The Kaffeen Annual Survey part 2

If you’ve listened to part one, you’ll know that back in February and March this year Charlotte Ellis Maldari spoke to design agencies up and down (and in some cases, out) of the country for the Kaffeen Annual Survey.

The culmination of these discussions is split across two episodes of our shiny new podcast, which are packed full of juicy insights into the state of marketing and new business activities in design agencies just like yours. This part two, and you can find the preceding episode here.

The survey remains open. Here’s the link if you’d like the opportunity to vent your marketing wins and woes. 

Transcript

When asked “What do you want to improve, and is worth the time to do so?”, many respondents answered: Cold calling/emailing.

Many agencies know that this is a key to forging new connections, but feel like they need to overcome fear to get started. Again, this is another area that I believe is overthought by design bods. If you’re not naturally a salesperson, it can feel like an impossible task at the outset. I might add, needlessly, because I've seen many successes and can’t quite believe how effective it is once they have a method in place.

You’re listening to Kaffeen Espresso, a shiny new podcast series that delves into the way we grow our design business. I’m Charlotte Ellis Maldari, a new business, and marketing consultant, and every other week I’ll be interviewing a guest, taking your questions, or delving deep into a topic that clients struggle with, and generally try to make growing your agency feel more achievable and less like a job that keeps getting pushed off the to-do list.

It’s an excuse for me to pick the brains of some of the people I most admire and address topics that pique my interest. Like how not to feel yucky in the sales role. What do clients want from their new agency? And how to not spend half of your studio resources each month on new business. This is a podcast that combines little things and big things. Because as you know, managing an agency is made up of both.

Today, I’ll be running through the second half of the results from the Kaffeen Annual Survey.

Back in February and March this year I spoke to agencies up and down (and in some cases, out) of the country, asking them the same nine questions about how they handle marketing and new business in their agency.
This survey is, at least in part, a selfish endeavour. It helps me to get a clearer picture of what are collective challenges amongst agencies beyond my coaching clients, and to shape which products to build next. You can check out which already exist at Kaffeen.club.

I found the majority of agency owners I approached preferred to discuss their answers, rather than complete an online form, which means that the results were much more in-depth and juicy than I expected. For their part, most agency owners were relieved to have talked through their challenges and wins. It seems even in a competitive agency-world, a problem shared is a problem halved.

The survey remains open, and you can find a link in the show notes if you’d like the opportunity to vent your marketing wins and woes.

Before I dig into the results, here is a little bit of background about the survey.

• The survey had a total of 43 respondents

• 5% were design agencies of over 100 people

• 20% were 20 - 100 people

• 75% were design agencies of less than 20 people

• All have a mostly FMCG clientele

I followed set questions in a google survey, but as mentioned, I conducted most of the interviews by phone call (with me scribbling up the answers as we talked) which allowed for a more in-depth discussion on exciting points.

Because conversations were free-flowing, the output is a veritable forest of information. And because of that, I’ve split the content into two episodes. Your listening to the second half, and you can find the first on Spotify. Just search Kaffeen Espresso.

It’s worth saying that the phone calls took place pre-COVID, and the answers might be a little different now. However, the recent consultations I’ve been having with design businesses of 2-10 indicate that the break-in pace has allowed them to focus more heavily on their marketing and new business activities. Most expressed relief about this, and because of the FMCG nature of the majority of their clients, most didn’t seem too fearful of what was to come.

So let’s get stuck in:

Question 4 was ‘what area would you focus on first if you had time/money to do so?’

33.3% said finding and talking to new business prospects

33.3% wanted to address speaking at events and generally creating a culture of thought leadership

16.7% felt a priority was moving existing connections from digital to physical

16.7% would focus on the website and online presence

Question 5 was ‘when you think about marketing, what’s currently working for you?’

I imagine this is where most of your ears are going to prick up!

These results are not weighted, so are the extensive list of what is working for agencies.

Referrals - it was great to hear that agencies are encouraging existing clients to talk about them, either anecdotally, or with a formalised referral campaign.

Speaking and generally being visibly proud about our work (and not talking about other peoples work) - many of those I spoke to couldn’t get over the fear of talking about themselves. But the ones who have seen a massive benefit. With many of their new project wins referring to the recently-pressed project when hiring the agency.

Focusing on being creative thinkers and not designers - this is an interesting point, and a hard one to communicate. But if you can come to be considered as a creative problem-solving partner, rather than a design execution house, the shift will reap more fun projects and higher revenue in return.

Focus on nurturing clients who’ll take risks - in a similar vein to the previous point, being able to weed out those prospects who don’t see the full value your agency brings is crucial to your growth.

Going to trade shows - even though clients aren't looking to hire at tradeshows, many agencies commented that it’s a great way to make connections in person, identify trends and generally see the world they operate in. As a side note, I have some valuable tips on this if you can’t make it to events in person, in my upcoming events toolkit. Make sure you’re subscribed to get more info.

Being in co-working space - who knows what’ll happen to the world of co-working post COVID, but at least before lockdown, agencies saw projects coming in from other companies with desk space in the building. One company I spoke to, said that they move WeWork locations every six months to make the most of the revenue that the community spirit can bring.

Speaking at events - was referenced as hard work to crack, but valuable once you’re in the door. I beg to differ and think that speaking at events is one of the easiest, cheapest and most effective marketing levers an agency has. Again, you’re going to want to get my upcoming events toolkit if that sounds of interest to your agency.

Pro-bono work (that leads to exciting paying work) - although I wouldn't recommend working for free to generate paying clients, I do think there is value in reducing your rate to win a client in a specific niche, that allows you to win further new business of a higher value.

Cold calling - one particular agency dedicates one day per week to it agency-wide, meaning everyone gets involved. It has a 25% meeting rate, as it’s super targeted, and has the advantage of helping everyone to understand the value of new business to the agency.

Finally, the website and social media - i think the site is a never-ending project that’s easy to get caught up in. Aim for completion, not perfection. Equally, think hard about where your prospects spend their time before choosing your social media channels.

Question 6 - What do you want to improve, and is worth the time to do so?

The number one response was learning about how to cut out time-wasters quickly and effectively, eliciting budget expectations early. I think this is an issue for so many people because they dedicate so much time to making the phone ring, it’s hard to dismiss opportunity when it comes knocking, albeit with too little money.

Improve the consistency of marketing and new business activities. It’ll be unsurprising to most of you

getting client signs off on press releases in a timely fashion was a challenge for a few agencies, which is crucial to gaining press coverage because you’ll struggle to get column inches if a project is already launched.

Cold calling/emailing - many know that this is a key to forging new connections, but feel like they need to overcome fear to get started. Again, this is another area that I believe is overthought by design bods. If you’re not naturally a salesperson, it can feel like an impossible task at the outset. I might add, needlessly, because I’ve seen many succeed.

LinkedIn - i think that getting comfortable with how to create a high-value cold approach, and using LinkedIn to conduct it, is one of the most satisfying wins for most design agencies looking to win new clients.

Website and content - keeping things fresh and relevant were mentioned a lot. Also keeping copy concise and punchy.

Ensuring there is a consistent cash flow to allow marketing to happen

Entering awards - especially those that prove ROI, or those in a prospect’s vertical, i.e. spirits awards, if you want more spirits clients.

Being more clear about who we’re creating content for - which come back round to new business targeting being at the centre of all marketing activity.

Question 7 - What's stopping you from 'doing' marketing & new business? This was a multiple-choice question.

100% - time, which I think any business owner will sympathise with.

66.7% - don’t know where to start, because there isn't a plan in place or explicit instruction on how to go about marketing and new biz,

33.3% - don’t have enough money to focus on this

16.7% - haven't needed to, the fortunate ones

16.7% - admitted that they lack the motivation to do the ‘housework.’

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Thanks for listening.

Question 8 - If you could manage your marketing internally or externally, which would you choose, and why?

I found the responses to this question quite interesting.

55% - prefer to manage marketing internally - citing more control, the longevity of the activities, ownability of the content, speed of execution, and getting the tone of voice right.

45% - prefer to manage marketing externally - citing better connections of external support, faster at execution due to experience, and more considerable expertise, again due to years of niche experience.

Question 9 - What is your annual budget for marketing & new business generation (but not entertaining)?

Given that the majority of the agencies I spoke to needed new business, I was surprised that 50% cited a budget of up to £500 to spend on marketing annually.

33% - hold £5000 - £10,000

16.7% - have £50,000 - £100,000 to spend.

So here is where we’re going to call it quits for today. You’ve been listening to Kaffeen Espresso with me Charlotte Ellis Maldari.

Join me again in a couple of weeks for more actionable tips on how to make growing your agency feel more achievable and less like a job that keeps getting pushed off the to-do list.

If you like what you heard, please do subscribe on Spotify so you can enjoy more episodes out every other Monday.

And if you can’t wait until then, head to Kaffeen.club where you’ll find a growing wealth of free resources and advice to help you grow your design business.

Thanks for taking time out of your busy day to listen in, and until next time, keep at it because if there is one thing I know for sure, it’s that the world needs more creative problem-solvers like you.