Businesses in every industry are bracing for potential downturns in the economy that could impact their revenues in the months ahead, and agencies are no exception. Although companies may be tightening their belts, they still require marketing, advertising and PR partners to help them survive whatever comes their way and emerge stronger than before.
What are agencies doing to land these clients and fuel their own growth in 2022? Here, 16 members of Forbes Agency Council share the opportunities their agencies are seizing this year to ensure continued growth and a bright future ahead for their staffs, clients and bottom lines.
Forbes Agency Council members share the growth opportunities their agencies are capitalizing on this year.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.
1. Being Proactive Partners To Improve Clients’ Businesses
Companies and organizations are keeping a much closer eye on budgets and return on investment. Agencies that actively think about their clients’ business problems and realities as proactive thought partners will win more. Although we provide reassurance through our deep experience, we continually innovate our ways of working to drive better efficiency to the project experience and bottom line. – Paul McDowall, Clarkmcdowall
2. Communicating With Purpose, Authenticity And Intention
Purpose-driven communications have evolved into a “must have” for companies. I have been an adjunct professor at Syracuse University for the last 20 years, and my students have taught me that brands should communicate ethically and authentically. Brands should look to communicate their purpose-driven results with authenticity and intention, even if it takes them some time to find their voice. – Philip A. Nardone, PAN Communications
3. Empowering The Team’s Continuing Education And Training
2022 is the year to empower your team’s continuing education. With a constant slew of new and innovative ways to amplify your clients in the media, such as through TikTok and influencer relations, it’s your leadership team’s responsibility to help team members gain access to training and capitalize on new opportunities. – Heather Kelly, Next PR
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4. Strengthening Local Capabilities To Support Clients’ GTM Strategies
Amid today’s promising communications and business landscape, we are seeing opportunities to support clients in their go-to-market strategies while growing the agency business across markets. By strengthening local capabilities, agencies can better position themselves as truly strategic partners, working in tandem with their clients’ growth ambitions and doubling down in key territories simultaneously. – Lars Voedisch, PRecious Communications
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5. Stealing Long-Term Market Share With Upper-Funnel Tactics
During times of media inflation and economic uncertainty, competitors are likely to pull back on awareness spending. Now is the time to break through the cluttered marketplace to become unavoidable, grow your audience and generate demand down the road. Aim for long-term growth rather than short-term gains. – Donna Robinson, Collective Measures
6. Working With Businesses That Will Flourish In This Economic Cycle
With the pandemic and current economic climate, we’re in a shifting economy. Because of this, the biggest opportunity to capitalize on for agencies is working with businesses and industries that are going to flourish in this kind of economic cycle. – Spencer Hadelman, Advantage Marketing
7. Working With Small To Midsize Businesses And Brands
Now more than ever, small businesses are rapidly increasing in number, and their potential for growth is exponentially higher than larger companies. Nearly 80% of our client roster is made up of small to midsize businesses, and we are able to work with them year over year to help them grow and scale. It’s a long-term investment that many agencies overlook. – Bryanne DeGoede, BLND Public Relations
8. Evolving Along With The Metaverse In A Post-Pandemic World
At the crossroads of a post-pandemic world and the metaverse ramping up, we’re starting to see the impact of both. The possibilities are endless in every single industry, and public relations is no exception. With the digital space growing ever larger, implications for the physical world become equally as vast: The very definition of how companies work will evolve so much just in the next year alone. – Victoria Kennedy, Victorious PR
9. Leveraging The Benefits Of Digital Out-Of-Home Advertising
For decades, the out-of-home advertising industry remained unchanged. It was difficult to measure performance, and brands were locked into long-term contracts and forced to pay enormous production costs. DOOH has changed the medium. Brands can now measure performance, limit creative costs by repurposing existing digital banners and build efficient campaigns. – Geoff Crain, Kingstar Media
10. Incorporating A Personal Brand Into Your Agency’s Marketing
It’s important to not forget that people buy from people and make the majority of their purchasing decisions based on emotional connections with others. It’s much easier to relate to and remember a person than an entity, and we also naturally crave human interaction. I inject my personal brand into my agency’s marketing funnel via content marketing and PR. – Callum Roche, Roche Marketing Group
11. Taking A Multichannel Marketing Perspective And Adapting Fast
The most important things are a multichannel marketing perspective and fast adaptation of new possibilities and features. If you can handle both, then it’s your big chance to grow! Even big brands want agencies that test and implement new marketing tools to find ways to create a solid advantage against slower competitors. And all of these opportunities can be found on one path: multichannel marketing. – Nico Tettenborn, MAKE IT TETTEN GmbH
12. Expanding Into The Asia-Pacific Region With Technology Vendors
We are seeing one of the biggest opportunities for growth in U.S. and U.K. technology vendors coming into the Asia-Pacific region to expand their customer bases. Unlike the economic uncertainty facing other regions, APAC is in an exciting “growth bubble” and economically strong, making it a gold mine for technology companies looking to expand in new and emerging markets. – Azadeh Williams, AZK Media
13. Hiring Local Sales Reps To Be Where Other Agencies Are Not
The biggest growth opportunity for agency owners is their plan of attack. With everything going more virtual post-Covid, the opportunity is to be where other agencies are not—and that requires local sales reps. Clients and prospects still buy from people they know, like and trust. The best way to acquire and retain business is having sales reps meet face to face with clients. There has never been a better time to hire salespeople. – Cedrick Webb, Smart Digital
14. Finding An Authentic Way To Leverage TikTok For Business
The biggest opportunity for growth at the moment is on TikTok. While it is not the usual medium for many brands, the reach and exposure that it can bring are exponential at the moment. Find an authentic way to apply this to your business, and you will reap some wins! – Christopher Tompkins, The Go! Agency
15. Helping Telehealth Service Providers Gain Patient Trust
Telehealth services have boomed as many businesses and services have gone completely remote. The PR industry is seeing an uptick as more and more primary healthcare and dermatology services become available online. Many of these healthcare professionals need to gain a lot more trust from patients if they are going to use this platform. – Jessica Kopach, The JKO Agency
16. Doubling Down On Finance-Based Marketing And Creative Strategy
Profitability is a key focus for all of the CMOs we are working with, and our finance-first approach to marketing helps leadership teams better explain results and allocate funds strategically. Creative demands are increasing rapidly, and CMOs need creative expertise around TikTok, direct mail, TV, OOH and more. – Tucker Matheson, Markacy
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Author: Expert Panel®, Forbes Councils Member
