Digital marketing is all about strong relationships and consistent, long-term trust in the strategy.
However, to form these pillars of marketing, an agency and client must come to understand how the other operates.
As a white label digital marketing agency, Agency Stack has honed its craft of client relations. This allows us to fully understand our clients and their clients in turn.
Over our years of operation, we’ve created a formula that works to set the foundation for a successful working relationship, and tailor it to suit the dynamics of each client.
We hope this article serves you well as you onboard future clients and build partnerships that last.
Host a Discovery Meeting
Whether you prefer in-person or remote meetings, a discovery session is the first step to understanding a prospect and giving them an insight into your operation.
Depending on your workflow, this consultation could happen as early as a cold call, or you could book it in ahead of time. The latter would allow you to perform some surface-level research to understand the prospect’s industry and what their campaign could look like.
In the meeting, spend time discussing the business’s pain points and those of its customers. If they work in a niche industry with complex products or services, make sure to completely understand what it is that they’re selling.
Ask questions like: what problem does your product solve? Who is your target audience? What is the product’s unique selling proposition (USP)?
If there are any questions your prospect can’t answer, consider these gaps as an opportunity for you to sell your services. A capable marketing agency should be capable of the groundwork to define these elements, forming the building blocks of the campaign.
In the discovery session, give the prospect a good idea of your agency’s values, scope of services, and relevant case studies. These initial interactions are as much about selling yourself as they are about gauging your client’s needs.
By opening up to each other, both agency and prospect form a trust bond that can cement the partnership for the long term.
Introduce Your Team
A great way to earn the trust of your future client is to introduce the brains behind the business.
More than a proof-of-life scenario, the prospect should be given an insight into who could be delivering their marketing content and how each individual brings value to their investment.
Of course, there’s no need to introduce everyone at your agency – just the ones directly involved with the campaign.
If your agency doesn’t have the personnel on deck to represent your output (for example, you plan on white labelling), Agency Stack’s team will gladly whack on your team badge and a welcoming smile. We’ll do anything we can do to garner trust in your business.
Set Them Apart
Once you’ve had these initial meetings and everyone’s familiar with each other, it’s time to get into the meat of the marketing. You’ll need to understand what sets the client apart in order to define their unique selling proposition (USP).
Doing so will allow you to create content that makes them memorable in the minds of their audience, setting them apart for the better.
Before you can define a USP, however, you’ll need to know what the competition is already doing. Simply ask the client who their biggest competitors are and visit the digital footprint of said businesses.
If you’re really sneaky, you could even give these competitors a covert call and ask them what they believe their own USP is.
Assess social media profiles, websites, and any Google search results you can find organically. Be generous – be honest about what these competitors do well, and consider what elements are worth imitating and which are worth doing away with.
Once you understand the competition, you can put these insights into action and position the client as a go-to solution for the audience.
Review Marketing History
Many clients who approach an agency will be well aware of how their previous attempts have gone – they may even reveal horror stories of other agencies who couldn’t get the job done – learn from these!
Get to know what marketing processes have previously worked for the client and what made their jobs even harder.
If they found previous agencies held too many meetings for not enough results, take this on board and maximise the value of each interaction.
If previous campaigns realised strong results from an unlikely audience, harness this and see what can be learned.
Gauge Their Objectives
Business objectives inform marketing objectives inform campaign objectives.
Without understanding the former, you’ll have no chance of developing relevant campaign objectives. Without campaign objectives, your deliverables will lack purpose and punch, leaving the client wanting more for their money.
Once trust has been built between your agency and the client, it’ll come time for them to bare their business’s soul and discuss what we’re all here for.
An example of their business goals may be an increase in quarterly revenue, an expansion into a new region, or the retention of employees.
Each of these goals can only be achieved with effective marketing content that comes from the heart of who the company is.
Take these goals seriously and respectfully. As each piece of content is delivered, be ready to explain how it ties back to the client’s objectives and reinforce its need in the campaign. Some clients will trust you wholeheartedly without ever asking the purpose of the content, while others will request a full rundown to ensure their budget is being used wisely.
Whichever side of the fence they fall, the client is always right (in this instance!).
Learn More from Agency Stack
Tune in next week for our next article on how to define a company’s value, tone of voice, target audience, social media pillars, and branding. It’s a big one!
Our team of copywriters, designers, SEO experts, and account managers are putting their heads together to act on our clients’ marketing needs. If you need a steady hand to guide you towards stronger client relations, book a consultation with our team today. We can’t wait to introduce ourselves!