Agency owners, if you really wished you were able to attend IMPACT LIVE this year  . . . I’ve got you . . .

Here is a quick overview of what you can read, watch and action to still feel the benefits of the excellent content from two days in Hartford, CT . . . (there is a direct flight from Dublin btw :) )

1. Pre-order Marcus Sheridan’s revised version of his book They Ask You Answer #TAYA and while you are waiting implement these five essential strategies for your own agency today. 

1. Put your packages, pricing and add-ons on your website.
2. Write content & create videos about the problems you solve for your clients.
3. Create versus comparison content on your website, software and types of agencies (not
   names) but differences between working with a SEO vs Inbound Agency.
4. Reviews on various software and marketing strategies. Post on your website.
5. Best (in your opinion) software and marketing strategies and why.
   
   

 2. You may be ready to create videos for your agency but not sure where to start, Zach Basner from Impact shared the 7 Types of Sales Videos that you need to make and put up online as soon as possible to help increase traffic and qualified leads.

1. 80% videos - all the questions you get asked in the sales process.
2. Agency team bio videos.
3. Your services videos. 
4. Landing page videos (what happens when they give their email address).
5. Bad Fit videos.
6. Social Proof/Testimonial videos.
7. The "Claims we make" videos.

3.  Melanie Collins - Director of Revenue at Impact shared their sales strategies you can Investigate and implement Assignment Selling if you feel it is a good fit for your sales process.

4. If your agency is growing at a pace that is scaring you Tiffany Sauder from Element Three has been there and written the book . . . well she shares her insights from her journey and you can read all about How to Scale Trust when you Win the Business Lottery.

5. If you want to become an authority in your field or the face of your agency Ryan Deiss talked us through the 5 triggers that you need to pull . . . 

1. Have a plan
2. Answer your customers questions
3. Speak in Absolutes
4. Define your core beliefs
5. Change peoples rites or rituals 

You can read up more on these in Takeaway #3 here 

6. If you are wondering how to get raving fans for your agencies services then David Meerman Scott has the formula in his book Fanocracy 

7. Are you trying to figure out how to be more comfortable in-front of the camera? Brian Fanzo - @isocialfanz gives the great advice to get started by simply committing to using FaceTime with your family and friends a minimum of 5 times per week. Then over time use your agency Instagram account, Facebook Live, and keep going. Soon you will feel more natural in-front of the camera.

8. Is your agencies website still not making you happy and delivering quality, consistent leads? Then learn from the best - Stacy Willis takes us under the hood of how to build the Perfect Inbound Website

1. What is the goal of your website? Your website is a sales tool not a marketing tool because it is responsible for 70% of the buying decision. 
2. The customer/buyer is king.
3. SEO - give people what they are searching for - give them a pricing page - working simply - find the perfect program for you - this can be done with essential packages and add-on's you offer can give the impression that they are getting a customised offer - include a form to book a time with you.
4. Provide a good experience on your website.
5. Create an opportunity for them to have a conversation with you - chat bot.
6. Continued performance requires regular maintenance, brainstorm and update sessions with the team every month instead of big overhauls once every year or two.

9. Are you going up the down escalator when it comes to the ever changing world of SEO? Brave pilot, Franco Valentino from Narrative SEO, who flew himself to Hartford, CT #lifegoals. He shared incredibly useful tips on Technical SEO for Inbound Marketers. You can get his checklist here. 

10. One of the funniest and practical presentations was done in two parts by Tyler Lessard from Vidyard where he asked for a volunteer in the audience on day one, (a pet food company) to come forward and nominate their company for a video makeover. He came back the next day with a selection of videos based on their three essential videos they recommend businesses use and you can too. 

1. Awareness & Education videos.
2. Getting to know you (team bios, what you do) videos.
3. Buyer engagement - one-to-one case studies talking about the problems you have solved videos.

12. With all the changes happening in Facebook you might think the good times are over, think again. Mari Smith gave us a killer tip that you can use today in your agency, when you post on your page you need to put ad money towards it but it can be as little as a dollar, so that you can add a CTA. Do that for a few days and then you can stop, it will continue to gain organic traffic. She also told us to keep a keen eye on WeChat, TikTok & Libra in the future. You can read more about her insights in this article - Organic Facebook Marketing is Dead.

13. If you have not gone all in with Pillar Content for your own agency then Liz Murphy (one of the best presenters I have ever watched) shares her Pillar Content Strategy where she was able to attribute over $500k in sales for IMPACT for her recent work. 

14. Finally the agency world is awash with Chat Bot/Conversation Marketing discussions - have you got your strategy clear for your own agency? David Cancel from Drift gave an excellent talk on future trends in the industry but if you are still on the fence check out this Guide to Getting Started with Conversational Marketing

There were many more excellent & informative talks however I wanted to focus on the most relevant tactical ones that will help agency owners. If you would like a hand with anything relating to growing your agency you can drop me a line clodagh@growitgroup.com.

Next up there were over 16 main sponsors at the event and some of them I had not hear before - I will share those on my next blog post.

I would highly recommend booking your place at the new and improved IMPACT Live event next April which is now called Digital Sales & Marketing World they have a great pre-sale offer. Book your seat and bring the person who is responsible for marketing in your own agency and spend the time focusing on your own Agency Marketing learning from the best of the best you will be happy you did . .  I will see you there.

Clodagh