Digital marketing agencies have a tough enough time attracting new clients – never mind creating the strategies and implementing the actual work.
These agencies spend serious amounts of money on paid ads – Google Ads, Facebook Ads, etc. – attempting to acquire new clients. Besides the expensive part, these ads typically support just the “awareness” phase of a buyer’s journey.
According to Philip Kotler in Marketing 4.0 – Moving from Traditional to Digital, the “customer’s path in a connected world” features the following five “A’s” listed in order, though some journeys are more cyclonic, meaning they may move to “advocate” but quickly back to the “ask” (learning more) phase before acting (purchasing).
These “A’s” flow as follows:
- Awareness
- Appeal
- Ask
- Act
- Advocate
Again, the journey may be cyclonic. Sometimes a client will “act” and “advocate,” but then head back to an “ask” and “appeal” phases.
This is where agencies must be on top of their proverbial games, and constantly fuel these “A’s.”
As an SEO-driven content marketing agency, ContentMender prioritizes the fueling of the “appeal” and “ask” portions. The most optimal way there is through consistent and frequent content creation – from blogs to a guest posting on reputable websites.
This content also fuels the “advocate” portion by creating loyalty with existing clients – the more value-added by constantly educating a client, the more loyalty. As Seth Godin would say, you want to create and consistently add value to your tribe.
After creating content, you must also amplify it through social media and maybe a paid ad here or there. This can easily double your spend.
This is only a single strategy for a client. It takes much time and energy, and of course money.
For an agency to build sustainable success, it’s ideal to reserve this time and energy for your biggest clients. Put the Pareto 80/20 principle into play, and find the largest existing clients that are driving the most revenue.
Cater to them with the most energy possible, and maybe drop a few of the clients that take more energy than they are worth – something I wrote about last week in my “How to Respectfully Drop a Client” blog.
This provides time to seek other reputable and long-term clients.
But revenue is still needed. And the quickest way to higher ROI with the least amount of effort for digital marketing agencies? Find trusted white label partnerships.
White label is just another way of saying you have an agency partner that:
- Completes work that you sell under your name with no mention of the agency partner, or
- Sells work that you complete under its own name with no mention of your agency.
So far in 2019, nearly 30% of ContentMender’s revenue stream arrives from white label partnerships, and it’s mostly content creation. We offer fully optimized blogs and content strategies for a few partners, and all-out SEO campaigns for others.
For one partner, we even barter; his agency completes technical audits and keyword research/mapping for me, and my agency trades loads of written content, from service pages to blogs to title tags/meta descriptions.
This gives us the best of both worlds. I don’t have to hire a full-time technical SEO, and he doesn’t have to hire experienced writers (we have up to 40 for various niches). It’s a win/win for both sides. And lucrative for many reasons.
In short, white label agency partnerships kick major ass for ROI. The following are six reasons why, along with some tips on choosing and sustaining relations with a trusted white-label partner.
Benefits of White Label Partnerships for Digital Marketing Agencies
Kills the Bloat
When you work with a trusted white label partner, you kill the internal bloat of having added staff that’s not always needed. ContentMender covers SEO content writing for many partners. These partners get professional and optimized content from our huge staff of writers – all matched to the client based on industry/passion – and save much expense by not having one or two writers on staff that are supposed to satisfy zillions of copy needs when and only when needed.
More Experts
As explained above, we match our writers to the client based on passion and industry knowledge. When you seek a partner, make sure they are carved into the niche of services you desire. Our technical SEO partner is a giant in the technical SEO space. His agency costs are a bit higher, but the value is undeniable.
When you use the correct white label partner, you’ll gain additional expertise that you don’t have to worry about having inhouse – something that is a huge expense.
You Focus on Your Top Services
When you rely on a white label partner for certain services, this provides added energy to focus on putting more time into your top services. This adds additional value to your client. Do what you do best, and let the partners do what they do best.
Our technical SEO partners are the top players in their service niche. I trust them to offer the most value for our clients, which allows us to put all of our energy into our client’s content, and help explain their story without worrying about the technical bits.
More time to Focus on Pitching “Whale” Clients
While partners are working other services for your clients, you will have extra time to focus on pitching other clients. When I began using white label partners for some SEO services – ones I couldn’t initially afford to have in-house – the situation allowed me to focus on pitching bigger clients – the whales, as some call them.
I would never have the time or needed energy to do so if I was coordinating efforts that a partner can complete. This is perfect for the 80/20 mindset.
More Focus on Retaining Current Clients
Just as you can focus more on landing bigger clients, you can also put more energy into your current clients. I’m a firm believer in catering to all existing clients, and eventually upselling them on additional services or growing their campaigns. Some of my favorite clients started small, and as they grew due to our services, we doubled-down to scale further.
From a content marketing perspective, that’s another reason to only work with clients that have a long-term mindset. Growing together is the overall theme of strong client relationships. Long-term thinking is the only way to go.
And Of Course – More Revenue
Yes – all the above lead to increased revenue. That needs zero explanation.
Choosing the Correct White Label Digital Marketing Agency
You can’t just partner with anyone. I had a few hack partners but quickly learned my lesson. Now I only work with a few select partners, mostly for technical SEO, affiliates and social media.
Four attributes MUST be present when finding a trusted agency partner.
- Strong communication
- Strong project management
- Transparency
- Trust
When these four are present, you don’t have to micromanage. This allows you to truly benefit from the partnership, and focus on strengthening your core services.
Read up on the agency, and talk around. Again, I made some mistakes when I first launched with some partners who were short-term minded and talked a good game. You realize that quickly, and you don’t want to sacrifice a client due to a shitty partner.
Take the time, research, and find the best partner. Make sure the attitudes combine also. Hundreds of agencies exist. Have the patience to find the best fit.
Concluding Thoughts
Successful businesses always search for additional revenue streams, and one of the easiest ways to do so within the world of digital marketing agencies is by offering and using white label services.
About 40% of our revenue is through offering white label content creation, mostly blogs and service pages that are obviously optimized for search. We provide all content in a “plug n’ play” format so our partners can have a total hands-off relationship.
We also have trusted agency partners that complete multiple services – mostly technical SEO. This has saved us much time and energy, allowing us to focus on what we do best – create digital marketing strategies and written content that convert prospects to clients/customers, and build further loyalty with existing clients/customers – who we refer to as simply an audience.
But be warned – finding the optimal partner takes patience. Don’t simply work with someone based on profiles; get to personally know that partner, and make sure the synergy is there before trusting them to satisfy the clients you have earned or vice versa.
