My guest on this episode of Sell With Authority has spent nearly 20 years working in strategic and leadership roles focused on growing national and local client brands with award-winning, ROI-generating digital strategies.

Corey Morris, President and CEO of Voltage returns for an encore interview.

Corey recently released his new book, The Digital Marketing Success Plan, and I'm thrilled to dive into the insights and strategies he shares.

To set the stage for our conversation, here's an excerpt from Chapter 10 of Corey's book where he touches on a significant trend in the digital marketing landscape. Quoting Corey:

"A trend I'm seeing personally and can validate through feedback I see with over two dozen other agency owners — that I believe will continue to grow–is brands having less patience with agencies. On the positive side — companies want to work with agencies that know what they're doing and are the best at doing it.

That means constantly bringing new ideas and thinking deeply about their business overall.

Unfortunately — many companies have been burned by bad agency relationships.

Whether due to talking big and not delivering, trying to be full service and do everything at a level of deep expertise, or just not being a right fit for other reasons like niche, price, strategy, etc. — most companies have had a bad experience with agencies at some point.

Combine that with shorter-than-ever tenures for CMOs and the fact that so many agencies sound the same and have similar messaging — agencies are getting fired at a record rate.

That means that being an expert or specialist and owning a niche is important to gain trust early, drive results, and have a quality relationship among all of the people on both sides.

Shortening patience isn't a one-way street.

Agencies can be different and should be — and accountability will be a factor that wins out more and more in the coming years."

Corey's observations are compelling and timely — and they resonate deeply with the challenges and opportunities faced by agencies today.

I want to reinforce the relevance of his insights with some data from the latest Agency Edge research study conducted by Agency Management Institute and Audience Audit. This study aimed to quantify what clients want from their agencies, allowing respondents to choose more than one factor.

Hannah Roth, our resident mad scientist and strategist here at Predictive, delved into the Agency Edge research and shared her thoughts on the implications. She summarized:

"Clients want the strategy, the path, and the overall goal in nearly equal parts. To pack a powerful punch, agencies that want to attract advocates and exacting experts should offer elements of all three."

I couldn't agree more with Hannah's analysis — and it's fascinating how the data aligns with Corey's insights.

This synchronicity is exactly why I invited Corey back for an encore.

We explore how his book can serve as a roadmap for your agency to create winning strategies, paths, and goals for your clients.

What you will learn in this episode:

• The importance of having a documented, transparent plan that aligns all stakeholders
• Why chasing the shiny object of AI might be leading you astray from effective, proven strategies
• How focus on strategic planning can help you withstand sudden changes and distractions in the marketing landscape
• Real-life examples of clients who thought they were profitable but were actually losing money — and how you can avoid those pitfalls
• Tips for agencies to provide strategic guidance and not just project execution

Resources:

• Website: https://voltage.digital
• Facebook Business: https://www.facebook.com/voltagekc
• LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/coreymorris/
• LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/voltagedigital/
• Twitter Personal: https://twitter.com/coreydmorris
• Twitter Business: https://twitter.com/VoltageKC
• Instagram Business: https://www.instagram.com/voltagekc/
• The Digital Marketing Success Plan: https://thedmsp.com
• Sell With Authority EP 103: How to Get to the Top of Google, with Corey Morris

Additional Resources:

• Website: www.predictiveroi.com
• Visit our newly expanded Resource Library
• Join us in our free How to Fill Your Sales Pipeline Facebook Group