Key Takeaways from the “Build a Better Agency Summit 2024”
Ali Lego, Chief Operating Officer
I was fortunate enough to attend the Agency Management Institute’s BABA Summit last week in Downtown Denver.
Joined by nearly 400 other small- to mid-size marketing agency owners and professionals, I was surrounded by some of the best and brightest in our industry. Yes, we might be competitors at times, but at this conference, we were peers and friends who shared honest perspectives of the challenges each faces when owning and running an agency.
We got to hear from some inspiring presenters on business-focused topics such as industry research from Audience Audit, business development and pricing strategies from Mercer Island Group, Boost Pricing to create a culture of collaboration, and finding your “Zone of Excellence.”
Here are a few of my key takeaways from #BABA2024.
Take Care of Yourself and Your Whole Self FIRST
Jeff Salzanstein – The Zone of Excellence – how high performers can reduce stress and optimize performance
- “Our personal wellness needs and professional bottom line goals are critical to our overall success goals, but they’re often misaligned.”
- By optimizing for three fundamental principles (body, mind, and soul), leaders and teams decrease stress and unleash their true potential. High achievers learn how to balance their intense drive for success with gratitude and appreciation for the present moment by using proven, sustainable “pro” fundamentals that guarantee results.
Content, Content, and More Content
- Content has been an industry buzzword for a while now, but it continues to be a key focus for good reason. And it’s not just about creating content for our clients. We have to be our own #1 client.
- Sites that have good content have 60% more conversions.
- Stop creating content that never gets used; let the content work for you and get it out there across the various channels that you have.
- New content keeps you relevant, boosts SEO, re-engages your audience and builds credibility.
- AI can help generate content but you still need a human writer to edit and refine the content to be in your brand voice.
Chase the Change
- Change is happening faster and faster than it ever has.
- If we don’t embrace and lean into the change, we are irrelevant and if we are irrelevant then we are obsolete.
- You have to avoid Rosy Retrospection, a cognitive bias and tendency to recall the past more fondly than the present.
- Change fatigue is real and translates to discretionary effort (a person’s willingness to go “above and beyond.”) Research shows employees are worn out from frequent shifting of priorities, policies, and personnel. The intensity and amount of disruption is overwhelming.
- This business is hard… but we are all motivated to do hard things because our profession as marketers is rooted in being agents of change.
I am excited to put these takeaways into action along with some of the other more tactical things I’ve learned. And I will be registering for next year’s summit as it was well worth the time invested! #BABASUMMIT24
