Why Most Marketing Efforts Fail and How to Boost Agency Profitability

Many agencies think their biggest struggle is revenue. In reality, the real challenge often lies in profitability. Without understanding their true costs and margins, agencies can fall into the trap of chasing more clients without improving their bottom line.

In this episode of the Powerful Marketers podcast, Mari-Liis Vaher, co-founder of Powerful Marketers, sits down with Marcel Petitpas, CEO and co-founder of Parakeeto. Marcel specializes in helping agencies track the right metrics to improve profitability and make data-driven decisions.

Key Takeaways:

1️⃣ Profitability Over Revenue

Many agencies assume that more revenue equals more success, but if profitability isn’t optimized, growth can create more problems. Tracking the right metrics ensures sustainable business success.

2️⃣ The Mistake of Rushing to an MVP

A common misconception in business is launching a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) too early. Marcel introduces a different framework: the Four MVPs Process that agencies should follow first:

• Minimum Viable Problem: Identifying a clear, unchanging problem that the agency is solving.
• Minimum Viable Point of View: Articulating why the problem exists and how current solutions fall short, offering a unique perspective that resonates with the target audience.
• Minimum Viable Process: Developing a repeatable process that delivers consistent results before scaling or automating.
• Minimum Viable Product: Only after validating the first three should agencies focus on engineering a scalable solution. Too many businesses rush to build a product before proving their process works.

3️⃣ The Channel Maturity Model

Agencies often struggle to determine where to invest their marketing efforts. Marcel suggests that instead of spreading resources too thin, agencies should follow a structured approach to adding new marketing channels. There are four key categories:

• Paid Media: Digital ads, billboards, event sponsorships, TV ads, etc.
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Google, YouTube, chat-based searches.
• Earned Media: Guest appearances on podcasts, blogs, public speaking opportunities, etc.
• Cold Outreach: Direct email, LinkedIn outreach, cold calling, etc.

Agencies should only introduce a new channel once the existing channel has proven its effectiveness.

4️⃣ When to Add a New Channel? 

Marcel provides five criteria for knowing when it’s time to expand marketing efforts:

1. Repeatable Process: You understand the inputs and outputs (e.g., if you email 10 podcasts, you know three will accept you, leading to X number of leads).
2. Founder-Proofing: The process works without relying on the founder’s personal involvement.
3. Scorecard Tracking: The channel’s performance is measurable, and trends can be monitored over time.
4. Ongoing Testing & Optimization: There is a way to test and improve results consistently.
5. Customer Acquisition Cost Payback: The cost of acquiring a customer should be trending towards or below a 90-day payback period.

5️⃣ Building Effective Funnels

Once an agency has established its marketing channels, it needs to structure them into a sales funnel. There are three primary stages:

• Awareness: The potential client is experiencing symptoms of a problem but doesn’t fully understand it yet. Free content like blogs, podcasts, and social media posts help educate them.
• Consideration: The client knows they have a problem but is figuring out the best approach to solving it. This is where lead magnets (free but gated content) help guide them.
• Conversion: The client understands the problem and is ready to take action. This is when website content, case studies, and direct calls-to-action help close the deal.

Here are the links mentioned in the episode:

• Free Toolkit for agencies
• Parakeeto Foundations Course
• New Book: “Software as a Science: Unlock Limitless Recurring Revenue Without Losing Control” by Dan Martell, Matt Verlaque, Johnny Page, and Marcel Peptitas 

Get in touch with Marcel Peptitas and Parakeeto:

• Parakeeto website: www.parakeeto.com   
• Marcel’s website: www.marcelpetitpas.com    

Personal Social Media handles:

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcel-petitpas-20059588/  
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marcel.petitpas/    
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/agencyprofitability   

Company Social Media handles:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getparakeeto/    
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Parakeeto   
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@getparakeeto   
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/parakeeto  

What inspires Marcel into action:

🎵 Song: Mathematics – Mos Def (By clicking the link you’ll find the complete Spotify list of all Powerful Marketing Tips podcast’s guests favorite songs)

💭 Quote: “If your business is stuck and not growing, the first thing you should do is look in the mirror. And that’s probably where the problem is.” – Dan Martell

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