Smart Agency Podcast: The #1 Digital Agency Podcast for Social Media, SEO, PPC & Creative Agencies

Wondering how you can use LinkedIn to generate new business? Are you sending out generic connection requests that lead with a pitch? Disappointed that you're not getting the results you expected? LinkedIn can be an amazing platform for capturing the attention of your ideal clients if you do it right. Here's what your agency is probably doing wrong and the three simple steps to turn-it around right away.

In this episode, we’ll cover:

  • 3 step strategy to LinkedIn success.
  • One simple lead generation hack for gaining new prospects.

Today I chatted with Dennis Brown founder of Ask Dennis Brown, a LinkedIn marketing and social selling agency. As a serial entrepreneur, Dennis was admittedly a social media naysayer. While starting his third company he decided to try out LinkedIn and with some persistence, he landed a 6-figure client and became a believer. Today he shares his simple and successful strategy for LinkedIn that you can implement for marketing agency immediately.

3 Step Strategy To LinkedIn Success

The most important thing with any social media strategy is to have a system and be consistent with it. Dennis’s strategy is simple: The 3 C’s: Create, Connect and Convert.

1- CREATE

First create a profile or customer avatar for the perfect prospect. Then, create a compelling LinkedIn profile. Don’t treat this like a resume, instead this should be built like a personal or agency branding page. Follow these 5 steps for creating your agency's LinkedIn profile.

2- CONNECT

Use your agency’s customer avatar to find new clients and then use the advanced search options in LinkedIn. Research, research, research. Compile sales intelligence, such as personal information, what are their ping points, where do they get their information? Use this sales intelligence to create a customized connection request and make it personal. The key here, is in customizing this connection request, which can double or triple the response rate vs. a blind, automated connection request.

3- CONVERT

Do not think of this as converting to a sale but instead convert them into a fan. Get the prospective clients to engage with you, either through content your agency is publishing or through LinkedIn messenger. Put together hyper-focused content and remember, this is not a sales pitch. Your agency wants to create content relative to the prospect, or directly related to that market, so use language the client speaks, and provide information they care about. Think of it in the lines of a drip sequence, without the automation. Lastly, provide value and offer to connect your prospect with someone of value to them and their business. Leverage your agency’s network, while ultimately giving value to both parties.

Remember: It's not about you, it’s about them.

One Simple Lead Gen Hack For Gaining New Prospects

Do you find when you ask for referrals they don't usually pan out? This can be for one of two reason. Either the client is uncomfortable because you put them on the spot. Or, they are not ready to start referring your agency because you haven't proved yourself yet. That's OK because referrals are not scalable! But, if you have a premium LinkedIn account try this simple lead generation hack.

With a premium account:

Take a look at your clients LinkedIn connections and see who they know, that you wish you knew :) Search for decision makers of other brands, based on what your agency is looking for and who you hope to work with.

Next, create a list of prospects you're interested in and share the list with your client. Then, ask for an intro/referral. By doing the work for them and bringing them specifics it increases your  chances of your client passing along the referral or helping make the connection.

Mine for the connections --> Create relevance --> Ask for the introduction

Need Guidance and Support to Grow Your Agency 3X Faster?

Are you overwhelmed by all the information out there on various ways to grow your agency? Do you want direction on how you can grow your agency faster and easier?

Then you’re in luck! I created an innovative mentorship called Agency University.

Agency University is a program which provides the 1-on-1 mentorship and ongoing support that is crucial to the success of your agency. Click here to see if it’s the right fit for you.

Direct download: 3_Steps_For_Using_LinkedIn_To_Turn_Connections_Into_Agency_Clients.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am MDT

Are you avoiding third party apps for social media posting? Do you want a better, faster, and easier way to schedule your social media marketing? Do you feel automated social post scheduling negatively affects your reach? Then it’s time to hear some surprising and encouraging results from the guy who knows all the ins and outs. Don’t stop scheduling, reposting, and automating until you hear all about it.

In today’s episode, we’ll cover:

  • Should your agency repost your content marketing?
  • 3 tests on the big 3: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
  • Does automating your posts hurt your agency’s reach?

Today I chatted with Emeric Ernoult, Co-founder and CEO of Agorapulse, an international social media management software company, serving over 3500 clients around the world. With over 17 years experience working within communities and social media, as well as SAAS, Emeric brings interesting data and insight into how we should be managing our agency’s and/or clients social media accounts.

Should Your Agency Repost Your Content Marketing?

That is the question, and you’re going to hear arguments on both sides of the discussion. Some say reposting content makes sense and keeps a more recent engagement. Some say it is totally worthless and not the point of social media. So what’s the right answer? There isn’t one.

But, that doesn’t mean there aren’t tests that can be done and data to be had, so that’s what Emeric and his team at Agorapulse did, they tested.

3 Tests On The Big 3 Social Media Platforms

Facebook

Test: Repeat a specific piece of content, 7 times across a 6-7 week period.

Findings: The level of engagement on the posts in weeks 6 and 7, were the same as the posts in weeks 1, 2 and 3.

Twitter

Test: Analyze 3 months worth of data on a Twitter user, who has an extensive schedule of tweeting every 15 minutes and repeating those tweets, every 4 days.

Findings: The average number of impressions, the average number for engagement and the average amount of link links were very steady, so much so, that if you look at the data over the span of a year, there was no decrease and the variations being minimal.

LinkedIn

Test: Take an insightful post, written by Emeric, and repeat the content at the exact same time every 5 days.

Findings: The amount of engagement was small at first, but over the course of weeks, the numbers for engagement would spike. The post could go from 139 clicks on day 2, to 1995 clicks on day 5. This just reinforced that you never know when someone will bump into your agency’s post on LinkedIn.

Do Third Party Posting Applications Hurt Your Agency’s Reach?

After getting feedback from a group of social media managers, and having 80% of them confirm their fears of utilizing third party vendors for posting, it was time to run another test:

Emeric decided to run a test through the Social Media Lab by Agorapulse, with the end result being that a third party management application does NOT affect reach. You can read about his findings here and here.

Knowing that kind of information definitely helps put a mind at ease and allows you to start exploring a third party application, like Agorapulse, to help simplify your social media posting needs and so much more.

Need Guidance and Support to Grow Your Agency 3X Faster?

Are you overwhelmed by all the information out there on various ways to grow your agency? Do you want direction on how you can grow your agency faster and easier?

Then you’re in luck! I created an innovative mentorship called Agency University.

Agency University is a program which provides the 1-on-1 mentorship and ongoing support that is crucial to the success of your agency. Click here to see if it’s the right fit for you.

Direct download: Do_Third_Party_Posting_Apps_Impact_Your_Agencys_Social_Media_.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am MDT

Wondering how you can use Instagram to drum up new business? Want to break through social media clutter and build your agency’s brand and authority? Then it’s not too late to get on the Instagram train. This is one simple, easy inbound marketing strategy you can start implementing right now to build your community and fill your new business pipeline.

In this episode, we’ll cover:

  • One easy approach to niching down.
  • Can Instagram work for marketing agencies?
  • A simple Instagram content formula.

Today I chatted with Steve Larosiliere, founder and president of the non-profit, Stoked, as well as founder and owner of SawmillBusiness.com, a super-niched marketing agency. With an extremely focused industry specialization, Steve has been able to become the authority in the portable sawmill, wood and lumber industry. He has an easy tactic to find the niche for his agency and a simple Instagram strategy to build a community that comes to him for their marketing needs. Steve shares tips with us on building authority, community and brand through Instagram.

One Easy Approach to Niching Down

We’ve discussed niches before and we’ll probably discuss this again. Does your agency have a niche? Do you know why you need one? Is your agency holding out, because you just don’t know where to start?

Steve has an easy approach:

  • Think about an industry that is important to you or your family/friends - something you can relate to.
    • Pick a niche that people are fanatically obsessed with.
    • Encourage great user-generated content.
  • Start calling people, lots of people, in that industry, CEO’s, marketing directors, etc
  • Gather information about the #1 problem they are facing.
  • Build your agency’s business around solving that problem.
  • Stay super focused on the industry - learn their special nuances, terms of the trade, etc.

Think of your agency as the media outlet for this specific field. Make it your agency’s business to promote, celebrate and highlight that industry.

Can Instagram Work for Marketing Agencies?

YES! Building a brand takes a lot of work. Be patient.

Your agency can build a lot of authority on Instagram. Combine different mediums and cross-promote, such as use posts Instagram to support your podcast. Use that to filter down into the niche and supplement with back channel conversations, either through direct message in order to find out how you can help people. Use DM to build relationships and trust.

Share the best work, the most beautiful things. Repost and use the hashtags your audience is using so they can find you. This will help build a community and a brand.

3 Simple Steps to Growing Instagram Followers

  1. To encourage growth, connect with influencers in the niche. Go to a certain set of hashtags and start engaging with the top followed.
  2. Put out goodwill content first and foremost. Engage, converse, share/repost.
  3. Occasionally drive traffic to a landing page. Grow your lists with a lead magnet to capture the leads you’re generating. Put out an offer that solves a problem. A low-ticket foot in the door offer works best.

Remember, with Instagram you’re creating a story to share. Create memories. Highlight the things that mean something.

Be where your agency’s clients are. Put out good stuff. Be innovative. Don’t compare your agency to what others are doing. Instead build upon what you think is right and create your own path to success.

Check out Steve’s on Instagram at @stevelaros

Need Guidance and Support to Grow Your Agency 3X Faster?

Are you overwhelmed by all the information out there on various ways to grow your agency? Do you want direction on how you can grow your agency faster and easier?

Then you’re in luck! I created an innovative mentorship called Agency University.

Agency University is a program which provides the 1-on-1 mentorship and ongoing support that is crucial to the success of your agency. Click here to see if it’s the right fit for you.

Direct download: How_to_Build_Authority__Generate_New_Business_With_Instagram.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am MDT

Ready for your agency sales to takeoff? Want to drive traffic, generate leads, and create new opportunities that will grow and scale your agency? Digital marketing agency guru Neil Patel shares his #1 outbound strategy for scoring the clients you want to work with.

In this episode, we’ll cover:

  • 3 Steps to growing new agency business.
  • One big growth challenge and advice to overcome it.

Neil Patel is a serial entrepreneur focused on helping businesses grow through digital marketing. He is well-known in the digital marketing space as an author, speaker, and agency co-founder at Neil Patel. I’m honored to have him as a guest on the show so he can share his experience as a startup agency owner. Today Neil shares some really valuable tips on getting scrappy so you can scale your agency.

Beginning as a self-taught marketer at the age of 16, Neil has become one of the best digital marketing. Like many of us, he’s an accidental agency owner who knew how to do something cool that people are willing to pay for, and turned it into a business. In Neil’s case, he “something cool” is SEO.

3 Steps to Grow New Agency Business

#1- Make your hit list.

Make a list of your ideal clients and be specific with who you want to work with. Who can you help that is within your niche and area of expertise? Then use a source like Crunchbase to find out the CEO, investors and decision-makers.

#2 - Do targeted research.

Use industry resources to know what they’re spending on the services you provide. Neil suggested tools such as: Google keyword planner, SEMrush, and his own UberSuggest to research spend amounts.

#3 - Reach out.

Once you’ve done the research on your prospect, then make contact. Neil says it’s important not to sell services, but instead sell a solution. To do this, explain what they’re doing wrong, what could be done better and how you would fix it. I know it’s hard, but go old school and PICK. UP. THE. PHONE. Cold calling as an outbound strategy can be a total game changer.

Advice for Digital Agency Owners

It’s not easy to grow an agency. If you’re willing to do the grind, great. If not, you’re not going to do well.” ~ Neil Patel

It’s all about the hard work and the hustle. I always tell agency owners that if you’re building an agency just to create a job for yourself, you’ll struggle the entire time. You’ve got to be passionate about the agency space, the niche you’re in and the clients you’re helping. That’s the only way you’ll succeed and thrive.

Neil says his biggest challenge in the beginning was knowing how to scale with a team. He felt the entire hiring and training process was completely trial and error. In hindsight he would advise his old self to hire people who know how to fill their role instead of training up.

Need Guidance and Support to Grow Your Agency 3X Faster?

Are you overwhelmed by all the information out there on various ways to grow your agency? Do you want direction on how you can grow your agency faster and easier?

Then you’re in luck! I created an innovative mentorship called Agency University.

Agency University is a program which provides the 1-on-1 mentorship and ongoing support that is crucial to the success of your agency. Click here to see if it’s the right fit for you.

Direct download: 1_Outbound_Strategy_To_Grow_Your_Digital_Agency_Like_Neil_Patel.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am MDT

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