As an agency owner, have you explored the possibilities of content creation? Has it proven effective in building an audience or generating leads? Today’s guest is an agency owner who has been writing books and collaborating with different publications for years. However, he finds that, for marketers, content doesn’t really bring a lot of leads. For him, it’s all about the credibility and trust you build through that content. He’ll discuss why content creation nowadays is all about credibility and learning to adapt to leverage new tools. He’ll also share why he chose an agency model that veered away from the more common use of RFPs and how it helped him tap into a well of talent waiting to find a meaningful job. Tune in to hear his thoughts regarding RFPs vs, referrals and the tools you should be leveraging in your content creation.

Scott Gillum is the founder and CEO of Carbon Design, a B2B marketing services firm that uses the power of audience insight to increase conversations, engagement, and revenue for clients. Scott shares how his agency has evolved its model to focus on efficiency and effectiveness for midsize companies by utilizing all contractors.

In this episode, we’ll discuss:

The agency model that helps you tap into a well of talent.
Moving away from RFPs.
Why content is KEY.

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Building an Agency Model Around Work-Life Integration

Since his start in the industry, Scott has been always intrigued by engagement rates and frequently referred to Gallup’s data – a multinational analytics firm that conducts workplace consulting research – and found the results were frankly concerning. In the 25 years that Gallup has been measuring employee engagement rates, it has never been above 32%. Additionally, at least 15% of the surveyed employees felt actively disengaged.

Scott also worked as a management consultant for a while and observed people usually leave their jobs to attend to family life responsibilities like taking care of their kids or sick parent. He could see how much they struggled to balance both and ended up disappointed. Around this time, he was in conversations with an agency that offered him to work on a different and very meaningful project.

He pitched the idea to build a model that would allow an agency to tap into a well of talent looking for meaningful work but have to deal with the difficulties of being a main caretaker. “There are 5 million stay-at-home moms looking for meaningful work. It’s unused capacity we could tap into,” he explains.

The decision to engage solely with contractors also significantly influenced the agency’s operational approach. Scott notes they operate entirely on referrals, focusing on inbound leads and project-based work rather than traditional retainers. This is how his agency has operated for the past six years.

Referrals over RFPs: The Power of Building Relationships in Agency Business

In the agency world, one of the traditional approaches to acquiring clients involves responding to Requests for Proposals (RFPs). These documents outline the client's requirements and ask agencies to submit proposals detailing how they would meet those needs. However, there is a growing trend among agencies to rely less and less on engaging in the RFP process. It’s a shift that highlights the power of building relationships and trust with clients, and the benefits that come with it.

In their six years operating, acquisition of business has been the hardest part for his agency. Being 100% referral-oriented, they don’t typically respond to RFPs, don’t believe in retainers, and focus exclusively on doing good project-oriented work, building trust, delivering quality work, and fostering long-term relationships with clients. Their goal is that clients are completely satisfied with the results and hire them again.

For agencies seeking to move away from RFPs, a potential approach could involve offering a reduced fee for a consultation to gain a better understanding of the prospect's needs. Spending at least one hour to build a tailored plan based on the client's input can demonstrate the agency's commitment. If the client approves the plan, they can choose to engage with the agency, or implement the plan themselves. If the client is dissatisfied, they receive a full refund.

How do you respond to an RFP? Watch this 2-min video for Jason Swenk’s answer.

Content is KEY: From “Publish or Perish” to “Adapt or Die”

Writing, podcasting, and video creation are great lead generators in sales and things agency owners are encouraged to do to attract clients. However, as an author for several publications and books Scott finds that marketing is much more about building trust, establishing relationships, and ultimately driving business growth.

Content creation allows agencies to showcase their expertise, build credibility, and connect with their target audience on a deeper level. By consistently putting out valuable and engaging content, agencies can attract new clients, retain existing ones, and differentiate themselves from competitors. In Scott's case, he predominantly produces informative material based on client research and experience. Two additional ways for him to leverage his writing to build relationships could be to:

1. Approach industry experts for interviews, thereby enhancing audience trust and fostering connections, and

2. Take his research and advice to other formats like audio and video.

With the widespread popularity of audio podcasts and video content, it's crucial for agencies to adapt their content strategy to align with their audience's preferences. The emergence of AI tools that facilitate script creation and video editing underscores the need for agencies to be open to experimenting with new formats and embracing emerging technologies to remain relevant and competitive.

Establishing Trust Through Content: The Role of Credibility and Experience

With content creation becoming much more accessible thanks to AI tools, the other side of the coin is that a lot of bad content is thrown into the mix. According to Scott, some of this content is concerning because it has no knowledge or research to back it up. “We have a generation now that understands marketing tools but doesn’t understand marketing very well,” he says.

Credibility will make the difference between audiences more keen on either receiving well-researched facts or the opinion of a trusted source. In this sense, experience will play a crucial role in establishing credibility. The audience will typically look at someone’s practical experience in a particular field before offering opinions or advice. For instance, young life coaches who may not have experienced enough in life to truly understand and guide others will likely have low credibility compared to their more experienced counterparts.

Ultimately, credibility and experience go hand in hand when it comes to creating content. By combining a strong knowledge base with practical experience, content creators can establish themselves as trustworthy sources of information and opinions. This, in turn, helps build a loyal following and enhances the impact of their content.

AI Tools You Should Check Out in 2024

AI tools have been ubiquitous in the past year, and this year promises even more potential for those in the industry looking to leverage their capabilities. Scott utilizes widely used tools such as ChatGPT 4 and has recently partnered with Cassidy, a company that offers AI tools for website content creation and image generation, which can also aid in brainstorming. Scott finds that other tools frequently require updates, leading to the need for continuous adjustments to yield accurate results. In this sense, Cassidy seamlessly integrates with G Suite, allowing it to analyze files, proposals, emails, and more to facilitate content creation.

This type of AI tool can be extremely beneficial for small business owners and agency owners who are juggling multiple tasks and responsibilities. With the right information, AI tools like Cassidy learn from you, work for you and can help content creators save time and effort by automating certain processes and getting assistance in pulling relevant information from past projects. Will AI replace agencies? No — and learning to efficiently use these tools opens a lot of doors.

Overall, Scott remains optimistic about the potential of AI tools to be additive rather than replacing human workers. He emphasizes that AI tools can assist teams in finding past project work, pulling relevant information, and overall making the job easier for content creators.

Do You Want to Transform Your Agency from a Liability to an Asset?

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Content is KEY: From “Publish or Perish” to “Adapt or Die”, with Scott Gillum | Ep #683

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