has magical power, you will continue to lose clients due to disappointment and frustration. In addition to setting appropriate expectations, you should create contingency plans that help mitigate risks of unexpected or unwanted results.

Digital Marketing Agencies Struggle to Adapt to New Technology

Many of the most experienced marketers continue to think in terms of technologies that were available when they began their careers, but because technology is ever-evolving, this mindset puts them at a severe disadvantage, limiting their digital marketing strategies. Despite “digital” in the name, many digital marketers have incomplete technology training. You might work to improve your understanding and utilization of more cutting-edge tech tools, and you might invest in talent that has proven tech expertise. 

Constantly Shifting Trends Make Old Marketing Strategies Obsolete

Online trends are constantly shifting as new tech and new users produce new needs, new tastes and new opportunities for marketers. Unfortunately, as with the evolving nature of technology, many marketers fail to recognize trends as they develop. At the very least, you and your staff need to be plugged into marketing trends and capable of identifying and leveraging new trends as they emerge. 

Many Agencies Fail to Deliver True Value to Customers

Of course, if you want to build a digital marketing empire, you need to do more than merely keep up with online trends. True value from digital marketing firms comes from disruption and innovation — creating new trends through the development of new services, new practices and new projects. You might reimagine your digital marketing firm as a creative laboratory, where you invite talented marketers to experiment with new ideas that can deliver unthinkable success to clients.

Closing Deals Is Not Equivalent to Delivering High-quality Service

You might have the best sales team in the world, but if you can’t deliver high-quality after-sales services, you won’t be able to hold onto a single client and the number of referrals your agency receives will dwindle to nothing. You can verify the quality of your services by performing debriefs or exit interviews with clients, collecting feedback to help your staff improve. You might need to integrate new services from SEO resellers and other third-party providers to ensure you can deliver the comprehensive marketing services your clients expect.

Perhaps Your Marketing Firm Lacks a Clear, Long-term Vision

Of course, the reason for your agency’s lack of growth might be even simpler than any of the issues listed above. It could be that your digital marketing firm fails to thrive simply because you do not have a vision guiding it toward growth. You should work with your staff to create a cohesive vision for the future of your firm, which will give every member of your team a sense of ownership that can drive them to accomplish goals and achieve success. 

With a few key changes to operations, your digital marketing firm could begin leading the industry, allowing you to live out your (professional) Mad Men fantasies.