You’re finally living the dream of starting an SEO business – except that it’s not exactly how you imagined.
You’re barely able to meet the expectations of clients. You’re agency still has the same amount of staff working on projects as when you started. Your revenue shows no signs of leaping anytime soon. That agency that you’ve been dreaming of owning seems to have turned into a nightmare.
I might be exaggerating, but let’s face it. There comes a time when you’ve asked yourself, “Where did I go wrong?”
But, don’t worry. You’re not the only one who has experienced this. Digital marketing agencies – even the seasoned ones – have hit a wall and made a few mistakes at a certain point. This doesn’t mean you let those problems stop you, though.
Problem #1: Manpower and Time Management
Find clients, pitch the service, send deliverables, then report back to clients – this is often painted as the routine of a digital marketing agency. That’s far from the truth, though. In between pitching services and sending deliverables is the actual work that needs to be done, and this is where most agencies often fail.
Some agencies like to be hands-on when it comes to fulfillment and delivery, and it’s completely logical because they want the best for clients. It’s this very reason that causes them to lose focus on what matters to their business: growth.
Giving 100% of your attention on delivery for existing clients means you’re losing time and manpower on finding new ones. This is a domino effect in the making. Without new clients, there’s no new source of revenue coming in. Without new revenue, the business reaches a plateau.
Solution: Don’t Take Everything on Your Own
You can’t micromanage your way into everything. There are bigger things that you need to focus on, and you can’t do this if you’re stuck doing keyword research for one client and building links for another. To put it simply, there’s a clear distinction between getting things done for your clients and doing things for your clients on your own.
Sometimes, it’s best to free your hands of work and pass off the hat. One route you can take is by getting white label SEO services. The beauty about going on the white label track is everything will still be under your agency’s brand even if somebody else is doing the heavy lifting.
White label SEO companies offer reseller programs that cover the needs of your agency in terms of client deliverables. Think of them as your team doing the backend work while you go about your daily rounds of talking to clients face-to-face.
It’s a win-win situation for everyone. You get more time to explore opportunities, take care of your existing clients, find new ones, and scale your business, all while giving clients the results they deserve and complete satisfaction with your agency’s work.
Problem #2: Not Using a Systematic Toolset
Working in the digital marketing industry is like a race. If you’re not fast enough, you get left behind.
To keep up with the demand of clients and show competitiveness in the industry, some agencies subscribe to tools for efficient fulfillment and reporting. It makes the work easier, yes. But, with the amount of integrations you make and the process of cross-checking data from one tool to another, you’ll soon realize how unsystematic you’ve been all along.
In the end, you’re wasting time and effort.
Solution: You Don’t Need Everything – Just the Tools that Matter
You can use as many tools as necessary, but remember to choose them. Better yet, find one that doesn’t involve a lot of integrations.
You can get these tools from some of your white label SEO providers. SEOReseller, for instance, offers a comprehensive white label dashboard that allows their agency partners to utilize different tools in one place. The dashboard not only provides an overview of what’s happening in campaigns for each of the agency’s client, but also includes intuitive features such as the Lead Generator, Marketing Automation, and CRM. With SEOReseller, you’re already solving two problems: lacking manpower and time management, and not having a systematic toolset in place.
Of course, tools would be useless if they don’t fit into your methodology. That’s another thing that you can cross out from your agency checklist if you start reselling SEO. As you work with your white label SEO provider, you’ll have a better grasp of how the tools you’re using are reinforcing your methodology. This allows you to save time, effort, and most importantly, money, because you’re investing in tools and strategies that have an impact on your agency’s and client’s bottomline.
Problem #3: Lack of Communication
Communication is a double edged sword for most digital marketing agencies that have the perfect balance of communicating with the clients regularly enough to be up to date, and at the same time, communicate deadlines effectively within their teams.
The challenge remains being able to ‘tap’ your clients regularly enough so they’re aware of your proactive contributions towards their success, be in relation to SEO, PPC, Social Media, Web Development or Reputation Management.
Solution: Plan Ahead – Your Team can Manage the Distractions
One of the most effective ways of managing communication is relying on a minimal set of factors that assist in planning your daily habits to help your business grow. This works in four directions: from your client to you, your team to you, and vice versa.
Practicing the combination of setting calendar reminders through your email account, paired with the practice of Inbox Zero, prepares you for scalable communication with your clients.
Ensure that you have contingencies in place, so you don’t end up over-promising and under-delivering, the reality is that you want to under-promise and over-deliver for that ‘wow’ service factor. Lightweight communication touches with clients will help you get there.
Above all else, enable your team to work on your distractions. As an agency owner, your sole responsibility is to perpetually feed fresh clients and new business to your team exponentially to grow.
Problem #4: Not Trying New Strategies
Digital marketing isn’t one smooth road; you’ll be facing some curves every now and then. The difference between good agencies and the great ones is the latter are more accepting to changes and implementing new strategies.
If you’re too hesitant to try new strategies, fulfillment will suffer. Clients will see that what you’re doing now is not effective, and this results in business loss. The worst thing you can do is remain stagnant and plateau growth.
Agencies that know how to adapt to what’s current and have the confidence to implement new, scalable strategies are usually the ones that emerge on the top and be successful.
Solution: Don’t Be Afraid to Try and Test New Strategies
One word: experiment.
With how volatile the digital marketing landscape is, you can always find opportunities to learn. The more you expose your agency to innovation, the closer you get to finding out what works best for your agency and your clients. This is something that you can get when you start working with a white label SEO provider.
But, why do you need a white label provider when you can strategize on your own? Simple – you get expert knowledge from specialists. They’re trained to learn how the digital landscape works, so you have an extra set of minds to help you try and test new strategies. This also makes it easier to implement a methodology that suits your client’s business.
Highlights:
To sum, here are key points your agency should always keep in mind:
- Focus on executing excellent service; your work defines you more than your pitch.
- Hire the right talent to work on your distractions so you can focus on growing your business.
- Leverage software solutions to manage your team, your clients and your time together.
- Understand your business workflow and create scalable processes that can be replicated.
- Don’t be afraid to test new tools and implementations to improve your business—the worst thing you can do is remain still.
This post was sponsored by SEOReseller.com, the leading provider of White Label SEO services and software.
