Running a successful business in the increasingly competitive
and ever-changing modern world is all about smart financial management and
preserving a stellar brand reputation. Okay, there are numerous other important
factors that will decide the fate of your digital agency, but when it comes
down to it, you need to make sure that your cash flow is in order so that you
can grow steadily and safely, and that you can maintain normal operations on a
daily basis. What’s more, you need to be able to preserve your brand’s
reputation so that you can drive client acquisition and retention forward,
along with talent acquisition.
Today, though, we’ll be focusing on the problem of financial management, in an attempt to cut the major extraneous expenses that a modern digital
agency typically has, in order to allow you to reallocate resources to the
tasks and goals that will grow your business. Without further ado, here are the
five financially-savvy tips you need to implement into your strategy.
Go digital across the board
One of the first and most obvious solutions you can implement
slowly in the coming weeks and months is to migrate all of your operations into
the digital realm. And why wouldn’t you, after all, you are running a
forward-looking digital agency, so why are you still storing physical files in
your cabinets, and why are your employees still using paper notebooks and pens?
That said, it’s understandable that using paper products, pens, and other
“traditional” office supplies is a thing of habit, but the times are changing
rapidly, so why not evolve your brand with the trends.
Not only will migrating all of your processes to the cloud help
you boost collaboration between departments and your employees and clients, but
it will also cut the cumbersome costs of buying all of those office supplies
every month. You will also be able to free up a lot of space around the office
because you won’t need all of those file cabinets anymore, and most
importantly, you will be aiding in the preservation of the environment in the
process.
Going digital across the board will also provide convenience to the entire workforce because the information will become easily accessible whenever needed. This means that you or your employees won’t have to open any cabinets or drawers just to find files.
Work smarter with your clients
Another sensible way you can start saving money right away is
to rethink your relationship with your clients, as well as the way you approach
every project in order to discover innovative ways that will help you save time
and money while improving productivity and client satisfaction. The relationship you have with your clients is important for your business’s success. But this doesn’t mean that you have to waste resources just to ensure that you’re on good terms with your clients. Today, there are many ways on how you can work smarter with your clients, most of these strategies are inexpensive and even free.
First off,
check if you’re in complete understanding with your clients about your short,
mid, and long-term goals. Run them through a detailed checklist and have them
answer all important questions that will allow you to organize everything on
your end more efficiently. Ideally, this process should be done before you and your client will start working on any project.
Next, improve your communication with your clients by cutting
down the number of emails you’re sending out, and invest in an in-house
communication tool in order to elevate efficiency and productivity, while
boosting cross-department collaboration. This will allow you to delegate and
organize tasks more efficiently, which will cut time waste, which will cut
financial waste in the long term. You’ll even save more money if you have in-house app developers as they can create a communication platform based on your needs and budget.
Optimize the payroll and billing processes
Agencies lose a lot of money on poor payroll management. This
doesn’t mean that you should make cutbacks and let people go, it just means
that you need to find ways to make the process more rewarding for your business
as well as the employee, and minimize all expenses associated with the payroll
process. Payroll management is an important facet in every business as most employees are motivated to work depending on how efficient this system is.
For example, if you’re paying your employees a monthly salary
directly into their bank accounts, then be sure to research all options via a detailed credit card compare list to find the right banking institutions and
credit card options with the lowest fees and the highest rewards. This will not
only benefit your company because you’re saving money on fees but also the
employee because the reward system will be tailored to their needs. The rewards that your employees will be getting on top of their salary can become their motivation to continue working for your business, making it a win-win for you!
Next, be sure to optimize and improve your billing process. In
this tech-driven age, there is no reason to stick to paper invoices, instead,
you can automate the invoicing process and integrate direct debit systems that
will directly bill the client at the specified time and ensure that you get
paid in full and on time every month. What’s more, these digital solutions are
much more cost-effective and less prone to errors.
Moreover, automating your invoice processes will allow your business to boost its productivity because you won’t need a group of people to update or work on your business’s billing and accounts. With an automated invoicing process, you can assign one person for the job and have others work on other more important tasks for the business.
Invest in the right marketing channels
As a business leader in a digital agency, you know that not
every marketing channel will yield the same results for every client. You have
to tailor your strategy and your marketing packages to the unique needs of
every client in order to produce a marketing campaign that will maximize their
(and your) investment.
With that in mind, consider your own agency like one of your
clients, and analyze the effectiveness of all marketing channels that you’re
currently using. Cut out the underperforming ones and focus on investing in the
marketing tactics with high yield potential, and you will raise your long-term
ROI.
As a digital marketing agency, you should regularly audit your marketing channels to assess which works and doesn’t. Regular auditing will help you cut costs because you can easily determine which marketing channels to stop funding.
Focus on client retention
On a final note, always keep in mind that client acquisition,
although important, is much more expensive than customer retention. One of the
keys to long-term solvency in the digital world is to minimize your investment
while maximize profit, and one of the best ways to do that is to stop pouring
money into your acquisition strategy and start focusing on nurturing your
relationship with your existing clients. This will ensure that they will stay
at your side through thick and thin and that they will recommend your agency to
their partners at no expense to your business.
There are many ways on how you can retain clients. You can start by improving your customer service, overdeliver on your promise, and develop a frequent communication calendar. Adapting to these strategies can be challenging for your business at first but the rewards will surely be worth it.
Final thoughts
To grow a digital agency in an
increasingly competitive industry, you not only have to work on improving your
revenue streams, but you also have to cut extraneous expenses or minimize the
ones you can’t eliminate. Use these tips to achieve both and reallocate
financial resources to grow your agency safely.
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