By AAA Agency is an international influencer marketing and special projects agency. We focus on connecting brands with content creators and helping them carry their message across to the relevant audiences. We specialize in creating brand stories and developing creative promotion strategies that go beyond cookie-cutter campaigns.
Over the years of practice, I’ve been a part of many interesting projects, like creating a sci-fi-inspired social media account that had 20K followers in a year and winning a Silver Effie for a campaign for a large FMCG brand. Presently, in AAA Agency, we have provided over one hundred successful cases with our clients, including Wargaming, Ubisoft, and Tencent.
And that’s what we’ve learned along the way: in our industry, the profitability of an ad campaign depends on much more than just creativity. It is about planning and deeper strategies that can assist your agency to improve. And that is what we shall be looking at today.
I’m here to share some of the best practices that I have discovered over the years in growing revenue and establishing good relationships with our clients.
Analyze your business’s strengths and weaknesses
First of all, you should identify the competitive advantage of your brand within your given industry. It may be difficult, especially if you are operating in a highly competitive niche. Initially, when we started AAA our vision was to be a one-stop shop to solve all problems and offer all the services our audience might require.
But the best lesson we have learned in the beginning: you need to find the perfect match of your team’s unique skills and the audience’s demand.
To all of us at AAA, it’s our love for gaming. We are not only marketers, we’re passionate gamers. We have spent most of our lives with a controller in our hands, conquering game after game. This passion allows us to really understand what gamers want and what they expect to see in a promo campaign.
We speak the same language as our target audience, and this allows us to create content that resonates with gamers. Since our team is very diverse and versatile, we can tackle different forms of content and develop special projects that wouldn’t be possible in a traditional marketing-only agency.
Build a solid portfolio
Now we’re diving into something absolutely crucial for your agency’s growth: you need a killer portfolio. Yes, it can be difficult for a young agency that doesn’t have A-list clients yet, but I’m here to share some tips.
Use case studies from your previous projects. Every team member has some prior experience or an interesting story to tell. Use this as your shield at the beginning of your journey to show what your team can achieve for future clients.
For example, before coming to AAA, I had a sports retailer client who wanted to enter a new market. We have launched a fresh TikTok account for this brand and collaborated with TikTok House to make captivating content for it.
I developed a content strategy, and we launched the campaign without paid promotion. The result: videos scored millions of likes and loads of interaction organically simply because of content quality and relevance. We even got on TikTok’s Business Account of the Week list.
- Create sandbox cases with clients you don’t yet have. It’s like a training session when you brainstorm a case for an imaginary client or a big brand you would like to work with. Show them that you are not afraid of challenges.
- Look for hidden strengths within your team. Maybe you already have a key to success in your hand and just don’t know it. It may be your unique offer, creative management style, or the best collection of skills in your teammates. For us, having a background in filmmaking and game design became a crucial strength as an agency.
Portfolio building is similar to advancing to the next level in a game. Every new contract you make, every new skill you acquire — they make you stronger.
Develop a sales strategy for your agency
Look at your existing client portfolio and see how you can improve your sales strategy. Start by taking a close look at your current client list, these clients are your best shot at success since they already know you. Reconnect with clients you haven’t spoken to recently: maybe they would like to continue your collaboration in a different format or recommend you to their colleagues.
It is also necessary to look at your previous successes with these clients and evaluate if there are any gaps in your work. Perhaps, you’re not involving the right people in your team or you need to add more tools to your workflow. It is useful to employ a social media management tool for organizing your work and handling numerous customers.
Also, do not make your sales pitch too general, it’s a losing strategy for a marketing agency.
Create a client proposal by analyzing each client, see what they want, and then ensure that you sell your message in a way that they can understand. Also, consider hiring an efficient social media agency to help you reach more people.
Research your audience
Understanding your audience is important regardless of your business model. A client wants to be seen and have their needs met — whether you are in B2B or B2C.
Business to Business (B2B) Industry
Look at your business niche and find any gaps you can occupy with your services. What are the typical needs and challenges your clients usually have? Become the solution to their pain points and an ally in achieving their goals. This is the time to think out of the box and to show your agency as an innovator.
To stay ahead of the curve, make sure that your team follows all market trends in your industry. Think of using social media analytics tools to better understand the climate and adjust your marketing strategy.
Business to Consumer (B2C) Industry
Working with B2C, it’s especially important to know all the latest news and stay on top of trends. What kinds of content does your audience love, what games are killing it at any given moment, and where do gamers go to discuss new releases? Monitor the industry news, new products and companies — anything can be a game changer for your strategy. At AAA Agency we have a weekly trend meeting to discuss the current trends in influencer marketing, viral campaigns, and new products.
This helps us generate ideas that hit home with our audience. If you’re just starting out and need all hands on deck for other tasks, consider using a social media scheduler to free up valuable time for your team to focus on brainstorming ideas.
Collect feedback on your work
I believe that AAA Agency’s strength lies in our openness and active communication with our clients. We also value feedback and build our strategy around client insights. In my opinion, bad feedback simply doesn’t exist: anything your client has to say is important and can be used to improve your work.
We run an annual review with our key clients to make the necessary changes in how we approach our marketing campaigns. The last review highlighted the demand from our clients for deeper business intelligence and more information about return on investment.
Following this lead, we have expanded the customer reports and incorporated custom solutions for every client. This allows us to cater specifically to every client’s needs and keep our communication at a high level that is expected of us.
Continuous Improvement for Agency Growth
Marketing in general, and influencer marketing especially, is a blend of creativity and science. It’s hard, if not impossible, to make an agency successful and generate decent revenue unless your team has a strong creative core, is willing to communicate with the audience, and is truly passionate about what you do as an agency.
Keeping in touch with your audience also means following the industry news, knowing all the latest releases, and checking up on the competition and their projects. All these give you valuable insight and allow developing out-of-the-box formats that will conquer the market. Also, consider using social media tools for agencies to keep that competitive edge.
Growing a marketing agency and scaling its success relies on self-discovery and continuous improvement. You need to identify your strengths, find any gaps you might have in your strategy, and work continuously to be the best version of yourself.
My learnings from running an agency over years
- Define your unique niche expertise and strength that you have as a creative and versatile team.
- Develop a compelling portfolio that will attract your dream clients. To do that, use the personal experiences of your team members and workshop sandbox cases to show your expertise and creativity.
- Implement a strategic sales approach. This stems from knowing your client’s wants and needs, but especially their pain points. Give them exactly what they need — and it’s a win-win for you both.
- Run a thorough audience research. How you approach this research depends on whether you work in B2B or B2C. We at AAA Agency focus on monitoring the trends and news within our niche, so that we can bring the most relevant ideas to the table and impress our clients.
- Use feedback as a ladder for growth. Remember that even criticism is good feedback because you can use this information to grow and overcome all the challenges.
Conclusion
Scaling your agency and its operations may seem challenging, but challenges are a necessary companion of growth. I hope that with these strategic insights you will feel well-equipped to take that step up. Stay curious, be agile, and keep delivering value to your clients.
