This is your time!

In last week’s note to you, I talked about all of the ways agencies are using this strange moment in time as the impetus to create something new or give something old a fresh twist. The ingenuity that you are demonstrating is just one of the reasons why I think your agency is about to bloom in some very cool new ways.

I think we are entering the age of the small to mid-sized agency. Here’s why I think you are poised for explosive growth and new opportunity:

• Clients need scrappy marketing tactics and strategies that can be tested, tweaked, and re-deployed without months of navel-gazing.
• Clients want an agency that isn’t stuck in a single strategy set or offers every client the same solution.
• Clients want to be and feel important to their agency — they don’t want to be the small fish in the big pond.
• Clients want access to senior-level people who have expertise in their industry, with their audience, or solving their particular problem.
• Clients are demanding transparency and efficiency with their budgets (so fewer layers and admin costs).
• Clients want an agency partner that runs a lean, mean shop so they are not paying for excess overhead or frills.
• Clients need an agency that is willing to get their hands dirty and really learn about the client’s business and customers.
• Clients are hungry for an agency that is willing to learn something new, take a risk, and fight a little harder to help the client’s cash register ring.

And that, my friends, is you. Just like people want to shop local, clients want relationships that feel a little deeper, a little more valued, and want to partner with someone that they believe truly has their back.

So often I see you trying to disguise your size by not proudly owning it. Now it is time for you to shout that you are the perfect size to play a major role in your client’s success.

Keep demonstrating your innovative spirit. Celebrate the relationships you have with clients. Promote that you are ready to re-define the rules and get out there and win some new business!

This is your time!

Drew McLellan, with Agency Management Institute, produces a weekly newsletter with updates, tips, and market information of value to marketing agencies, owners, and employees. If you'd like to receive the weekly newsletter, follow this link to subscribe.