Blog

At DigitalMarketer, we work with many incredible companies. Our all-time favorite is making a great company even more successful with the training and strategies we teach.

And not just because we love celebrating our customers' success (although we really love yelling at them all!). It's also like we want to see what exactly pulled the needle, landed those customers, and took their sales to the next level. Because our second favorite is to pass these successful tricks and strategies on to the next struggling marketer.

It's a never ending cycle of marketing gold.

One such success story comes from SiteGeek, an award-winning digital marketing consultancy. By implementing the strategies and processes from the DigitalMarketer Certified Partner program, SiteGeek was able to attract more, better qualified leads and larger customers with higher tickets. This meant that they could save and then double the size of their business!

We wanted to share this story, and in case you have trouble finding your own success, we broke down 3 strategies you can try for yourself. We know they worked for SiteGeek, so they probably will work for you!

Battle for the plateau

When Steve Hooper, the founder of SiteGeek, first took part in the DigitalMarketer Certified Partner Program, he ran into problems.

His company was in deep water due to a catastrophic billing error. Although he had a steady stream of customers, he was not happy with the direction his company was headed.

Steve relied heavily on word of mouth and recommendations from years of search engine optimization and networking to acquire customers. And the clients he got were usually on a tight budget, often less than $ 500 in total.

It was a constant, day-to-day hassle building websites and doing minor consultancy work, and Steve felt more like a leaky boat with teaspoons for paddling up the creek than he would have been an elite level white water rafting expert should feel. Navigating the sharp rocks and rough currents of the marketing world.

And then he found DigitalMarketer.

Or rather, DigitalMarketer found it. While browsing Facebook one evening, Steve came across a video of Ryan Deiss (the Man, the Myth, the Legend) that he had recognized from a conference a few years earlier.

And before he knew it, Steve joined the Certified Partner program as a new partner, looking for structure and direction, as well as opportunities to grow his business and improve his process.

The ah-ha moment

By participating in the CP program, Steve gained access to a variety of marketing tools and tactics that he could not only use to help his customers, but also improve his own marketing efforts.

What is the biggest problem most marketing agencies face? Note: It's not bad marketing. They can create some of the best marketing efforts for their customers, but often don't have the time or energy to market their own business.

Steve immediately jumped in and started implementing programs like the Double Your Sales sessions (an older DM product) that would bring his conversions up to a rate he'd had in his previous one-on-one or email conversations had never seen potential customers.

The one-page product sheets, agency growth toolkits, and video training gave Steve the structure and direction he needed to start marketing his own, and soon he was able to do it in a quarter of the time – which meant he was spending more time could work on its customers' businesses.

It wasn't just sunshine and daisies. Anyone who's ever had a great workout or learned a new strategy can understand that it's not as easy as snapping your fingers.

With so much new material to work with, Steve tried hard to see how some of it would fit into his business model. After mastering the basics set out in the CP program (like the Customer Value Journey, which we'll cover later), he began to see how it all fit together.

This side of success

With all of these new tools and tactics, Steve sees his company reach new heights.

He has fewer, better customers on a budget over $ 5,000 / month. More than 10x what they were before. And he can hire more team members to work with these clients.

He's seeing a doubling in ad spend, which has doubled because his funnels are working better than ever, and he's even started a podcast called Digital Marketing Confessions where he talks to marketers about what works (and what) in digital marketing not now.

SiteGeek has doubled and with Steve currently going through the 90 Day Accelerator, he expects even greater growth in the months and years to come.

When Steve made an effort to become a Certified Partner, he went to great lengths to find new ways and find a true path for himself and his company. The training he found in the program made just that possible, and he dug himself deep, pushing himself to do the work that produced results.

But what were these specific things that produced results, you ask?

There were three specific tactics Steve found to have the greatest impact on his business and success as a CP.

3 tactics you can use to grow your own business like SiteGeek

When we talked to Steve about what really made the biggest difference, he said the most important strategies were to improve his customer value journey, creating value upfront, and leaning on the CP community.

So we've broken these ideas down a little further so you can use them yourself. We will provide you the value in advance 😉.

The customer value journey

We talk a lot about this framework. How much.

If you're new to the game, the Customer Value Journey is a marketing framework that breaks down the different stages your customer will go through in their relationship with your business, from just taking notice of you to shouting your name from the rooftops of everyone should be your customer.

This should be one of the most important foundations of your business and your marketing. Know exactly what content, emails, or ads your customers see based on where they are on the value journey.

And different levels should have different content. Once someone has just learned about your business, you don't want to immediately ask them to buy your item or service at the highest price. You want to make sure your customers are going through this in the correct order and following each step.

And as you figure out how your funnels align with the YV, you may find yourself missing steps or being ahead of yourself.

So plan your own customer's journey through your business and you will be better prepared to lead new prospects who would have been lost without this card.

Provide value in advance

Many business owners (and marketers in general) are suspicious of revealing too much information or content before signing a contract and receiving a check in the mail. What's preventing potential customers from taking what you give them for free and then going to someone else or even trying it themselves?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

But Steve learned (and we've always taught) that if you add value to your customers before you ever ask for a dime, most of the time they don't just cut and run. Usually they stay here and see what else you have to offer.

When you give value, you get something that is worth far more than money in return (and we all know money is worth a lot). You get confidence. By showing your clients how much you know and sharing some of your expertise for free, you are proving that you are the expert they should turn to when they are ready to break the checkbook.

Because remember, marketing is hard. There's a reason marketing agencies stay in business. When you give away a strategy for free, most people will see what it takes to implement it, turn around and ask you to do it for them.

So always start your sales pitch with value creation in advance. Perhaps this means populating your blog with tactical content (as you can see on SiteGeek below) or creating a sales presentation full of useful strategies before closing any contracts.

Whatever is best for your business, when you start with value you are guaranteed to see a return.

Lean on your community

This was the tip that kept coming up. Steve's favorite thing about the CP program, and his biggest advice to anyone participating in the program, was to really take advantage of the community.

In the case of the CP program, we have a Facebook group where all of our CPs can talk about their businesses and help each other with any sticking points. This community often keeps our partners in the program for years.

However, you don't have to be in that particular community to benefit from this tactic. Whether you're a member of this CP group, the DM Engage group, any other online marketing group, or just part of a brunch crew with other business owners, the community can improve or affect your success as a business.

When you are part of a community of people in similar situations or with similar problems, not only can you get advice about your specific problems, but you can also help other people with theirs. You can build your authority in the industry and find new networking opportunities (just make sure you are not that person trying to market your product on the Facebook group if it is not allowed).

A community is usually a safe place to discuss roadblocks and the best place to share ideas from people who really know their stuff and may have been through a similar thing.

Remember, you don't have to do it alone. Take your community with you.

And no matter what stage your business is in or what you want to improve, these three tactics will give you a step up. So if you want to double your business, just follow the pointers above. We know they work!