Running a small agency? Here’s how to scale without the chaos.
Dav Nash
16 min read
The saying tiny but mighty exists for a reason.
Now I’m not saying that the inverter of said saying was directly talking about a small digital agency…
But I’m not not saying it either.
Because the thing is, bigger isn’t always better.
If you have the goal of creating a huge international agency, that’s great – but it doesn’t have to be your only option.
Scaling up as an agency doesn’t always mean going big or going home.
You can scale, execute an insane growth strategy, and still keep things cosy.
And if you’re wondering exactly how you’re meant to do that, I’m glad you landed right here.
Because in this blog post, I’m going to break down exactly how you can do it.
Specifically, I’m going in on:
Here we go!
Okay so before I start, naturally I’m going to show you how I can help you here at Digital Agency Launchpad.
Having run teams and managed budgets in the tens (yes, tens) of millions, I know a thing or two about how a successful agency works.
Not only does that mean I know and love marketing – which I very much do – but it also means I know how to grow, get clients, and scale.
So if you’re new to running your own agency or you’ve found your feet and you’re ready to expand, I have a few key resources for you.
First, if you’re not signed up to Launch Sequence, go ahead and do that first.
Launch Sequence is my free, weekly newsletter for agency founders.
It’s a no-nonsense, all-actionable two-minute read that lands in your email inbox whenever I have something valuable to share with you.
This alone could give you the inspiration you need to implement something new in your agency.
But if you want to dive in and absorb as much information as you can right away, head to The Guides.
The Guides contain informative posts (just like this one), on everything from client management to onboarding to growth to everyday operations.
If you’re an agency founder looking to get your head around how it all works, you’ll find it all here.
When it comes to growing your agency, you’re not going to do it alone.
You’re just not.
You’ll have your team, me, and the tried and tested tools I know and love.
This is where The Tools come in.
A list of the analytics, social media, SEO, and project management tools I have used and highly recommend.
Because the thing is, growing your agency isn’t something you can do overnight or manually.
You really do need to gather the troops and utilise as much knowledge, ease, and power as you can.
The right tools can always facilitate that.
If you know that you want personalised support as you scale? Let’s work 1-1!
With my mentorship and consulting packages, we can work through it together.
Over the past few years, I’ve mentored agency founders in over 17 countries and for the past 11 years, I’ve driven insane results for businesses and agencies of all sizes.
From growth and scaling to managing and strategising, we can work on it all.
I’ll be honest, I love this stuff.
I’m passionate about marketing and love to share what I know.
And yes, I’m rated 5/5 for a reason!
When you’re looking at selling yourself as an agency, it’s easy to get intimidated by bigger businesses.
You might be wondering – ‘why would a business choose my smaller agency over the giants?’ – and that’s a legit question.
But not everyone wants to be just one of a million clients.
There are many pros of going with a smaller agency, startup, or boutique setup.
And this is what you need to lean on when you’re selling yourself.
As you’re pulling together your marketing messaging, it’s a good idea to keep this in mind.
So let’s now look at the allure of opting for a smaller agency.
To kick things off, always highlighting the benefits of going small is a no-brainer.
If we’re being honest – and we’re all friends here – there’s no real downtime to going with a small agency.
Sure, people may think that ‘new’ or ‘small’ means inexperienced.
But we know you’re a GOAT and you’ve been at this for a while now.
So laying out the reasons to work with a smaller agency is always going to help you here.
And don’t worry, I’m going deeper in exactly what to cover in section four of this post.
Another way to speak directly to your dream client is to make sure that you’re focused on the tailored approach you’ll give.
Okay, so you might have a set way of doing things (and I highly recommend that you do that), but it pays to personalise.
Clients never want to feel like they are lost in the crowd.
They want to know that you understand them and have their best interest at heart.
So if you lean heavily on the tailored approach, you’ll 100% be singing to their tune.
Likewise, when it comes to selling your small digital agency to clients, focus on the relationship aspect.
If you want to dissuade them from going to a bigger agency, that personal touch matters.
Showcase your team.
Talk about who you all are.
Let them get to know you on a personal level.
Relationships really are everything in business.
And sure, clients are always going to want to make sure that you can do a great job – but they also want to be looked after well and trust that they’re in good hands.
So harnessing the power of relationships is always a plus when it comes to being smaller.
One thing to keep in mind is that scaling up isn’t just about sales and marketing.
In fact, scaling impacts the whole of your business.
You’re going to find that you need to look at your operations to make sure they can be scaled to handle more business, along with the digital solutions you offer too.
If you want to grow, your services need to:
1. Support that
2. Enable that
So here, you’ll want to tweak what you currently have in order to attract the growth you’re looking for.
Here are five reliable ways you can do that.
Let’s say you currently have a core service offering.
If you’re looking to grow, it could mean that you started out with one set service (or maybe a handful).
So now, you need to add more.
Adding additional services is such a simple way to scale, without having to go out and seek more clients.
This is because you may be able to upsell your current client base with your new service.
It’ll mean you don’t have to onboard new clients, but you can add additional revenue with the client base you already have.
But how do you decide what personalised services to add?
One option you have is to create something pretty niche.
Now the what of this is going to be entirely up to you.
But have you had an idea for something quite unique that will support your clients?
Or can you create something that isn’t overly done elsewhere based on your expertise?
Again, if you are working in a very specific niche with your clients – in terms of industry or sector – can you create something that will cater specifically to that?
Just remember that it has to make business sense and be something that people will readily pay for.
This is why it always pays to look at filling gaps in the market.
If you can quite easily spot a gap in your market, go for it.
Sometimes, this will happen naturally as you see things that are needed but aren’t widely offered elsewhere.
Sometimes, you’ll want to do some research and see what’s missing.
Either way, when you’re looking to create something new, making sure that it’s covering a gap is always a smart idea.
After all, it can be harder to sell something that everyone does (especially if there are experts out there who will do it better than you – do be smart here!).
One of the best ways to do this? Give the people what they want!
If you know your clients need a set service (and you can provide it), offer it.
If they ask if you do a certain thing (and you have the capabilities), offer it.
And if a new client comes to you asking for a range of things (once again, and you have the experience), offer it.
But at the same time, you can also take a look at what’s trending in the market.
Supplying to the demand is never a bad idea – as long as you’re flexible.
Don’t get too hung up on things or too rigid, as like with everything, trends do change.
But if you can hop on a demand bandwagon early and supply it, it’s going to help you scale.
Ultimately, when you’re looking for a killer growth strategy for your small digital agency, you need a killer product or service suite.
Your service line-up needs to look right.
Everything you offer should complement each other in some way.
Basically, it needs to make sense.
This can be in that each of the products or services you offer work well together or are buildable.
So a client might start with one service and then add on the other two.
Or, that they make logical sense for what people come to you for.
So many on paper they aren’t that complementary to each other, but they do complement the results your clients are trying to achieve!
So now I want to dig a little deeper into the benefits of businesses working with a small digital agency.
As I said, it’s easy for you to be a little insecure about this.
But you have no reason to be.
Because what you’re going to do here is harness the fact that you’re smaller.
And you’re going to go hard to showcase its benefits.
Let’s take a look.
Go all in here.
Because when a business is looking for support, what they really want is expertise.
Sure, many people will outsource because they are running out of hands and time.
But that’s just one part of it.
When a company is looking to hire help with their marketing, they want to trust that you are better at it than they are.
Otherwise, they’d keep it in-house and outsource something else.
So here, you need to let your work do the talking.
Show results. Uplifts. Stats.
All the things that clearly state ‘I’ve got this’.
The size of your agency really is irrelevant when it comes to the results you get.
If you’re good at what you do, you’re good at what you do – simple!
Again, go hard on the fact that you’re all human.
Who wants to spend (let’s be real here) a lot of their hard-earned revenue on a faceless company they know nothing about?
When businesses spend money that takes away from their much-loved profit, they want to know it’s being spent well.
And – whether they realise it or not – they want to know who it’s being spent on.
So show them.
Showcase the people behind the agency.
Shout about individual experience and accolades.
Be proud of yourself and your team, what you represent, and what you can do for your clients.
The human element is such a powerful component in building success.
And naturally, you can also lean on the access side of things as well.
I mean, not to hate on big agencies – they’re successful for a reason, right? – but with a lot of people, teams, and moving parts, there *can* be a lot of change.
Whereas with a small digital agency, you can sell in on the direct contact your clients will get.
Not only can they get to know more about your team and who they are, but they can trust that these are the people they’ll be dealing with too.
Clients want to know that they’ll be looked after well.
They don’t want to feel like one of many.
So going in on the fact that they get great access to your team is always a winner too.
I know you’re a small digital agency and you probably know a thing or two about marketing, but I still want to outline some of the activities I’d personally recommend.
If you’re a brand new agency or you’ve found your feet and you’re new and looking to expand, it’s important to focus on the right things.
Plus, we all know that when you’re focusing on your client work, your own marketing can sometimes take an unintentional backseat.
But because you want to grow, this now needs to become a priority.
If you’re looking to do it with as little spend as possible, I hear you!
So here are some budget-friendly activities you could lead with:
Naturally, you’re going to want to double down on your content strategy.
Of course, this is going to cross over with social and SEO here, but you’ll need to nail the overarching strategy first.
From website copy to blog posts to social posts, there’s a lot you can do here – for free!
It also allows you to:
Organic social media is free.
To utilise it.
But be strategic.
Make sure that your activity works well with your growth goals and feeds into your content strategy.
Your reach potential is huge here so you’ll want to take advantage of that.
Use your skills, get creative, and show businesses why they should hire you.
Remember, your own marketing activity is a huge advertisement for how good you are at it!
In most cases, networking is also free.
Of course, if you have the budget, attending paid events can be great for your agency too.
You want to be known for what you do.
You want to be seen as an expert.
And getting to know people is a huge part of that.
But aside from events (free or paid), you can also network until your heart’s content for free on social media.
Naturally, you can pick your own poison here, but LinkedIn is a great place to start.
It’s built for business.
People hang out there to talk and do business.
It can help you to build your personal brand, showcase your expertise, and network.
No-brainer!
If you love a good natter, start a podcast.
If you already have a podcast, harness it.
Podcasting won’t be free to start (you’ll need a bit of kit and some editing), but it can be a great way to build your brand, showcase your expertise and services, and scale.
It doesn’t even have to be on anything directly related to your niche.
It’s all about making it work with your content and growth strategies sure, but you can still get very creative here.
As you’re building out your content strategy, make sure that you’re nailing your SEO.
You probably start out all of your content plans with your SEO strategy anyway, but make sure that you’re nailing it for your own brand.
Over time, if you can start ranking well, it’s going to help you with inbound leads and really support your ability to scale with ease.
Last but certainly not least, get to building your email list early.
Your email list is so insanely valuable.
You get direct contact with interested parties.
There’s no getting lost in the algorithm – it’s just you and them.
Building your list early helps you to showcase every single thing we’ve talked about – as well as provide free value over time.
You may find that people are reading and watching one minute, then popping up and paying for services months or years down the line.
And if you have any spots to fill, flash sales, or anything like that, you can also use direct sales in your email blasts (sparingly!), if that feels right for you too!
From here, you’re then going to want to make sure that you’re getting creative.
As a small digital agency, you have so much more freedom.
After all, it’s your brand and your business – so you can do what you like.
Harness that.
Looking to get creative with your marketing can really help you out here.
Here are some of the things I would do:
The last thing you need is to get lost in the sea of many.
So start with a killer brand.
Be bold. Or soft. Or whatever works with your own style.
By making sure that you inject a bit of personality, you can get attention.
It also helps clients know what they’re getting from you.
They’ll get a feel for who you are as a business from the image you project.
With your social content, why not get up close and personal?
As humans, we’re curious.
It’s always fun to show behind-the-scenes bites of what you’re up to.
Again, clients are going to get a better feel of what your agency is like too.
This can also get attention.
So it’s going to help you to build an audience as you scale too.
Like we ran through above, you’re going to want to harness the power of social media as much as you can.
With social platforms, you can access your target market directly.
And it’s free!
Engage with your ideal clients and similar accounts.
Build a community.
Get noticed!
You might also want to take a look at ways you can automate some of your sales and marketing processes.
There are so many great marketing automation options right now, so why not harness them?
It’s smart to make your marketing work harder for you.
From automated workflows to detailed segmentation, there’s a lot you can do here.
If you’re keen to amp up your approach to sales, automation will be your best friend.
And on a final note, remember to come out of your shell.
If you’re a bit of a show pony by nature, you’ll have no problem here.
But if you know that the spotlight isn’t really your thing, this may not come that naturally to you.
Yet, as you’re looking to scale and grow your small digital agency, you need as many eyes on you as possible.
(Whether that’s on the brand or you personally!)
So don’t be afraid to be yourself, embrace your quirks, and utilise your strengths to get attention and stand out in your (no doubt, already crowded) market.
Before I close off, I really want to remind you that size doesn’t indicate results.
You might be a small digital agency, but we both know you get results.
So don’t shy away from that!
In fact, shout about them.
More specifically, make sure that you:
Scaling up as a smaller agency can seem intimidating, but it can also be a lot of fun.
Hopefully, some of these key points will help you get things underway.
And if you have any questions, you know where I am!
