Can You Outsource Your Agency Thought Leadership?

Outsource your agency thought leadership?

That's a bad idea.

But when I talk with agencies about helping them with their lead gen & marketing, many are drawn to full "done-for-you" solution.

And I get it. I understand the appeal of delegating your agency lead gen and marketing to a third party so you can focus on client or operations work—but it's not worth it.

Ask yourself, "Would I let a third party speak at a conference representing my agency?"

If you're like most agency leaders, the answer is no.

So what is the solution?

In my experience there are two, both of which still require some personal investment from agency leadership.

1. Become the Chief Evangelist Officer for your agency

This means you might put yourself out there on social media, host a podcast, guest on podcasts, speak at conferences, write a newsletter, etc. You recognize that this is a muscle that is worth building for the sake of your agency's long term health. For this, you could use some guidance and coaching to help you get going on these channels effectively, but wholesale delegation to another person doesn't make sense.

2. Log your expertise for someone else to draft content with.

This takes less time but limits your channels somewhat. With this approach, you capture your subject matter expertise via Voice Notes, Loom videos, etc. for a third party to adapt into content on your behalf. This will usually limit you to written channels like guest posting, posts on your own site, social media content, and email marketing, but can still work, albeit more slowly.

What is NOT possible, in my experience, is completely handing off showcasing your expertise to a third party.

And this is a problem if you're looking to build agency pipeline.

At the end of the day, your target market is looking for deep subject matter experts that can show proof of their expertise and results before they're willing to take a leap with you.

And that's not something that should be left to a third party.

As an agency leader, you have to own it.

Get a coach, a consultant, or whatever to help steer you in the right direction, but whatever you do, don't try to get someone to do it for you wholesale.

You'll regret it.