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How to Reset your Agency for Success During Difficult Times

Team of agency owners around a laptop

For many early-stage owners, growing your agency means offering a diverse range of services. But this approach can often end up being counter-productive.

If you’re struggling to deliver on your full-service agency, it may be time to take a step back and hit reset.

Event Engine: Before the reset

Lee Jackman is a brand ambassador, event organizer, and successful agency owner. But back in the mid-late 2000s when he was trying to get his business Event Engine off the ground, it was a different story.

Alongside his other two business partners, Lee found himself dedicating 18 hours a day, five-to-seven days a week, to growing his agency. He recalls times when he would go to bed at three in the morning only to get up two hours later.

The long hours were due to their “feast or famine” business cycle. They would go a while with little in the pipeline. Then, when they did get new business, they would need it so much that they would work as hard as possible to get that work done.

Financially, this was draining Lee and his partners. They owed so much that even if they left, the debt would follow them. So, what were the issues?

Too many services

As an agency, they took pride in being a full-service provider, offering everything from full-site development to social media to app development. The strategy was simple — give a quote, and work out the details as you go.

Confused messaging

They said they were “the London service but cheaper than London.” This essentially meant they were a full-service agency engaged in an ongoing race to the bottom to offer the lowest price. That’s not a race you want to win.

Underdeveloped marketing

Another issue was related to their marketing strategy, where they failed to look after their pipeline. Instead, they bought a bunch of data and decided to email 3,000 people who had never heard of them in the hope that someone would respond.

To make matters worse, as the team were busy struggling with these issues, something they had never anticipated happened.

There was a global recession.

Yes, the problems were mounting. But this really is a happy story! To prove it, let’s fast forward to the end.

Man in a suit jacket with arms raised

Event Engine today

Today, Event Engine is a thriving SaaS company that offers consultancy and custom development. They focus specifically on conference organizers in the events industry, finding a niche with a group of businesses called Professional Conference Organizers or PCOs. Within that niche, they are even more focused on those that work with the public sector and pharmaceuticals.

With such a targeted niche, they know exactly what their clients need — and how to give it to them.

They can process big data. They can attract specific industry speakers and sponsors. They can support conferences all around the world.

How did they turn it around?

The catalyst of this transformation came from a simple comment, when someone said to Lee:

This changed everything.

Lee realized that this is exactly what they were doing. They were trying to appeal to everybody and add new services, coming up with random campaign ideas. And none of it was working.

So began their reset journey. Now, looking back, they are able to identify the five stages of transformation they went through: identity, value, platform, output, and future.

Today, we’ll focus on the first three. For a deeper look at all five, check out Lee’s podcast!

1. Identity

In Lee’s case, it became clear that they had an identity crisis. Simply speaking, they didn’t know who they were. The approach they took was to sit down together at the table and have a tough, no-holds-barred conversation.

Here are the questions they asked each other:

  • Why are we running our agency?
  • What are our strengths?
  • Who do we serve?
  • What are their problems/aspirations?
  • How do we help?

If, like Lee and his partners had, you’ve lost the sense of why you’re running your agency, it’s time to look back. Think back to when you first began and take it from there.

Before long, the conversation should turn to key moments in your agency’s history, both good and bad. For Lee, that ranged from business trips and particularly satisfying projects to being sued for a refund.

During this process, you should be able to pick out those key areas where you’ve really excelled in the past. And what you enjoy.

For the partners at Event Engine, this was the events industry. Narrowing it down, they realized they were a team that could work with conference organizers to help them build premium brands and run phenomenal event websites that would allow them to increase footfall and attract higher paying exhibitors and sponsors.

They had found their identity.

Finger pointing at sheet with graphs

2. Value

With this much clearer to them, they were in a better position to understand the value that they would be able to bring.

Remember why you’re awesome

The first thing they became confident about was that they are awesome at what they do. If your business is struggling, your sense of self worth can be affected by that too. But the issue was never that Lee and the team were bad at their jobs — they were just taking on too much.

Identify problems you can solve

Now, with this renewed realization, they knew they were in a position to solve other people’s expensive problems, bringing their years of experience to the table. Professional conference organizers are rarely dedicated to one specific sector, instead just taking advantage of event opportunities as they arise. As a result, they are often tasked with creating a new brand in an area they have no expertise in. This is an area where Lee could help.

You are not a regular agency

In the end, Event Engine came to see themselves as a niche agency with real worth and a specific mission who were able to provide second-to-none support.

By realizing their full value, they were then able to charge much more than they had ever dared to charge before. Their days as a full-service provider were officially over.

3. Platform

A strong identity and clear understanding of their value meant the partners could begin to organize their messaging and develop their marketing strategy.

By knowing who they were serving, they were able to understand exactly where their target audience was and begin bringing in leads. The various tech events that were already on their rader were now sources of new clients and opportunities.

They began targeting the event magazines with highly targeted content to appeal to those people they knew were there. They appeared on podcasts. They got their name out there and in the right channels.

And the rest fell into place. A real, high-value marketing strategy was born.

A rocket about to take off

How do I get started?

Over the next few weeks, you can begin developing your own marketing roadmap for niche success. It all begins with finding your identity.

Following Lee’s advice, you can create a milestone checklist to guide you on your way:

  • I have established my identity
  • I have recognized my worth
  • I have established my platform:
    • I know where to show up
    • I have a brand voice
    • I have planned my messages
    • I have reviewed relevant marketing channels

Once you have completed this checklist, it’s time to show up and get to work!

Where do I go from here?

Finding your niche can be a process of self-discovery, but GoWP’s community of Digital Agency Owners is there to support you along the way. As you begin developing your niche, their combined experience is an invaluable resource in your ongoing success.

You can also check out Lee’s full webinar in the group for more in-depth insight into each step.

Author

Joshua Burns

Joshua Burns

Joss is a Dedicated Copywriter at GoWP, providing partner companies with all the right words. Originally from Ireland, he moved to Spain in 2015 and still lives there to this day. His spare time is generally filled with fun, friends and long hikes in Madrid’s mountains.

You’ll be joining a community of highly-vetted digital agencies and web professionals with one common goal — growth! Learn more. 

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