The Innovative Agency

Intro Today we are diving into some of the work that agency owners do, rather than the behind-the-scenes processes that keep their businesses operating. Email marketing is the topic of the day and we’ve invited Melanie Balke, CEO and Founder of The Email Marketers, to provide her insights on leveraging email marketing in your marketing agency.    What you will learn in this episode:    Why email marketing has remained consistently powerful over the past decade.  The reason social media hasn’t replaced email marketing Why email marketing still works The value of segmentation for email marketers The avoidable costs of not using email marketing Future expectations for AI integration across the field of email marketing   Bio   Melanie Balke is the CEO and Founder of The Email Marketers, your outsourced email marketing team for e-commerce brands and more.   She started her career in Germany in traditional marketing consulting for brands in the automotive, healthcare, and telecommunication space. This allowed her to work with conglomerate brand names such as Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz.   Once she moved to the US, she joined one of the first made-to-order DTC furniture brands as the first marketing hire and helped scale the company to a successful acquisition.   Her passion for email took full focus when she returned to the agency world as the Head of Email Marketing for one of LA's fastest-growing agencies. In 2019, she founded The Email Marketers - an outsourced team of e-commerce email experts that care - to help grow scaling e-commerce businesses' revenue and build lasting customer relationships through email marketing.   Resources:   Website: https://www.theemailmarketers.com/  LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melaniebalke/ LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-email-marketers/

Intro Video marketing initiatives are demanded across every marketing vertical. That’s why Doug Dibert believes video must be a priority for agencies of all sizes. He’s got some great ideas on how to leverage the video medium efficiently too!   What you will learn in this episode:    Why video marketing is in demand across all marketing verticals. The best tactics for video marketing. How and why you should create a video marketing plan.  The importance of video testimonials for agency businesses.  The ideal video length, quality, and posting schedules. How to use video marketing to boost searchability online.    Bio   Doug Dibert, Jr. has been in the world of video marketing since January 2005 when he founded his 1st video marketing agency. He has worked with 100’s of businesses nationally and internationally helping them create video content and video marketing plans. Seeing the future growth of video and the need for any business to quickly create professional video content with no video editing needed, in 2017 he founded the SaaS video marketing platform Magnfi.com and a year later sold his video marketing agency to focus on Magnfi’s growth.    Doug is a highly welcomed speaker at many business strategy events, online or in-person, where he teaches practical how-to methods on how businesses can leverage video content quickly. Doug and his team at Magnfi partner with businesses and digital marketing agencies who want their own in-house scalable video service offering via the Magnfi white label program.   Resources:   Website: https://www.magnfi.com/ LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dougdibertjr-white-label-video-marketing-software/ LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/magnfi/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Magnfi/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Magnfi_Video Free video marketing strategy community: www.videomarketingninjas.com  

Intro Agency leaders commonly place the bulk of their focus on their bottom line. Yet, paying considerable attention to top line productivity is also imperative for those who wish to scale successfully. That’s why Jennifer Smith is joining me today to discuss a necessity for any growth-oriented agency’s top line operations — process documentation.     What you will learn in this episode:    How to eliminate suboptimal processes through process documentation. Where you should get started with process documentation in your agency. Which softwares can be most helpful for process documentation. How to get your team comfortable with documenting processes.  Why it is important to ensure that your team understands how process documentation benefits them in the long run. The benefits of making your agency’s information scalable.  How to leverage process documentation during an acquisition.    Bio   Jennifer Smith is CEO and co-founder of Scribe, a software company that automatically creates process documentation for you. A Princeton and HBS alumni, she previously was a technology investor and advisor at McKinsey and VC firm Greylock Partners.   Resources:   Website: https://scribe.com/ LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferreneesmith/ LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/scribehow/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ScribeHow/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/scribeonline Free Guide Resource: https://scribehow.com/home  

Intro Agency owners rarely see a year like 2023, where a new technology shakes the landscape and makes many of their legacy processes obsolete. Yet, that is exactly what we are encountering with the widespread adoption of modern AI-powered technologies. The future doesn’t have to be bleak, though. That’s why Steve Pockross is here to help agency leaders find out how they can keep their businesses afloat while contending with the massive shift toward AI-enhanced services.  What you will learn in this episode:    How to handle clients inquiring about the viability of AI. Why AI tools are so dominant. How you can integrate AI tools in your production processes.  Why fast and cheap aren’t the best benchmarks for determining the viability of using AI in your businesses. Where your focus should be during an upcoming market downturn. The difference between wartime management styles and peacetime management styles and why it matters.    Bio Steve Pockross brings more than 20 years of startup, Fortune 500, and nonprofit experience to his role at Verblio. As CEO, he applies leading marketplace and SaaS principles to create an industry-leading content creation platform with 3,000 writers supporting the creation of high-quality content at scale in every niche.   Steve was part of the early management team at marketplace services pioneer LiveOps, growing the company into the largest virtual contact center in the world. At LiveOps, Steve served as vice president of business development and strategy, and also spearheaded the creation of the award-winning LiveOps Foundation. He also served in marketing, strategy, and operational leadership roles at Tendril, Western Union, Marketing Technologies Group, and HSBC.   Steve received his MBA from Kellogg School of Business and his MA in history from Wesleyan University. Outside the office, Steve is a Denver native and enjoys ultimate frisbee, telemark skiing, practicing his Portuguese, and spending time with his two boys. And while he’s not bullish, he’s still hoping for a second career as a Brazilian rockstar. Resources:   Website: https://www.verblio.com/ LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/spockross/ LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/verblio/ Yes, and Marketing Podcast  

Intro Sometimes the market takes a nosedive, but that doesn’t mean your agency should be stopped in its tracks. Our guest, Gini Dietrich, offers her perspective on overcoming fear and negativity when your agency is faced with the unknown. She also provides insight into building authority in your niche as well as diversifying to survive future economic downturns.    What you will learn in this episode:    How fear and negative thinking can keep agency leaders from building an effective safety net.  What it takes to pivot away from fear and stand up to negativity from yourself and others.  How to recognize the early indicators of an economic downturn or recession.  Why it is critical that agency leaders understand their precise production costs. The benefits of content development. How you can use the intellectual property in your brain to boost revenue and streamline production.  How to produce and promote content for your personal brand.    Bio   Gini Dietrich is the founder and CEO of Arment Dietrich, a Chicago-based integrated marketing communications firm.    She is the lead blogger at the PR and marketing blog, Spin Sucks, is co-author of Marketing In the Round, and is co-host of Inside PR, a weekly podcast about communications and social media.    Resources:   Website: https://spinsucks.com/ LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ginidietrich/ LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/spinsucks/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ginidietrich  

Intro When you first started or joined your agency, becoming a 7-figure business may not have been the goal. Yet, as you’ve grown alongside the business, your sights could have shifted toward greater ambitions. In this latest episode, Corey Quinn, an experienced sales leader, will help you overcome past setbacks and get closer to achieving your agency’s current financial objectives.   What you will learn in this episode:    The importance of niching rather than being a generalist agency.  How to let your clients be the hero of the stories you portray.  Unique methods of developing business using cold approaches.  Why it helps to create an “assembly line” for your business development process.  How to leverage customers throughout the process of choosing a niche. The value of productizing your agency’s service offerings.    Bio Corey Quinn has a 25-year track record of extraordinary success as an entrepreneur, sales leader, and CMO for a $150M+ company. Today, he helps B2B SaaS and Agencies grow from 7 figures to 8 by doing less, not more.   Resources:   Website: https://www.coreyquinn.com/ LinkedIn Personal: linkedin.com/in/coreyquinn Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coreyquinn Twitter: https://twitter.com/coreyquinn Newsletter: https://www.coreyquinn.com/newsletter

Intro   When a marketing agency is faced with a nearly dry pipeline, leadership’s first instinct may be to panic. Today’s guest, John Heenan, expresses the importance of reinforcing your business development efforts before this happens. Even if the things that have worked in the past are no longer working for your agency, his suggestions may offer you the information you need to course correct and generate new business.    What you will learn in this episode:    Why new agencies shouldn’t focus solely on early success.  The importance of reflecting on what is currently in high-demand within your niche.  What it means to lack “freshness” in your pipeline and how to combat this issue.  How to develop an effective prospecting program for your agency.  Some ways to recalibrate your current prospecting strategy to suit marketplace demands. An honest comparison of virtual pitching and in-person pitching.     Bio   John Heenan started on the client side in marketing. During that time, he established an in-house agency, managed multi-million dollar marketing budgets, hired and fired agencies, and pushed brands to new heights. John then joined the dark side as an agency new business leader. He worked at various small and mid-size ad agencies, standing up and managing new business programs that have generated millions of dollars in new revenue.    John left his last firm seven years ago to consult with agencies that need help finding and engaging with new clients. He applies his experience and practical know-how to agencies who want to start, restart or reimagine their business development efforts; agencies who want to win more and better clients.    Resources:   Website: https://www.jheenan.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jheenan/  

Intro Winning consistent business hinges on filling your pipeline with right-fit prospects. Leveraging authority-building tactics like speaking and writing is one way to achieve this. Today’s guest, Henry DeVries, describes how you can help your clients develop lasting relationships with their customers, while also deepening their credibility within the industry.    What you will learn in this episode:    How to leverage authority-building tactics in your marketing strategies. What role a cornerstone plays in your marketing projects.  How to write a book that builds your authority and credibility.  The best ways to measure the ROI of authority marketing.  How to define who you want to talk to and what audience you are targeting.    Bio Henry DeVries began his career at the age of six on the family dairy farm. Due to a merger and acquisition, he was forced out of the agriculture industry at the age of 12. He turned to marketing and as an agency owner he made big plans and watched them go horribly wrong. Today he is the CEO of Indie Books Intl., a weekly columnist for Forbes.com, and has written 17 books on sales and marketing, including "Marketing With A Book For Agency Owners."   Resources:   Websites: www.indiebooksintl.com www.forbes.com/sites/henrydevries https://marketingwithabook.com/ Linkedin Personal: http://www.linkedin.com/in/henryjdevries LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/indie-books-international/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/indiebooksinternational Twitter: https://twitter.com/indiebooksintl  

Intro Brick-and-mortar agencies are not entirely a thing of the past, but recent tech innovations and market trends have made operating a virtual agency more achievable than ever. Our guest, Peter Sayn-Wittgenstein, explains how he successfully planned and launched his agency using a fully virtual business model.    What you will learn in this episode:    How to establish your agency to be suitable for virtual operations.  What separates brick-and-mortar agencies from their virtual counterparts.  The current public perception of virtual marketing agencies.  How virtual agencies can leverage capital in ways different than brick-and-mortar firms. How to nurture a sustainable agency culture remotely.    Bio   Peter Sayn-Wittgenstein is partner and creative director at Big Day the Agency. Before co-founding Big Day, Peter was the executive creative director at Mirum/Wunderman Thompson in San Diego. While there, he led U.S. creative for Shell retail, ran Royal Caribbean’s B2B account and oversaw global digital creative for Rolex. He got his start as a copywriter working at MacLaren McCann, Proximity Worldwide and SapientNitro, working with clients including Sony, Doritos, FedEx and GM. Before all that, Peter wrote television shows, but made the move to advertising because he wanted fewer egos, less politics…and better snacks.   Resources: Website: https://bigdaytheagency.com/ LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pswprofile/ LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/big-day-the-agency/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bigdaytheagency/  

Intro Our latest guest, Paul Boag, believes that agency owners should never underestimate the long-term value of optimizing the user experience (UX) elements of their agency’s client-facing processes and platforms. During the episode, he explains how focusing on UX strategy can increase profits for you and your clients!   What you will learn in this episode:    How to fine-tune customer and user experiences.  What touchpoints are available to agency leaders who hope to improve their UX offerings. The best approach for offering UX development and UX strategy services to clients.     Why positioning your agency as a consultancy and strategic advisor elevates your brand’s value.  The importance of valuing knowledge and expertise over deliverables.  How to avoid “giving away the product” in unpaid strategic conversations with clients.  Why you need to focus on the meaning your user experience offers clients, not just your internal team.    Bio   Paul Boag is a leader in conversion optimization, digital strategy and user experience design. He has been working with diverse organisations such as The European Commission, PUMA, and Doctors Without Borders for over 25 years. Through consultancy and training, he helps organizations better connect with today’s digital consumers.   Paul is also a well-respected figure in the digital sector. He is the author of six books, including Click, Digital Adaptation, and User Experience Revolution. Finally, he is a prolific writer for numerous publications, including his blog, and regularly speaks internationally.    Resources:   Website: https://boagworld.com/boagworks/ LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulboag/ LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/boagworks/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/boagworld Paul's additional online resources: https://boagworld.com/subscribe/