The point I’m making is that most agencies lack a brand or make no serious attempt at brand marketing.
I get why many (if not most) are in survival mode.
But this is not that.
Small agencies, even one-person ones, can start to think about how their agency feels and looks.
They can consider their websites, branding, documents and every touchpoint a client or staff member has with their brand.
I used to ship my SEO strategy reports in an ammo tin with a logo on the front, making the digital world tangible.
And it’s these things that are going to entice staff back from freelance land.
It’s not about putting your reports in tins – that’s not what I’m saying.
It’s about becoming an agency brand that people want on their CVs.
Being an office that people want to work in.
Being an agency that people want to work for.
Being an agency that clients want to work with – if for the “experience and results.”
This is also not a money thing; we’ll talk about that next.
This is a brand thing.
Having a distinctive brand that draws people in matters.
This is where future growth will be.
This is how you’ll attract the key talent.
However, agencies will need far bigger salaries if they are to compete.
And I’ll cover this next.
Dig deeper: In-house vs. agency SEO work: The pros and cons
If you want results, hire superstars
It’s a simple statement:
“If you want results, hire superstars.”
And it’s true, but you’ll need to get used to a few things.
First, anyone who doesn’t deliver value to clients must justify their salaries.
Second, you’ll have to be focused on marketing and delivery.
Agencies of the future will need to pay huge salaries to win back talent from their comfortable freelance worlds.
So, you’ll have to minimize everything else – which is fine.
Run lean in every non-essential area, and you can hire superstars to grow your brand through marketing and results.
But what about those wanting to stay freelance?
Freelance is OK, until…
Look, I’ve been freelance. I’ve also built my own agency and now work for a leading one.
Freelance is great until you:
Need a new mortgage.
Get sick.
Have a few awful clients.
Need a holiday from work.
Have clients not pay.
Need I go on?
Freelance work can be brilliant, but it does have downsides.
From pensions to other benefits that come with having stable employment, these are what you give up.
I’m not saying you overcome them, but freelance work often swings between periods of feast and famine.
This is why I’m so bullish on agency branding. To win employees back, you have to be vastly better than a freelancer life.
But what about retention?
Dig deeper: How to train entry-level SEO hires so they can contribute right away
Why keeping your staff matters
When growth emerges again, your staff will look elsewhere for roles unless you’ve treated them correctly.
And I assure you, hiring can be both expensive and complex work. So, retaining staff matters.
I speak with many SEOs who are attracted to the freelance world, and there are always other agencies they can go to. And let’s not forget the client side.
This places agencies in a weak spot.
As growth emerges, the “talent” pool will be smaller, and staff demand will be higher.
Which again fuels wage rises and impacts your profitability.
The solution is to retain your SEO talent by offering a combination of great salary and working conditions and being an agency brand that people want to work for.
But am I dreaming here?
Is this all too much for SEO agencies to do?
Build better agencies or get out
I’ve long always said that once people go freelance, it’s virtually impossible to get them to be employees again.
There will be a great talent battle between agencies in the coming years.
We have already seen the rise of SEO influencers on platforms like Linkedin.
SEOs that generate their own work and leads.
If you’re going to either attract these people or stop your talent from wanting to leave you and join that game, there is simply no excuse.
You’ve got to build better agencies, or don’t bother.
And this is the SEO career crisis that’s coming.
When the growth happens, the agencies with the best brands will win big.
The agencies with the best talent will thrive.
And you’ll find that accessing talent is going to become harder.
Unless agencies become places where the talent wants to flow, you just might find that the freelancer market becomes the “go-to” place for SEO services.
Make no mistake: agencies will be in for a battle for staff in the coming months and years.
It’s on them to build agencies worth working for.
Dig deeper: The latest jobs in search marketing
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