Situations like these are exactly why the Hinge Research Institute conducts its annual High Growth Study of the consulting industry in partnership with Deltek. Consulting firms—like all other professional services firms—are still experiencing significant uncertainty. Over 300 consulting firms participated in this year’s study. Their top concern for 2023? Unpredictability in the marketplace, followed closely by a shortage of top talent. Today’s consulting firms are eager to find new ways to raise their visibility, attract new clients and expand their existing client base, but they often don’t know how. One of the best ways to achieve business growth is to learn from the strategies and tactics of the industry’s most successful firms. We call these organizations “High Growth Firms.”

In this article, we highlight a few of the findings from the 2023 High Growth Study: Consulting Edition by outlining the four key advantages of High Growth consulting firms that helped cement their path to growth and profitability. Focusing on what you can control in an uncertain environment will help consulting firms like yours develop a marketing system that delivers powerful results year after year.

To purchase the full report and unlock additional insights and advice, click here. (Use the discount code, GROW50, and save 50% on a report purchase.)

Defining High Growth Consulting Firms

The Hinge Research Institute defines a consulting firm as a “High Growth” firm when it has a compound annual growth rate of 20% or greater over a three-year period. What is impressive is just how fast these firms are growing. In the figure below, we see that High Growth consulting firms grew four times faster than their Average Growth peers.

Not only are the fastest growing firms far outpacing the No Growth and Average Growth consulting firms, High Growth consulting firms are also twice as profitable.

Key Advantage 1: Technology

This year’s data revealed that High Growth firms adopt and use business development and marketing software at a greater rate than their slower growing peers. While digital transformation has been a buzzword in the consulting industry in recent years, the best performing firms are walking the walk. Many consulting firms are likely helping their clients with their digital transformation strategy and implementation. And many High Growth firms have turned these skills inward and are enjoying the benefits of a successful digital transformation. The figure below shows that High Growth Firms are over 3X more likely to have gone through digital transformation than their No Growth peers. There are still many firms, however, that have yet to complete their digital transformation and enjoy the fruits of a fully deployed system. This is a key advantage now, but eventually the pack will catch up to the leaders.

The study also highlights which business development technologies are used by High Growth firms to improve efficiency and use data to understand the evolving needs of clients and prospects. In this way, consulting firms can deliver a more customized solution with greater efficiency to their clients—a win for both sides: better deliverables using fewer labor resources.

Key Advantage 2: Talent

At Hinge, we have been hearing from our consulting clients that it is taking longer to close new business, and prospective clients are pressing for the same value at reduced costs. At the same time, consulting firms are fishing in the same pond for the top talent to meet these higher client demands. In this year’s study, we found that to catch the best people, you need a great company culture built on transparency, authenticity, and team-focused initiatives. We also found that High Growth firms are doing a better job of building that company culture, as illustrated in the figure below. Having a desirable company culture might be the final deciding factor when top candidates are deciding between multiple offers.

In the study, we dive deeper into which activities and benefits are most critical to building an appealing company culture. We also explore what specific skills employees at top consulting firms need to meet today’s client needs. We also explore what skills High Growth firms are most likely to outsource, and why.

Key Advantage 3: Marketing

This year’s study dives deeper than ever into High Growth firms’ top marketing priorities, top marketing techniques, use of social media, and how they have expanded the role of the marketing team into non-traditional areas.

There is one question that is on most consulting firms’ minds: “How much should I allocate to my marketing budget?” The figures below show that High Growth firms are spending more on marketing and are seeing a substantially greater number of digital leads.

A crucial way High Growth firms generate those high-quality digital leads is by producing a steady stream of high-quality educational content. In fact, this was the number one priority for all consulting firms in the study. But it’s not enough to simply produce content. You need to produce and promote it correctly. Check out this recent post by Lee Frederiksen to learn why and how a content-based marketing program works.

Key Advantage 4: Strategy

One last advantage enjoyed by High Growth firms is in the realm of strategy. One key differentiator of High Growth consulting firms is that they look forward to the future instead of turning to the past for guidance. With the level of uncertainty in the current market, no one has a crystal ball to make sense of it all. But some key challenges are beginning to emerge, as you can see in the figure below. High Growth firms’ top three concerns are marketplace volatility, increased competition and downward price pressure on services. While there is a great deal of agreement in this list between High Growth and No Growth firms, note the areas where No Growth firms differ most: the need for new skills, managing a remote workforce and generational changes. These are issues that many High Growth firms have already dealt with. The biggest area of difference for High Growth firms—automation/artificial intelligence—is an indication of how these firms are looking further ahead than their slower-growing peers. High Growth firms usually see the tide coming in before the others. Firms can look at this list to gauge where their business challenges stack up. Is your firm worried about the wrong thing and putting too much effort into something that won’t solve future problems?

The full report also examines the role of M&A in the consulting industry, what topics and trends consulting firms want to learn more about in 2023, the way High Growth firms versus No Growth firms are approaching ESG (and why), and how conducting research can inform your firm’s key strategic decisions.

Putting the Data to Work

As we’ve learned over the eight consecutive years we have conducted this study, the marketplace is ever-evolving. If you are feeling the challenges of an uncertain marketplace, you are not alone. Uncertainty is the number one business challenge facing professional services firms today—and consulting firms are no different. What separates High Growth consulting firms from their No Growth peers is the sophisticated marketing system they’ve built to drive growth and profitability, year after year. You can use the data in our report to help your firm navigate the uncertain times ahead and start to build that successful marketing system. And if you need some support, be sure to reach out to us here at Hinge.

The post 2023: How Consultancies Can Win in an Uncertain Environment appeared first on Hinge Marketing.

Hinge’s annual research study on the fastest growing AEC firms showed that while many firms adapted to the chaos caused by the Covid pandemic, many were hesitant to celebrate, and even successes could add strain: pointing to ongoing labor and supply chain constraints and continued uncertainty surrounding U.S. legislation.

In the newly released High Growth Study 2023: AEC Edition, we dig deeper into how one exceptional group of AEC firms is continuing to find growth and profitability in the face of heightened uncertainty and risk. (You can use the discount code, GROW50, to save 50% on your research report purchase.)

About the Study

This year’s study examined 120 Architecture, Engineering & Construction (AEC) firms, representing a combined revenue of over $8 billion and more than 22,000 employees. Firms of all sizes, global regions and key executive positions were represented in the study, with the vast majority of firms doing business in the United States.

While marketing spend declined among AEC firms this year, the study showed their median growth rate increased by almost 50% over the previous year. While the AEC industry has always shown a low investment in marketing relative to overall revenue, the data suggests some firms are finding ways to fight through the fog of uncertainty.

Technology

Perhaps one of the greatest advantages of High Growth AEC firms is when it comes to technology. Simply put, the fastest growing AEC firms are more digitally mature with more than 50% of the firms surveyed automating or managing their main processes with technology.

Furthermore, High Growth AEC firms are utilizing marketing and business development technologies more than their no growth peers—and especially when it comes to customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise resource planning (ERP), and business intelligence (BI). High Growth AEC firms are more frequent users of technology to track and attribute their marketing and business development activities than their No Growth counterparts. In fact, they are almost twice as likely to use metrics to evaluate the success of their events and thought leadership content.

And while they might be more frequent users of technology, this year’s full study showed that AEC firms are actually less focused on automation and artificial intelligence than other professional service industries surveyed by Hinge.

It will be interesting to observe the impact of “tipping point” applications like ChatGPT have across professional services. While these systems are unlikely to replace actual expertise or quality thought leadership content, they may very well democratize qualitative elements and provide opportunities for efficiency at scale. Many less publicized, but similarly powerful tools are already integrated into BI, communications and data platforms. This will be an important technology to monitor and potentially harness for a competitive edge as others adapt and adopt at a slower pace. These technologies have already been transformational in B2C, B2B and media – professional services will not be too far behind.

Strategy

So how do high growth AEC firms and no growth firms differ as they look toward the future? While mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and succession planning will likely still play a part in AEC firms’ future growth strategies, this year’s study found that High Growth AEC firms are looking to learn more about technology-driven topics and trends such as automation, artificial intelligence, the internet of things (IoT), and smart buildings. Their no growth counterparts are still focused on established tech, like BIM.

In addition to technology, high growth AEC firms are planning to focus more efforts on far-reaching market trends like ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) and green infrastructure.

Marketing and Business Development

It comes as no surprise that high growth AEC firms are investing more in marketing than their no growth peers in order to drive their growth and profitability, but where do they see the most bang for their buck? Let’s compare and contrast marketing priorities and application of techniques to begin our assessment.

Perhaps one of the greatest learnings from this year’s study is where high growth AEC firms are prioritizing their time next, because after all, they must be doing something right! Social media marketing, a low-cost, low-effort digital technique, was identified as their top priority for 2023 while three times as many high growth AEC firms than no growth firms are utilizing social media advertising. (See Utilization of Marketing Techniques) This focus comes as the industry continues to adapt to the after-effects of a global pandemic and its impact on in-person event strategies. The fastest growing AEC firms are also prioritizing creating content and SEO. And firms are conducting more keyword research, using a programmatic, intentional approach along with publishing written blog posts.

The AEC study also found that most No Growth AEC firms had low SEO maturity while High Growth AEC firms had implemented a high performing SEO program. This is not just the reporting of “traffic increases”, but the understanding of engagement and positive impact to business KPIs (including recruiting). Over 68% of the High Growth AEC firms surveyed rated their SEO maturity at a mid or high level. The SEO programs at No Growth firms, however, are largely undeveloped, unstructured, and ad-hoc.

High Growth AEC firms are increasing the marketing team’s involvement in developing opportunities, researching target audiences, and developing the firm’s employer branding because marketers have the skill sets to do so.

Talent

This brings us to recruiting. As the war for top talent has cooled slightly in other professional service industries, the challenge maintains its #1 status for AEC firms. But High Growth AEC firms are increasingly more focused on specific elements of the talent challenge such as: general changes in the workforce/succession planning, managing a remote workforce, and the expansion of new competitors. Identifying generational changes and the cultural, operational and skillset shifts they bring is an especially astute (and practical) insight.

This year’s study also found that high growth AEC firms are still more likely to consult with outside agencies and freelancers to ensure their marketing needs are met and they can cover any critical skills gaps (e.g., design,strategy, SEO, copywriting.)

In Closing

While some AEC firms have introduced new tools and techniques to address an increasingly digital marketplace, others continue to struggle, searching for the perfect recipe to sustain growth.

But one thing has become clear: when it comes to digital engagement, business intelligence and opportunities for automation, having maturity, quality and measurable performance in each of these areas is key. Those AEC firms that use more digital marketing platforms and use them more proficiently, are experiencing more growth and at a faster pace.

(You can use the discount code, GROW50, to save 50% on your research report purchase.)

The post Top Insights from 2023 AEC High Growth Study appeared first on Hinge Marketing.

In this post we will explore how to make thought leadership content the centerpiece of your strategy and how to execute it successfully. Let’s start by getting clear about several key terms.

Thought Leadership Defined

Thought leadership is the process of developing specialized expertise and novel insights into a subject matter area and then sharing those perspectives with audiences for the purpose of educating and influencing them. Thought leaders shape the attitudes and behaviors of their followers.

Thought leadership can take many forms and have many purposes, such as social change or political influence. When focused on commercial objectives, it is often labeled as thought leadership marketing.

Thought Leadership Marketing Defined

Thought leadership marketing is the process of increasing the visibility of specialized expertise and accelerating market influence to accomplish marketing goals, such as building brand strength or generating new business. It is accomplished by creating insightful analysis and content and making that thought leadership visible to your target markets.

Thought Leadership Content Defined

Thought leadership content is how experts communicate their specialized knowledge and insights to their followers. It makes their intangible expertise visible and sharable and greatly increases their trust and marketplace leverage. Thought leadership content can be shared in a wide variety of formats (see Examples of Thought Leadership Content below).

Because of its educational nature, B2B thought leadership content is rarely overtly promotional in tone or substance. Over time, a stream of useful thought leadership content builds the expert’s visibility and influence.

Examples of Thought Leadership Content

Here are some examples of the most useful forms of B2B thought leadership content and the best uses of each type.

1. Books. Nothing says thought leadership like a business book on your area of expertise. If it is also a best seller, it can be a powerful tool for expanding your visibility as well as credibility. Books are a great way to capture your key ideas in a format that allows you to explore them in some detail.
2. Research reports. Original research is arguably the most trusted form of thought leadership content. It almost always provides new insights and is highly regarded in B2B organizations because it is objective. If it addresses an important issue facing the target audience, it is likely to be widely shared as well.
3. Guides and White Papers. Guides and white papers are generally longer pieces, often running from 10-25 pages in length. They are aimed at a specific segment of your target audience and take a comprehensive view of their subject matter. They are a great vehicle for explaining how you think about and solve for a specific issue.
4. Webinars and Speaking Engagements. Webinars and speaking engagements are great ways to expand your followers. They tend to be educational in nature, so they also do a good job of conveying your expertise. Many thought leaders report that speaking engagements are their single most effective approach to generating new business opportunities.
5. Educational Courses. Doing educational programs and courses is a good approach to conveying the full depth of your expertise. While some live formats may have limited enrollment, they often make up for it because of their depth of engagement. Digital courses, while less interactive, can offer greater reach and visibility. Also, partnering with a trade association or educational institution, can add extra credibility to your offering.
6. Blog posts and articles. Blog posts and articles tend to be shorter than guides or white papers and therefore easier to produce. They can be broad or narrow in their focus, so are very flexible. Their greatest strength in that they are typically open source and searchable, so they are easier to find and key to expanding the visibility of you thought leadership.
7. Podcasts. While a relatively new format for thought leadership, they are growing in popularity and impact. For experts that are naturally verbally oriented and love to talk about and explain their area of expertise, they can be a snap to produce. In addition to developing your own podcast series, you can also consider guest appearances on other experts’ podcasts. Interacting on podcasts is also a great way to develop your relationships with other thought leaders.
8. Opinion pieces. While often overlooked, opinion pieces are well suited to presenting thought leadership perspectives. Where better to express a contrarian view on a hot topic? Add some data from your original research and you have an excellent piece of thought leadership content.

Now that we have reviewed some examples of thought leadership content, lets examine some of the benefits and challenges of building your B2B content strategy around thought leadership.

Benefits of Thought Leadership Content

A thought leadership-based content strategy has a lot of benefits for the individual expert as well as for their firm. Here are some of the top benefits.

1. It positions you as an expert and innovator. By authoring thought leadership content, you are obviously positioned as an expert with new ideas. But the added benefit is that your firm also gains in status because of its association with the thought leader.
2. It helps increase visibility of you and your firm. Just as thought leadership content increases the visibility of the expert it also increases the visibility of your firm as well. Think improved reputation and increased visibility of that reputation. That is a recipe for a strong brand.
3. It attracts qualified new prospects. When properly promoted, thought leadership will attract new prospects who are looking for help in solving the challenges they face. Your insightful content shows them that you understand their challenges and that you have solutions to offer. As a matter of fact, we find that these inbound leads are typically the most qualified as they are approaching you because they understand how you can help them.
4. Business is easier to close. The same familiarity that helps attract new prospects also makes it easier to convert them into clients. You start out with credibility and often a great deal of trust. If you don’t “unsell them” you will very likely end up with a new client or customer.
5. You can charge higher fees. Our research studies of high-profile experts shows that their clients are willing to pay much higher hourly rates for more prominent experts [insert VE fee chart]. In other words, the more visible and prominent you become as a thought leader the more clients are willing to pay to work with you or your firm.

6. It attracts new employees. One of the often-overlooked benefits of thought leadership content is the role it can play in attracting new talent. The best people want to be in a firm where they can learn and grow. Thought leadership is a strong signal that your firm is a great place to consider.
7. It fosters career growth. Encouraging employees to create thought leadership content is a great way to foster career growth. The expert also benefits in that their personal brand is greatly enhanced and new options and opportunities come their way.

Now let’s look at the other side of the coin. What are the challenges of a thought leadership strategy?

The Challenges of Thought Leadership Content

Even with all the benefits, thought leadership is not a panacea for the B2B marketer. Here are the key challenges and some thoughts on how one might go about addressing them.

1. Creating thought leadership content is not easy. Creating a stream of insightful high-value content is clearly challenging. In fact, our recent study of professional services firms showed that creating valuable content was the number one marketing priority. In many organizations the subject matter experts are among the utilized members of the team. Well explore some ways around this dilemma when we cover creating your thought leadership content strategy below.
2. Thought leadership creates controversy. Almost by definition thought leadership is about change and new ways of doing things. As such it pushes against ingrained attitudes and the interests of established players in the marketplace. Throw in a pinch of contrarian attitude and it is easy to see why thought leadership can create controversy. Of course, content that just restates conventional wisdom is both very common and not really thought leadership.
3. You can’t be a thought leader without followers. As a thought leader you can have the most insightful content but if no one sees it or they cannot understand your insights you will not have followers. No followers, no impact. The best thought leaders also tend to be great communicators. They know their subject matter so well that they can explain complex concepts simply. This is a key skill set for thought leaders. Add to this the need for adequate promotion and the challenge of creating and holding the attention of your audience becomes clear.
4. New ideas become old. As your thinking gains traction, it will be adopted by more and more people. At some point it is no longer new and innovative thinking. It becomes conventional wisdom or “best practices”. Time for a new idea. For many thought leaders this is a turning point. Can you continue to produce new, insightful content? In the next section we will explore some strategies for producing better thought leadership content.
5. Competitors will copy your ideas. For many thought leaders this is the most vexing problem of all. It’s super frustrating to see your arch competitor copy your ideas and present them as their own. And, of course, if they have avoided outright plagiarism there may be little you can do about it. The cure for this is three-fold. First, make sure you capture your ideas and document them to obtain appropriate legal protection for your intellectual property. Second, promote your content widely (see below for promotion ideas) so the marketplace recognizes it as yours. And third, use it to your advantage. This is clear evidence of the quality of your ideas. Use it to bolster your differentiation.

How to Produce Better Thought Leadership Content

Producing a steady stream of high quality, insightful content is not easy. If it where we would not be adrift in a sea of mediocre, self-serving fluff that characterizes so much of what passes for thought leadership today.

Fortunately, there are steps that you can take to up your game. We will build upon some recommendations from our earlier article on thought leadership marketing and add some new ones.

1. Narrow your focus. The narrower the focus of your expertise the easier it is to master the subject matter in a way that facilitates greater insight. This also works when preparing a presentation or article. Going narrower and deeper into a subject allows for you to develop helpful perspectives in a way that a broader treatment can easily skim over.
2. Do original research. Original research is the most trusted form of thought leadership content. But it also has an important role to play in generating new insights. Imagine the power of have answers to some of the key questions facing your target clients. New research findings raise intriguing new questions even as they answer some of the existing ones. Let the data be your guide to thought leadership.
3. Take a contrarian perspective. Conventional thinking favors a consensus. This is the so called “best practices” thinking. But sometimes the greatest insight comes from taking a different, unexpected view. If most people espouse X, consider the case for Y. There is often great insight to be harvested by exploring the counterintuitive or overlooked.
4. Mash up your expertise. Try applying the methods or thought process from one discipline to another subject matter. Put together seemingly unrelated findings or methods of inquiry from different disciplines and see what new ideas emerge. Building bridges between seemingly unrelated fields is a top strategy for many well-known experts.
5. Network with other experts. One of the best ways to sharpen your thinking is to interact with other experts. They can challenge your thinking and give you new ideas and insights to consider. Partner with an expert from a related field to make your content more dynamic and interesting. You are sure to gain some new perspectives.
6. Answer the tough questions. What are the toughest questions you get from your clients? Concentrate on answering one of the toughest ones. What research could be done to get a definitive answer? Is there a better way to think about it? Perhaps a contrarian perspective will give you a new insight. High visibility experts often cite audience questions as the top source for generating useful thought leadership content.
7. Recycle. A great insight should not be shared in one piece of content and then ignored. Use your best ideas in multiple pieces of content. Different members of your target audiences prefer different content formats so sharing similar insights across multiple content formats makes a lot of sense and extends the reach of your thought leadership.

How to Promote Your Thought Leadership Content

To maximize the visibility of your thought leadership, you must promote your content. Think of it this way. Your content makes your thought leadership tangible. Promotion makes that content visible to your target audiences.

How do you effectively do that? We have identified ten promotional techniques that work especially well with thought leadership content.

1. Email. Email is the most direct way to communicate with individual members of your target audience that you already have a relationship with i.e., they have given you their email address. This makes it an ideal format to nurture prospects by sharing relevant thought leadership content.
2. Social Media. One of the most popular promotional strategies, sharing valuable content on social media can both widen your visibility as well as nurture specific relationships. Larger pieces of content can be broken into small sharable tidbits and promoted over time and across multiple social media platforms.
3. Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The first place many professionals look when they have a business challenge is a search engine. This makes SEO and ideal tool for increasing the visibility of your content. Another advantage is that the people who find your content will be those that are looking for that specific type of content. You will discover members of your target audience that you did not anticipate.
4. Paid Advertising. Paid advertising works in a similar way as SEO except that you need to specify your target audience demographics. If your advertising message is well crafted it will then attract the right members of the target audience. Paid advertising works well when you have a time linked event, such as a webinar, or need to rapidly accelerate visibility, such as with a new product launch.
5. Public Relations. Both traditional and digital PR have important roles to play in amplifying visibility. If the media outlet already has credibility with the target audience, you will benefit from the association just as the readers or listeners will benefit from your insightful thought leadership.
6. Networking. Networking with members of your target audience is a great way to build relationships. As it turns out, it’s also a great way to promote your content. Following up after a conversation with a piece of thought leadership content you have discussed is often a big win. It’s relevant, personal, and clearly shows your expertise.
7. Partner Marketing. Partner marketing is partnering with another professional or organization to promote thought leadership content. You will benefit by exposure to the partners audience just as they will benefit by exposure to yours. Partners typically offer different, but complimentary, services to the same target audience.
8. Online Reviews. For certain categories of B2B products, SaaS being a prime example, online reviews are great ways to increase visibility of the product. This process can also work well for thought leadership content. Books and podcasts would be two good examples.
9. Guest appearances. Being a guest on someone else’s thought leadership vehicle (such as a podcast or webinar) has a double benefit. First, you get to share your thought leadership directly with their audience. Second, you will often be able to promote a new piece of your content, such as a book or research report, as part of the appearance.
10. Speaking Engagements. When high visibility thought leaders were asked about how they get new clients speaking engagements topped the list of most effective strategies. It too has multiple benefits. You are sharing you thought leadership directly with the audience in a high-credibility context. The organization to which you are speaking has typically promoted your presentation and added their stamp of approval. Also, in the case of in-person events you often can interact directly with the audience before and after your address. Talk about a great networking opportunity.

Developing Your Thought Leadership Content Strategy

Now that we have covered the basics of thought leadership content, let’s look at how these threads come together in a thought leadership strategy. There are six key elements in a thought leadership strategy. This is true whether you are a single individual or whether you are planning for a business unit or an entire firm.

Let’s review each of the key components.

• Purpose or Goals. This section answers the question as to why we need a strategy in the first place. What are we trying to accomplish? Are we trying to increase new business or position the firm differently? Obviously different goals will have different metrics to track success.
• Target Audiences. Who are we trying to influence? Decision makers in client organizations are a common target. But don’t forget the internal influencers who have a lot of power in modern B2B decision making. In many circumstances journalists, reviewers, industry analysists or other thought leaders may be important targets as well.
• Expert Positioning. How are you positioned as an expert? What are you an expert in? Who do you help? Why do they choose you? As an individual, your expert positioning will normally be expressed as your brief bio. On the firm level this is typically a formal positioning statement which is reflected in your “About” statements on your website and firm overviews.
• Your Issues. Here we identify which specific target client issues you will focus your thought leadership on. What big challenges will you write and speak about? It is important that the issues you identify are important to your target audience and that you have solutions or perspectives that can add value. In most cases you should limit your focus to a small number of issues (1-3 is common) so you can gain thought leader status more quickly.

• Your Perspective on the Issues. What is your perspective on the issues that you are focusing on? The essence of thought leadership content is that you are offering a new perspective. For example, at Hinge we focus on research driven marketing solutions, so our thought leadership always starts with an insightful piece of research at its core.
• Your Visibility Plan. The final component of your strategy involves planning around gaining visibility for your thought leadership content. It considers what format your content should take (e.g., webinars vs. podcasts), how often you will produce it, and how you will promote it. You should make sure that your decisions take into account audience preferences, or you will waste a lot of effort.

Should You Use Outside Help?

Developing and executing a thought leadership strategy is very effective, but it is not easy. Apart from the discipline required to maintain your mastery of the subject matter there are the important issues of strategy development and content creation to consider. Are there easier, more effective ways to solve for these challenges?

Our research on high growth professional services firms provides some answers. The chart below shows outsourcing done by High Growth firms (those growing by at least 20% annual growth rate) compared to the outsourcing practices of their No Growth peers (those firms showing no growth or shrinkage). High growth firms do much more outsourcing across the board.

Note the categories most closely tied to thought leadership content strategy (strategy development, research), content production (thought leadership content) and promotion (SEO, Public Relations). In all these categories, High Growth firms are much more likely to use specialized outside resources. So, the data is clear. Outsourcing key aspects of your thought leadership content strategy, production and promotion is associated with faster growth and higher profitability. Doing it well really does pay off.

What Cannot Be Outsourced?

The thought leadership part. Your marketing partner cannot be the thought leader on your behalf. You must have the expertise. Turning that expertise into polished content? That you can get help with. But delivering on that promise is up to you.

The other component that cannot be outsourced is integrating that thought leadership into service delivery. If the products and services you deliver don’t reflect that thought leadership you will disappoint you clients. You must walk the walk as well as talk the talk.

A Final Thought

Thought leadership is a very appealing concept. To many B2B firms it sounds like an ideal fit. And for many firms it is a good fit and a smart strategy. But to get effectiveness from a thought leadership approach it must be done well. Your thought leadership content must be both relevant and insightful and lead a client to considering your firm or solution to meet the challenges they’re facing.

Good thought leadership starts with good thinking and good analysis. But that alone is not sufficient. You must find a way to make your insights visible to your target audience or you will find yourself in the position of being a thought leader without any followers.

The post B2B Thought Leadership Content: Elevating Your Brand’s Authority and Driving Business Growth appeared first on Hinge Marketing.

However; even with all this uncertainty and unpredictability, the High Growth Study 2023: Law Firms & Legal Services Edition from the Hinge Research Institute shows that there is still a set of law firms that are experiencing dramatically more growth—and profitability–than other law firms. We call them “High Growth” firms.

How are they doing it?

In this year’s High Growth Study: Law Firms & Legal Services Edition, we dig deeper into how this exceptional group of law firms delivers consistent, on-going success. We examine the technologies they use and how those technologies drive growth. And we dive into the role that marketing plays in a law firm and how it impacts a firm’s overall performance. We also go deep inside the war for talent—exploring the role culture plays in attracting and retaining professionals, and we identify the kinds of programs that are most likely to make a positive impact.

About the Study

Every year, the Hinge Research Institute conducts a study of professional services firms to identify emerging trends and determine what the fastest growing, most profitable firms do differently. The study is comprised of more than 700 participants from six core industries and then is broken out into industry editions of the study. Law firms & legal services is one of those industries and industry participation made up 11.3% of the overall study. The other five industries are: accounting & financial services; architecture, engineering, & construction; consulting; government contracting; and technology & software. As shown in the chart below, respondent firm size based on annual revenue was fairly equal across for size categories. Full research reports are available for sale for each of the six industries. (Use the discount code, GROW50, and save 50% on a report purchase.)

As the following figure shows, most of the law firm report respondents were from the United States but there was representation from around the world.

About half of the respondents (50.1%) had the title of owner, CEO, president, or partner. More than 26.0% of the respondents had marketing or business development responsibilities. The rest of the respondents had operations, financial, or attorney roles.

Meet the High Growth Firms

In our research, High Growth firms are defined as those firms that achieve at least 20% compound annual growth over a three-year evaluation period. These firms are then compared to firms that experienced average or no growth over the same time frame. This allows us to identify strategies and practices that are associated with faster and more profitable growth.

This year, the High Growth law firms in our sample experienced a median growth rate of 36.0%. This contrasts significantly with 8.0% median growth increase that Average Growth firms saw. No Growth firms averaged a 6.0% decline.

The enviable performance of the High Growth law firms is not limited to their exceptional growth rates. They are also more profitable. High Growth law firms showed an average profit of 32.0%. By contrast, No Growth law firms showed an average profit of 22.0%. High Growth law firms are 45% more profitable than No Growth firms. Imagine if your law firm were 45% more profitable.

So, how do these High Growth law firms generate greater growth and profitability in a crowded and unpredictable marketplace. Our research identified key advantages in four critical domains: Technology, Talent, Marketing and Business Development, and Strategy.

Let’s dive into a few key findings and conclusions from the High Growth 2023: Law Firms & Legal Services Edition research.

Key Advantage #1: Technology

As High Growth law firms and legal services are moving towards integrating processes across departments, it should come as no surprise that both No Growth and High Growth firms use accounting and financial management technology at similar levels of engagement. However, what is surprising is how much more High Growth firms use other business technologies than No Growth firms. In almost every business development technology category, High Growth firms have a higher level of engagement. But there are a few categories where High Growth firms are using the technology significantly more than No Growth firms. Some of those categories include: project management, CRM, time & expense tracking, and marketing automation. These technologies are giving the High Growth firms new levels of effectiveness and efficiency that lead to greater growth.

The research shows that the High Growth firms have a higher level of digital maturity with these technologies which is leading to more processes being streamlined and fully integrated across departments. Vast amounts of inter-departmental data are providing insights across the law firms and legal services.

Key Advantage #2: Talent

It was very apparent in our research that High Growth firms are more likely to engage with outside agencies, firms, or freelancers for all services compared to No Growth firms. The High Growth firms can handle more projects and can keep projects moving ahead by leveraging outside resources that may not take as much time to hire or bring up-to-speed. They realize that they do not need certain specific expertise in house on a full-time basis. They may only need that expertise for several months or a few hours per week. Some of the areas where High Growth firms are using outside skills and expertise to grow include: website improvements, marketing materials development, research, SEO, and strategic development.

Key Advantage #3: Marketing and Business Development

According to the 2023 research, High Growth law firms also differentiate themselves from No Growth firms when it comes to growth by spending more on marketing and getting more leads from digital sources. High Growth law firms and legal services spend 33% more on marketing than No Growth firms. This means more of an investment in resources, including more access to technology, talent, and marketing channels. This larger investment also delivers more digital leads. In fact, as you can see in the following figure, High Growth firms generate twice as many leads from digital sources than their No Growth peers.

Digital leads are more important than ever. According to other research from the Hinge Research Institute, referrals are declining in many industries. Even as face-to-face lead generation activities such as conferences and networking events are experiencing a revival, High Growth firms are also enjoying a steady stream of digital leads to supplement unpredictable lead generation from other channels. High Growth law firms and legal services have realized that they can no longer rely on just a couple of channels to generate all of the new business they need in these times.

Key Advantage #4: Strategy

When it comes to anticipated business challenges in the next three to five years, there are several challenges where High Growth firms and No Growth firms do not see eye-to-eye. A shortage of top talent and the need for new skills are the two top challenges for High Growth firms. Yet, while 50.0% of High Growth firms see a shortage of top talent to be their top challenge for the next few years, only 13.6% of No Growth firms feel that way. The need for new skills was the #2 challenge garnering 40.0% of High Growth firm responses. This #2 challenge was only selected by 22.7% of No Growth firms.

This makes sense. High Growth firms are facing a situation that No Growth firms are not—high growth. The rapid growth that High Growth firms are seeing demands top talent and new skills to keep with delivering an ever-expanding volume of quality work. The No Growth firms’ #1 challenge is unpredictability in the marketplace. The #2 challenge for No Growth firms is unreasonable client demands. No Growth firms have more focus and sensitivity on not growing. There may be position vacancies that are not backfilled. There may even be an organization right-sizing. Then on top of that, No Growth firms still must deliver as much—if not more—to keep existing clients satisfied and not lose business.

With these different perspectives comes different strategies. High Growth firms are building pro-active strategies that may include offering higher salaries, larger bonuses, more paid time off, etc. They are focused on handling increases in compensation costs. No Growth firms are building reactive strategies that may include projected full-time employee, part-time employee, and contractor reductions. They are focused on making decreases to budgets, expenses, and compensation.

Even though High Growth firms and No Growth firms are embracing the future differently, both are using research as part of their future strategic plans. Both groups realize that research reduces uncertainty and uncovers valuable information about target clients and competitive environments. Conducting research on a regular basis allows law firms and legal services to identify shifts in buyer behavior and determine which changes are likely to persist and which are likely to be short-term blips.

We Live in an Age of Uncertainty…and Change.

If you are working for a High Growth law firm or legal service in these unpredictable times, congratulations. Hopefully you have validated growth tactics that your firm has already put into place. Or maybe you learned a new one that you can add to your strategy for even greater success in the months ahead.

If you are part of a law firm or legal service that saw average or no growth over the last year or two, now is the time to turn those challenges into opportunities. Embrace new thinking and priorities. Follow the research. In fact, I would recommend that you purchase the High Growth Study 2023: Law Firms & Legal Services Edition report that this article is based upon. Learn more about the technology, talent, marketing and business development, and strategy advantages that the High Growth firms have. Get findings, insights, and tips that you can apply immediately. The High Growth firms in this research found ways to work around uncertainty—and grow. You can too. Purchase the Law Firms & Legal Services Edition, or any of the other five industry editions, today. (Remember to use the discount code, GROW50, to save 50% on your research report purchase.)

The post 2023 Research: High Growth Law Firms Grow 4.5X More Than Average Growth Firms appeared first on Hinge Marketing.

A Model for Sustained Success

High Growth technology and software firms recognize that there is no magic bean that will produce sustained growth and profitability. No one technique, on its own, will fill the pipeline or build the talent pool required to produce consistent success. Instead, it requires a system of interconnected marketing techniques, programs, and technologies—and the skills to deliver them effectively. This study reveals how the highest performing firms build, tune, and maintain their marketing systems, so you can learn how to turn your marketing program into a powerful system that performs year after year.

What Drives Exceptional Company Performance

High Growth technology & software firms are growing at a rate nearly four times faster than their No Growth peers. But there’s an additional important distinction, and that is in profitability. The figure below shows that High Growth technology & software firms are nearly twice as profitable as their No Growth peers, earning an average profit of 17%.

What makes High Growth firms so successful? How are they able to generate exceptional growth and profitability in a competitive and unpredictable marketplace? Our research points to key advantages in four critical domains:

1. Technology

One in five High Growth technology & software firms report a high level of maturity in the digital tech stacks.

High Growth firms truly separate themselves from their slower-growing peers in the maturity of their digital technology. 55% of No Growth firms are in one of the two earliest stages of maturity, where their core processes are still largely manual. The majority of High Growth firms on the other hand operate in a model where their core processes are automated and connected, or where their entire digital ecosystem extends into the consumer journey to deliver customized experiences. And 20% of High Growth Firms report a high level maturity in their tech stack. Firms with a broad adoption across platforms that connect multiple processes, and the discipline to track a wide range of performance metrics are in a much stronger position to know where to allocate their marketing and business development dollars and resources.

2. Talent

High Growth firms are more likely to secure access to specialized skills by partnering with outside talent.

High Growth firms routinely use outsourcing to minimize the risk of the industry’s perennial talent shortage, giving them access to the skills they need to deliver exceptional performance and growth. Among the specialized skills High Growth firms are most likely to outsource, in descending order, are:

3. Marketing and Business Development

High Growth firms spend more on marketing and generate a higher portion of their leads from digital sources.

On average, High Growth technology & software firms allocated around 13% of their 2022 revenues to marketing and business development, not including staff compensation. High Growth firms also differ in the composition of their leads, generating nearly half of their leads from digital sources. No Growth firms get less than a third of their leads through digital channels.

Traditional marketing isn’t going away anytime soon, but a strong digital presence can make a firm’s traditional marketing even more effective. For instance, in a traditional network setting an executive who can refer new contacts to a website full of valuable educational content has so much more to offer than one who does not.

4. Strategy

High Growth firms are more likely to conduct research on their target audience regularly.

Professional services firms across all industries and growth categories have access to a powerful weapon that can eliminate much of the risk in their go-to-market strategy. That weapon is target audience research. Firms that consistently study, track, and measure the learning and decision-making behavior of their audiences—and then use those findings to inform their marketing and business development decisions—are more likely to grow faster and be more profitable. Why? Because this type of intelligence helps firms address their market’s evolving needs more quickly and directly. To learn more about these findings, see the 2023 High Growth Study Executive Summary.

High Growth software & technology firms understand this advantage, and they are more likely to conduct regular research on their target audiences than their No Growth peers.

Building a marketing system that consistently performs at a high level, eliminates risk through target audience research, and drives both growth and profitability takes time. It also takes the right technology and the right people. While the investment can be significant, it can pay for itself many times over.

Consider the High Growth firms in this study as a model for firms like yours, helping you address a wide range of challenges and pointing you to the most productive areas to apply your attention and marketing dollars. In short, you can look to these High Growth firms as you develop a system that will allow your business to thrive in today’s challenging environment.

For more detailed insights, you can purchase the Technology & Software Edition, or any of
the other five industry editions, today. (You can use the discount code, GROW50, to save
50% on your research report purchase.)

The post The Four Secrets to Growth and Profitability for Technology & Software Firms appeared first on Hinge Marketing.

M&As are especially popular in the professional services space with the growing wave of retiring Baby Boomers and a rapidly changing economy and marketplace.

So what is the impact of all these mergers? More importantly, does an M&A make sense for your firm?

At Hinge, we’ve studied the factors that drive premium valuations and high growth and uncovered some facts that may surprise you.

Strategic M&A: Seeking a solution to a business problem

There are essentially two kinds of mergers and acquisitions: strategic and financial.

A financial merger or acquisition is pursued, as the name implies, for financial reasons—often to pick up some quick cash or as an investment. But I’m not really interested in financial M&As for this particular discussion.

Strategic mergers and acquisitions offer a solution to a different business problem. Perhaps the acquirer is looking to grab a new product line, add some additional facilities, enter a new market, or gain expertise and intellectual property. For professional services firms, a strategic M&A is often about gaining credibility, adding intellectual firepower, or changing the balance of power in a particular market.

The bottom line is a strategic merger yields value for both the acquired and the acquiring firm. To reluctantly use a hackneyed phrase, it’s a “win-win” for both parties.

So what does a strategic merger look like? Here’s a good example:

A few years back we were researching firms that received unusually high valuations. One caught my attention. It was a smaller firm that specialized in top-secret work and had deep experience and contacts in one of the intelligence agencies. This firm was sold for an eye-popping 10-times revenue.

When we asked the acquiring firm why they were willing to pay such sums, their reasons were perfectly clear.

The target firm offered must-have qualifications and contracts with a must-have client. Not having these capabilities would put the acquiring firm at a significant disadvantage when competing for upcoming work. In short, they believed the long-term value for the acquiring firm was much greater than the inflated purchase price.

That’s a strategic merger.

But when is it advantageous to proceed with an aggressive growth strategy of mergers and acquisitions, rather rely on disciplined organic growth?

When M&A Works as a Growth Strategy

Mergers and acquisitions make perfect sense in a variety of situations. For example, maybe an opportunity presents itself that requires fast, decisive action. Or maybe a competitive threat compels a defensive move to get bigger, faster.

Here are five situations in which mergers and acquisitions have proven useful as a growth strategy:

1. Fills critical gaps in service offerings or client lists

When the marketplace changes in response to external events or new laws and regulations, it can create a gap in a firm’s critical offerings. It is a prime opportunity for a strategic merger.

After 9/11, the national security and defense industry lacked the relevant skills to match rapidly changing federal requirements. Companies quickly realized they would be sidelined without the skills and experience necessary to meet the new security demand. The firms with the requisite experience and relevant client lists suddenly found themselves strategically valuable and highly sought-after acquisition targets.

2. Efficient way to acquire talent and intellectual property

Many industries are seeing an acute shortage of experienced professional staff. Cybersecurity, accounting, and engineering are just a few examples that immediately come to mind.

The reality is, intellectual property (IP) is the new currency of modern business. Once squirreled away and carefully guarded, IP is now actively bought and sold. For many companies, the acquisition of a firm and its IP is the quickest path to market dominance—or at least a roadblock to competitive incursions.

3. Opportunity to leverage synergies

A strategic merger, if done as part of a thoughtful growth strategy, can result in synergies that offer real value for both the acquired and the acquiring.

There are two basic types of M&A-related synergies: cost and revenue.

Cost synergies are all about cutting costs by taking advantage of overlapping operations or resources and consolidating them into one entity. In a strategic M&A, a number of areas are suitable for cost-cutting, such as redundant facilities, workforces, or business units and areas of operation. But cost synergies can also result in an increase in buying and negotiating power thanks to the larger combined budget.

Revenue synergies alter the competitive balance of power and create opportunities to change market dynamics, sell more products, or raise prices. Companies can take advantage of revenue synergies and make more money in many ways, including the following:

• Reduce competition
• Open new territories
• Access new markets (through newly acquired expertise, products, services, or capacity)
• Expand the customer base for cross-selling opportunities
• Develop sales opportunities by marketing complementary products or services.

4. Add a new business model

Many professional services firms are based on a billable-hours business model, but that is certainly not the only option. Some firms generate revenue as a fixed fee or through performance incentives. Others may employ subscription models (popular in the software industry).

Of course, the value of an effective M&A growth strategy is not just about how you are paid. A merger may also offer a new type of service, such as brokerage, insurance or money management. If you’re considering a new business model, the easiest way to develop and test it out is to acquire a firm that’s already using the model successfully. That way you avoid possible missteps from inexperience.

5. Save time and long learning curves

Much like adding a new business model, a strategic M&A may help you save considerable time and expense in your growth strategy.

Let’s say you’re considering a new service for your business. Your firm is fully capable of developing and delivering that service on its own, but it will take more time, money, and resources than you’re willing to devote. It might be easier and more cost-effective to simply acquire the capability.

Not only is this a practical and smart shortcut to the sought-after service and expertise, you also acquire a built-in customer base and target audience. Bingo!

When M&A Falters as a Growth Strategy

But not everyone succeeds when mergers and acquisitions are part of the overall growth strategy. Sometimes a solid strategy is derailed by problems in implementation or flaws in the logic or reasoning behind the strategy.

Let’s explore how an M&A growth strategy can go wrong:

1. Cultural clash

Different firms have different cultures. No surprise there. But the difference in cultures can be problematic.

You can guard against culture clash by being clear about the culture you want and using all tools at your disposal to ensure you achieve it. For example, education, the right incentives, and a focus on your employee brand is most helpful when looking at a possible merging of corporate cultures.

2. Loss of differentiation

Avoid mergers when the features—and benefits—that make one firm valuable are not relevant to the other brand. Rather than add critical assets, capabilities, or value, the acquired or merged firm dilutes the brand and competitive advantage.

A merger should be the result of a carefully researched brand analysis. It should NOT be an ego-driven trophy deal.

3. A major distraction

Mergers and post-merger integrations are resource-intensive activities that usually involve some of the most senior people in the firm. If they are not prepared for it, they can easily be distracted by other critical, but less urgent activities.

The potential for distraction is greatest—and most profound—after the deal is done and the focus moves to integration. If senior management gets too distracted, you risk having the merger flounder as well as damaging the underlying business.

4. Marketplace confusion

Let’s say Firm A, a highly respected accounting firm that specializes in manufacturing, acquires Firm B, a cybersecurity firm with specializes in helping retailers. The acquisition seems very strategic. Seeing an opportunity, the combined firm, A+B Associates, tries to add retail to their specialization. The result is a confusing marketplace.

Does A+B still specialize in manufacturing? Are they no longer an accounting firm?

The confusion can be even worse if the only rationale for the merger is growth for growth’s sake. The whole confusing mess could be avoided with a solid, research-based plan to position the merged brand and help current and potential customers understand the rationale and benefits of the merger.

5. Loss of brand strength

If the marketplace is confused, the strength of your brand will suffer. After all, brand strength is the product of a simple equation:

Reputation x Visibility = Brand Strength

Where reputation is what you’re known for and visibility is how widely you are known for it. Understanding this equation can help you avoid the perils of diminished brand strength.

An ill-timed merger can quickly diminish the strength of both the acquiring and acquired brands. Here’s an all-too-typical example:

Brand M, which has considerable visibility in the Midwest, wants to expand into the Southeast. To accomplish this, Brand M acquires Brand S, a southeastern-based firm. But there is a problem. The Midwestern brand is unknown in the southeast, so its overall brand strength is actually diminished by the acquisition. And, when the southeastern firm adopts the brand identity of Brand M, its brand strength is also diminished. Everybody loses.

Free Resource

The M&A Guide for Professional Services Firms

Download Now

So how do you overcome this problem? Sometimes a gradual transition to a new brand is the right answer. Other times a concerted focus on building the visibility of the new brand in the market where it’s less known is the key.

Watch out for situations where you must change both the focus of the reputation and increase visibility. These are the most challenging mergers.

Developing Your High Growth Strategy

Achieving high growth starts with a true understanding of the marketplace as it really exists and how your firm is actually perceived (not as you’d like it to be perceived). Do your research and understand fully what each firm—the acquired as well as the acquiring—bring to the equation.

In the end, a successful high-growth strategy will include the following elements:

It is forward-looking—A good strategy is not just a response to what has been. It’s about what can be achieved. Where do you really want your firm to go? How will you get there? What needs to happen to do it?

It doesn’t require complete consensus—If absolutely everyone thinks it’s a great plan, then you’re not taking appropriate risks.

It does require buy-in—Senior management must be on board and embrace what needs to be done. Without management buy-in, any strategy is doomed to failure. But don’t forget your employees. Workers at all levels should be enthusiastic about what the firm is gaining and where it’s heading.

It focuses on implementation—High growth requires careful implementation of every aspect of a business strategy and plan. Follow through with implementation.

If M&A is a part of your growth strategy, focus on the emerging culture and brand and carefully shape the new firm. And consider carefully how the merged firm will generate organic growth.

Free Resource

The M&A Guide for Professional Services Firms

Download Now

The post Mergers and Acquisitions as Part of Your Growth Strategy appeared first on Hinge Marketing.

This intense dynamic of increased responsibility coupled with unyielding marketplace uncertainty is causing many to reassess their marketing strategies and budgets.

At the highest level of this reassessment there is an important question to answer: Is now the time to lean down and make cuts to marketing efforts or is it a time to expand and increase marketing investment?

In this article, we will review findings from Hinge’s latest research report, the 2023 High Growth Study, and present a research-backed answer to this question. Spoiler alert: the research suggests you should NOT cut your marketing budget this year.

The Marketing Advantage of High Growth Firms

Benjamin Franklin is often quoted as saying, “an investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” This is why Hinge continues to invest in conducting our annual High Growth Study.

Understanding the challenges outlined above, we want to provide professional services marketers with practical insights to guide them as they continue to develop their marketing programs. At the center of the study is a focus on the marketing behaviors of the world’s fastest growing professional services firms (we refer to them as the High Growth firms). We want to understand how some firms are growing 3X faster than their average growth peers.

So when it comes to this question about marketing investment and resourcing, what do the High Growth firms do? Well here’s the headline: Despite an industry-wide pullback in marketing spending, High Growth Firms are investing more.

First, let’s comment on the industry-wide pullback. As you see in Figure 1 below, for the first time in four years, our High Growth Study has measured a decrease in the amount of revenue professional services firms are dedicating to marketing. 

The reasons for this pullback no doubt relate to some of the primary challenges faced by professional services firms (marketplace uncertainty, a shortage of top talent, etc). But not all firms are pulling back on their marketing efforts!

As we’ll explore below, there are three important ways that High Growth firms are continuing to invest more in their marketing and business development efforts than their competitors. Let’s break each of these research insights down one-by-one.

Insight 1: High Growth firms spend more on marketing

One result we have seen across years of High Growth studies—as well as some of our industry specific budget studies—is that the High Growth firms dedicate more revenue towards their marketing initiatives. Our research prompts respondents to consider a marketing budget that does not include compensating employees. For example, below in Figure 2, High Growth firms reported dedicating over 17.5% more of their revenue towards marketing than No Growth firms.

Insight 2: High Growth firm employ more marketing talent

As we mentioned above, much is asked of today’s professional services marketers. The standards of modern marketing programs increase every day. High Growth firms have responded to this challenging marketing environment by employing more marketing talent inside their firms. Beyond simply spending more on marketing, they are diversifying their marketing capabilities and positioning themselves to accomplish more.

Here’s what the data says: While No Growth firms employ 1 marketing resource per 34 team members, High Growth firms employ 1 for every 20.

By employing more internal marketing talent, the High Growth firms open doors for more sophisticated marketing campaigns. An increased number of specialists (website, SEO, graphic design) ensure that firms can truly build integrated marketing plans that work.

But as we’ll see in the next insight, employing internal talent is not the only way High Growth firms leverage talented specialists.

Insight 3: High Growth firms outsource more to fill critical gaps

The third area where High Growth firms stand out from their peers is in how they work with outside agencies, freelancers, and consultants. In nearly every category that we researched, High Growth firms were more likely to consult with resources outside of their firm for marketing support. You can review these categories in Figure 3 below.

What are the main points of emphasis here? Well there are some categories where High Growth firms were far more likely to work with an outside firm than No Growth firms. Let’s look at the data another way and see what we can learn.

Here are the top 5 categories ranked by the largest delta between High Growth and No Growth firms:

• Thought leadership content (120%)
• Research (116%)
• Strategy development (72%)
• SEO (67%)
• Graphic design (53%)

As a leader overseeing marketing activities, now might be the right time to reconsider reinforcing your marketing efforts with outside support. Specialized skills like graphic design and support with search engine optimization (SEO) can be a great place to start if those are pain points for your team. But High Growth firms put emphasis on working with consultants that help them with the big picture of their marketing programs—support or advisory in the creation of high-quality thought leadership content, research to help them reduce uncertainty and guide decision-making, and/or consultation with developing their marketing strategy.

What’s next?

Let’s return to our original question… Is now the time to increase or decrease your firm’s investment in marketing? If you look towards what the High Growth firms are doing, then it’s hard to see a case for anything other than increasing investment.

Consider the three insights together: High Growth firms dedicate a higher percentage of revenue to marketing, employ more marketing talent internally, and are also more likely to outsource and work with agencies. This three punch combo may shed some light on how these firms build marketing programs that drive their firms towards greater growth and profitability.

In your particular scenario, it may be unrealistic to try to increase your marketing investment in all three of these areas right away. Increased investment does not mean losing your strategy. You still need to take a strategic approach to building their marketing plans. Without a strategic plan, your marketing efforts may be scattered and ineffective. You want a marketing plan that allows you to continuously measure your progress, adjust your approach as needed and make data-driven decisions.

But if there is an internal discussion about your marketing investment, use this data to your advantage. Also, take a look at some of the additional resources provided below and reach out to us here at Hinge if you’d like to discuss growing your marketing plan with us. We’re here to help.

The post Why You Should NOT Cut Your Marketing Budget This Year appeared first on Hinge Marketing.

With all these challenges the question arises, “Is it still possible to find success in this environment?” This year’s edition of the High Growth Study provides a resounding yes to that question. There is a group of firms that continues to find robust growth and exceptional profitability even in the face of heightened uncertainty and risk. We call them High Growth firms.

In this year’s study we dig deeper into how this exceptional group of firms is continuing to find success.

About the Study

Every year, the Hinge Research Institute conducts a study of professional services firms to identify emerging trends and determine what the fastest growing, most profitable firms do differently. This year’s study taps into a robust sample.

Over 700 firms participated, representing the six industry groups shown below. Full research reports are available for each of the industries. The sample contained firms of various size ranges, and they do business in every region of the globe.

Meet the High Growth Firms

High Growth firms are defined as those firms that achieve at least 20% compound annual growth over a three-year evaluation period. These firms are then compared to firms that experienced little or no growth over the same time frame. This allows us to identify strategies and practices that are associated with faster and more profitable growth.

This year, the High Growth firms in our sample experienced a median growth rate of 32%. This contrasts with 10% median growth for Average Growth firms. No Growth firms averaged an 8% revenue decline. The average median growth rate of all firms surveyed was 13.0%.

The superior performance of these High Growth firms is not limited to their exceptional growth rates. They are also more profitable. High growth firms showed an average profit of almost 25%. By contrast, their No Growth peers showed an average profit of less than 10%. High Growth firms are almost two and a half times more profitable.

What makes these exceptional firms so successful? How can they generate greater growth and profitability in a crowded and unpredictable marketplace?  We identified key advantages in four critical domains: Technology, Talent, Marketing and Business Development, and Strategy.

Let’s review some of the key findings and conclusions.

Key Findings and Conclusions

In an age of uncertainty there are strategies to reduce risk.

If you are feeling the challenges of uncertainty, you are not alone. Unpredictability in the marketplace (40.6%) is the top concern across all professional services firms. This is an increase over last year’s record levels. And sadly, given the factors driving this uncertainty, it’s unlikely that it will be abating anytime soon. 

Many High Growth firms have found ways of working around that uncertainty. One of those strategies is to conduct regular research on your target audience to track their ever-shifting concerns and priorities. This strategy gives them the advantage of reducing the level of uncertainty and replacing it with solid information about their target clients and their competitive environment. 

Other strategies employed by High Growth firms include using more automation to give them more flexibility and the ability to adapt to changing circumstances and engaging more outsourced talent to close important skills gaps. The chart below shows that the High Growth firms are much more likely to use outsourced talent for a wide range of marketing needs. In cases where the need for specific talent is variable over time or the required skills are hard to find, outsourcing is often the smart choice.

Corporate culture looms large in the evolving battle for talent.

The pitched battle for top talent that started last year intensified this year. Finding and retaining top talent is the second most frequent business challenge (37.6%) cited by professional services firms. Some firms find themselves with more business than they have staff to service.

The results show that High Growth firms have an advantage with corporate culture. The staff at these firms are more likely to be satisfied with their corporate culture than are the staff at slower growing firms. This is significant in that our previous research has shown that dissatisfaction with culture is one of the top drivers of turnover.

The full industry reports list a range of techniques that firms use to enhance their corporate cultures—and identify which ones are favored by employees of High Growth firms. They may be strategies that you may want to consider for your firm.

High Growth firms also use more technology and outsourced services to leverage their people and give them greater flexibility when faced with talent shortages.

Digital maturity is becoming a driver of growth and profitability.

Digital technologies are offering a range of opportunities for firms to increase their productivity and flexibility. This year’s study clearly documents how High Growth firms have embraced this opportunity. The following chart shows that High Growth firms have a higher level of digital maturity then do their No Growth peers. They are more likely to use digital technology across a wide range of business processes (details of the types of technologies used are available in the full industry reports).

This digital advantage is also apparent when it comes to the topic of a large-scale digital transformation. High Growth firms are twice as likely to have already completed a digital transformation.

The digital advantage enjoyed by High Growth firms is perhaps most evident in the marketing area. They not only are leveraging this technology to increase productivity, they’re also using it to track the performance of their marketing programs. Viewed in this light, their digital maturity has helped them address the broad issues of talent shortages and unpredictability in the marketplace by offering their team greater leverage and more flexibility. If your firm is not already beginning to adopt digital technologies, this report should provide all the motivation that you need. 

Embrace marketing or fall behind.

Many professional services firms have been slow to embrace marketing’s potential and take advantage of the perspective that it offers. High Growth firms have taken a different path. They are more likely to embrace marketing with greater funding levels and a broader role within the firm.

Marketing is involved in more functions in High Growth firms than it is in No Growth firms. These functions include everything from researching target markets to determining which services to offer and how to price them. They are even involved in recruiting. A robust marketing function is also critical to tracking and evaluating campaign performance. Those who do not embrace the potential contributions of a strong marketing function are at a distinct disadvantage.

High Growth firms are also likely to use more marketing techniques than their slower growing competitors. Importantly, many of the techniques favored by High Growth firms are those that are most helpful in generating digital leads. For example, they’re more likely to publish written blog posts and to use keyword research and search engine optimization. 

The use of search engine optimization is particularly noteworthy as it allows potential clients to learn about the expertise that you offer. It is one of the key techniques used in inbound digital marketing. High Growth firms enjoy the benefits of this greater focus on digital channels. They get about a third more leads from digital sources then do their No Growth peers.

A new strategy for a new reality.

Any effective business strategy must be based on an accurate understanding of reality. When that reality changes, your strategy must adjust to reflect that new reality. We are in such a period.

The growth of digital technology and a shortage of top talent are part of the new reality. To make matters worse, our understanding is steeped in uncertainty about the evolving marketplace and how it will affect our clients. How does one effectively cope with this?

Our High Growth firms provide a model for success. They use regular research to validate their understanding and sharpen their decision making. They track marketing performance and make frequent adjustments. They’ve also found ways to leverage technologies and employ strategies such as outsourcing to deal with uncertainty. They provide models for how to address a range of significant challenges and suggest where one can productively focus their attention. Use them as models for developing your new strategy to reflect today’s new reality.

The post High Growth Study 2023: Driving Exceptional Growth and Profitability in Uncertain Times appeared first on Hinge Marketing.

There are essentially two kinds of growth—organic and inorganic. The former is built on a complex blend of expertise, experience, reputation, capability and visibility. The latter is a little more straightforward and based on cash, liabilities, and assets. For B2B and professional services firms organic growth is the “Holy Grail.” But strategies to drive that growth are often elusive and counter-intuitive. 

In this post, we will define what is meant by organic growth and reveal the top proven, research-based strategies that the fastest growing professional services firms implement to drive organic growth. Let’s start with a definition of organic growth.

What is Organic Growth?

Organic growth refers to the kind of growth of a business that is purely stimulated by the resources already available internally to a company. Organic growth is created by adding new clients or more business from existing clients. It’s essentially expanding your business from within using the resources you have, including skills, knowledge, experience, relationships and other tools. Organic growth is healthy for a firm and reflects a long-term, solid commitment to building a business.

An Example of Organic Growth

The examples of how organic growth occurs in the marketplace are countless. But let’s explore an example of how organic growth could come to pass for a professional services firm.

An example of organic growth would be in growth resulting from the strategic expansion of a particular service or product line. For example, leaders of an architecture, engineering, and construction firm identify more marketplace demand in their healthcare market segment. So they increase investment into marketing to this audience type. The result is that revenue increases by 40% year over year from this practice area. 

In this example, there was no external entity absorbed into the business to expand this practice area. Instead, the growth came as a result of strong business intelligence, marketing and sales.

Organic vs Inorganic Growth

While organic growth is achieved from existing resources, inorganic growth is growth generated externally through activities like mergers and acquisitions. Inorganic growth relies almost entirely on available resources and capital. Mergers, acquisitions, and their most extreme form, takeovers, can quickly increase a firm’s size and revenue but often present complex branding challenges that require a methodical approach to integration.

This is why organic growth should be at the center of b2b and professional services marketing plans. So which strategies can leaders and marketers at your business implement to drive organic growth? Let’s look at five proven strategies.

5 Proven Strategies for Driving Organic Growth

There are some firms who excel in driving organic growth. At Hinge, we refer to these businesses as High Growth Firms and in our annual High Growth Study we uncover the most impactful strategies and marketing techniques of firms growing at least 20% year over year. The following five strategies below are not picked at random. They come from nearly a decade of research on what works for these High Growth Firms.

1. Research your target clients

It’s surprising how many professional services firms don’t develop a clear picture of their ideal target client and what motivates their decision-making.

When we studied the relationship between growth and profitability, we found that professional services firms that conduct regular research on their target audience grow up to 70% faster and are almost 50% more profitable than firms that don’t.

Figure 1. Research Frequency

Ask a C-level executive in your average professional services firm who their target client is and he, or she, may only have a vague idea. Research reveals what you don’t know. It also enables you to better focus your marketing efforts based on your target clients’ actual needs and preferences. Insights from research help you better position your firm, reduce the risk of marketing missteps, and develop a competitive advantage.

Once you have established target client preferences through research, you’re able to develop high-value service packages and make a much stronger marketing plan. All because you’ve learned where they get their information, identified their key concerns, and revealed their hot buttons.

Research rocks!

2. Focus on a well-defined niche

With research results in hand, you’re in a position to focus on a specific niche. While some may say it seems counter-productive to narrow your focus (instead of widening it), there are some significant benefits to doing so.

Concentrating on a well-defined niche enables you to reduce marketing costs and competition while increasing market share, fees, and profits. There’s something to be said for being a big fish in a small pond.

In fact, our studies show that high-growth firms are 75 percent more likely to have a highly-focused niche.

Figure 2. Highly-Specialized Firms

Professional services firms offering everything to everybody typically end up offering little real value to anybody. Their services become generic commodities stuck in a price war with myriad competitors. A slow, painful death often ensues.

3. Develop strong, easy-to-understand differentiators

If your firm is highly specialized or positioned in a well-defined niche, congratulations. You’ve got a built-in differentiator.

What’s a differentiator? It’s a feature or benefit that sets you apart from the competition. Here’s an example: You are an accounting firm but, unlike your competitors, you focus your attention on the specific financial concerns of national chain restaurants. That’s your differentiator.

Firms with unique differentiators have a much easier job communicating their value to prospective clients, setting themselves apart (and above) the competition and winning more business. In fact, our 2022 High Growth Study revealed that differentiation was a top marketing priority of high-growth firms.

Three things make a high-value differentiator:

1. Truth
2. Relevancy
3. Provability

Is what you’re claiming true? Is it relevant to your prospect? Finally, is it provable?

The least effective differentiators are those that offer no direct benefit to the client. No one particularly cares how long you’ve been in business, how many charitable causes you’ve supported, or your claims of having “the best people.”

The best differentiators address the needs and concerns of the prospective client. These include provable claims about how your unique services or expertise can specifically benefit the client.

4. Balance traditional and digital marketing

One other key finding from our latest 2022 High Growth Study is that the fastest-growing firms have a more balanced approach to marketing, mixing digital with traditional.

It all starts by making sure marketing techniques fit the target audience (potential clients). Here’s where all that research comes in handy. Your data will tell you how your target prefers to receive information. This will go a long way in helping you focus your marketing dollars on the most effective channels.

Tracking your marketing is important, too. High-growth firms commit to tracking their marketing efforts, closely monitoring 33 percent more variables than their slow-growing peers.

Almost every firm tracks the basics such as new clients, revenue, and profitability. However, high-growth firms are also more likely to track variables related to the marketing process.

Figure 3. Metrics Most Often Tracked by High-Growth Firms

This additional tracking puts firms in a better position to know what works and what doesn’t. This means they are equipped to make course adjustments and fix problems as they arise.

5. Make your expertise visible

As a professional services firm, the only product you have to sell—and what potential clients need to be persuaded to buy—is your collective expertise. In our recent study on buyer behavior, we found that across professional services, expertise was the most common selection criteria next to talented staff.

While your expertise has the definite advantage of being unique to your company (there’s that differentiator), it has the drawback of being intangible. Potential clients can’t touch it, taste it, smell it, or see it. The challenge is to make your expertise visible.

This can be done through a carefully targeted and constructed campaign of blogging and article writing, speaking, social media conversations and search engine optimization.

As your firm and its expertise becomes visible in the digital landscape, the payoff becomes enormous.

As the appropriate personnel within your firm become Visible Experts, the firm as a whole gains value in the eyes of potential clients. This value, properly leveraged, leads directly to organic growth. The process is transformative, leading to more visibility which leads to more business.

Conclusion

There’s nothing mysterious about organic growth. There’s a scientific approach to it that requires some homework, discipline, and stick-to-it-ness. Research is key and the driver of a more powerful strategy and more efficient and effective marketing.

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Business Development Defined

Business development (BD) is the process that is used to identify, nurture and acquire new clients and business opportunities to drive growth and profitability. A business development strategy is a document that describes the strategy you will use to accomplish that goal.

The scope of business development can be wide ranging and vary a lot from organization to organization. Consider the model of how professional services organizations get new business shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: The three stages of the business development funnel

The first two stages of the model, Attracting Prospects and Build Engagement, are traditional marketing functions. The final stage, Turning Opportunities into Clients, is a traditional sales function. In the traditional role, business development would be looking for new channels of distribution or marketing partners.

But roles are changing and naming conventions evolve. In today’s world many firms refer to the entire marketing and sales process as business development. I know, it can be confusing. So let’s sort it out a bit.

Business Development vs. Marketing

Marketing is the process of determining which products and services you will offer to which target audiences, at what price. It also addresses how you will position and promote your firm and it’s offerings in the competitive marketplace. The result of all this activity should be an increasing awareness of your firm among your target audience — and a stronger flow of qualified leads and opportunities.

Historically, business development has been a subset of the marketing function that was focused on acquiring new marketing or distribution relationships and channels. While this role still exists in many companies, the business development title has become interchangeable with many marketing and sales functions. 

Business Development vs. Sales

Sales is the task of converting leads or opportunities into new clients. Business development is a broader term that encompasses many activities beyond the sales function. And while there is some overlap, most traditional BD roles are only lightly involved in closing new clients. 

Business development is often confused with sales. This is not too surprising because many people who are clearly in sales have taken to using the title of Business Developer. Presumably this is done because the organization believes that the BD designation avoids some possible stigma associated with sales.

Nowhere is this practice more prevalent than in professional services. Accountants, lawyers and strategy consultants do not want to be seen as “pushy sales people.” This titular bias is firmly rooted despite the fact that developing new business is an important role of most senior members of professional services firms.

Since so many clients want to meet and get to know the professionals they will be working with, the Seller-doer role is well established in many firms. The preference for Seller-doers also tends to discourage firms from fielding a full-time sales force.

As an alternative approach to leveraging fee-earners’ time, some firms have one or more Business Developers on staff. In the professional services context, these folks are often involved in lead generation and qualification, as well as supporting the Seller-doers in their efforts to close new clients. In other organizational contexts, this role might be thought of as a sales support role.

The result of this confusing picture is that many professional services firms call sales “business development” and make it part of every senior professional’s role. They may also include some marketing functions, such as lead generation and lead nurturing, into the professional’s BD responsibilities.

It is this expanded role, where business development encompasses the full range of lead generation, nurturing and sales tasks, which we will concentrate on in this post.

Business Development Examples

To be clear on what this role entails, let’s consider this business development example:

Bethany is the Director of Business Development at a fictional mid-sized architecture firm. She is not an architect herself. Nor is she involved with any aspect of delivering the projects that the firm has signed. Instead, her role is exclusively focused on signing new business for her firm—with either new clients or existing ones. 

For new clients, Bethany spends much of her time responding to RFPs, communicating directly with inbound leads generated by the marketing/sales enablement team, and nurturing potential clients that she met at a recent industry conference. Bethany also collaborates with the marketing team in the development of new materials she needs to sell to new accounts.

When it comes to existing accounts, Bethany also has a role. She meets monthly with delivery teams to understand whether current client projects are on scope or if change orders are needed. Moreover, she maintains a relationship with key stakeholders of her firm’s clients. If another opportunity for more work opens, she knows that her relationship with the client is an important component to that potential deal.

In this example, Bethany is the primary driver of business development but that does not mean she is doing this alone. Imagine she has a colleague Greg who is a lead architect at the firm. While Greg’s first focus is delivering for his clients, business development—and even marketing—should still be a part of his professional life. Perhaps Greg attends an industry conference with Bethany, he as a speaker and expert and her as the primary networker. The business development dynamic should not end with Bethany and should permeate the whole organization.

In this business development example, you can see that the range of roles and responsibilities is wide. This is why it is essential for business development to not be ad hoc, but done strategically. Let’s talk about that now.

Strategic Business Development

Not all business development is of equal impact. In fact a lot of the activities of many professionals are very opportunistic and tactical in nature.This is especially true with many seller-doers. 

Caught between the pressures of client work and an urgent need for new business they cast about for something quick and easy that will produce short term results. Of course this is no real strategy at all.

Strategic business development is the alignment of business development processes and procedures with your firm’s strategic business goals. The role of strategic business development is to acquire ideal clients for your highest priority services using brand promises that you can deliver upon.

 Deciding which targets to pursue and strategies to employ to develop new business is actually a high stakes decision. A good strategy, well implemented, can drive high levels of growth and profitability. A faulty strategy can stymie growth and frustrate valuable talent.

Yet many firms falter at this critical step. They rely on habit, anecdotes and fads — or worse still, “this is how we have always done it.” In a later section we’ll cover how to develop your strategic business development plan. But first we’ll cover some of the strategies that may go into that plan.

Top Business Development Strategies

Let’s look at some of the most common business development strategies and how they stack up with today’s buyers.

1. Networking

Networking is probably the most universally used business development strategy. It’s built on the theory that professional services buying decisions are rooted in relationships, and the best way to develop new relationships is through face-to-face networking.

It certainly is true that many relationships do develop in that way. And if you are networking with your target audience, you can develop new business. But there are limitations. Today’s buyers are very time pressured, and networking is time consuming. It can be very expensive, if you consider travel and time away from the office.

Newer digital networking techniques can help on the cost and time front. But even social media requires an investment of time and attention.

2. Referrals

The close relative of networking, referrals are often seen as the mechanism that turns networking and client satisfaction into new business. You establish a relationship, and that person refers new business to you. Satisfied clients do the same.

Clearly, referrals do happen, and many firms get most or all of their business from them. But referrals are passive. They rely on your clients and contacts to identify good prospects for your services and make a referral at the right time.

The problem is referral sources often do not know the full range of how you can help a client. So many referrals are poorly matched to your capabilities. Other well-matched referrals go unmade because your referral source fails to recognize a great prospect when they see one. Finally, many prospects that might be good clients rule out your firm before even talking with you. One recent study puts the number at over 50%.

Importantly, there are new digital strategies that can accelerate referrals. Making your specific expertise more visible is the key. This allows people to make better referrals and increases your referral base beyond clients and a few business contacts.

3. Sponsorships and Advertising

Can you develop new business directly by sponsoring events and advertising? It would solve a lot of problems if it works. No more trying to get time from fully utilized billable professionals.

Unfortunately, the results on this front are not very encouraging. Studies have shown that traditional advertising is actually associated with slower growth. Only when advertising is combined with other techniques, such as speaking at an event, do these techniques bear fruit.

The most promising advertising strategy seems to be well-targeted digital advertising. This allows firms to get their messages and offers in front of the right people at a lower cost.

4. Outbound Telephone and Mail

Professional services firms have been using phone calls and mail to directly target potential clients for decades. Target the right firms and roles with a relevant message and you would expect to find new opportunities that can be developed into clients.

There are a couple of key challenges with these strategies. First they are relatively expensive, so they need to be just right to be effective. Second, if you don’t catch the prospect at the right time, your offer may have no appeal relevance — and consequently, no impact on business development.

The key is to have a very appealing offer delivered to a very qualified and responsive list. It’s not easy to get this combination right.

5. Thought Leadership and Content Marketing

Here, the strategy is to make your expertise visible to potential buyers and referral sources. This is accomplished through writing, speaking or publishing content that demonstrates your expertise and how it can be applied to solve client problems.

Books, articles and speaking engagements have long been staples of professional services business development strategy. Many high visibility experts have built their practices and firms upon this strategy. It often takes a good part of a career to execute this approach.

But changing times and technology have reshaped this strategy. With the onset of digital communication it is now easier and much faster to establish your expertise with a target market. Search engines have leveled the playing field so that relatively unknown individuals and firms can become known even outside their physical region. Webinars have democratized public speaking, and blogs and websites give every firm a 24/7 presence. Add in video and social media and the budding expert can access a vastly expanded marketplace.

But these developments also open firms to much greater competition as well. You may find yourself competing with specialists whom you were never aware of. The impact is to raise the stakes on your business development strategy.

6. Combined Strategies

It is common to combine different business development strategies. For example, networking and referrals are frequently used together. And on one level, a combined strategy makes perfect sense. The strength of one strategy can shore up the weakness of another.

But there is a hidden danger. For a strategy to perform at its peak, it must be fully implemented. There is a danger that by attempting to execute too many different strategies you will never completely implement any of them.

Good intentions, no matter how ambitious, are of little real business development value. Under-investment, lack of follow through and inconsistent effort are the bane of effective business development.

It is far more effective to fully implement a simple strategy than to dabble in a complex one. Fewer elements, competently implemented, produce better results.

Next, we turn our attention to the tactics used to implement a high-level strategy. But first there is a bit of confusion to clear up.

Business Development Strategy Vs. Tactics

The line between strategy and tactics is not always clear. For example, you can think of networking as an overall business development strategy or as a tactic to enhance the impact of a thought leadership strategy. Confusing to be sure.

From our perspective, the distinction is around focus and intent. If networking is your business development strategy all your focus should be on making the networking more effective and efficient. You will select tactics that are aimed at making networking more powerful or easier. You may try out another marketing technique and drop it if it does not help you implement your networking strategy.

On the other hand, if networking is simply one of many tactics, your decision to use it will depend on whether it supports your larger strategy. Tactics and techniques can be tested and easily changed. Strategy, on the other hand, is a considered choice and does not change from day to day or week to week.

10 Most Effective Business Development Tactics

Which business development tactics are most effective? To find out, we recently conducted a study that looked at over 1000 professional services firms. The research identified those firms that were growing at greater than a 20% compound annual growth rate over a three-year period.

These High Growth firms were compared to firms in the same industry that did not grow over the same time period. We then examined which business development tactics were employed by each group and which provided the most impact.

The result is a list of the ten most impactful tactics employed by the High Growth firms:

1. Providing assessments and/or consultations
2. Keyword research/search engine optimization
3. Live product/service demonstrations
4. Conducting and publishing original research
5. Public relations (earned media)
6. Nurturing prospects through phone calls
7. Speaking at targeted conferences or events
8. Marketing partnerships with other organizations
9. Presenting in educational webinars
10. Networking on social media

There are a couple of key observations about these growth tactics. First, these techniques can be employed in service of different business development strategies. For example number seven on the list, speaking at targeted conferences or events, can easily support a networking or a thought leadership strategy.

The other observation is that the top tactics include a mix of both digital and traditional techniques. As we will see when we develop your plan, having a healthy mix of digital and traditional techniques tends to increase the impact of your strategy.

Business Development Skills

Now that we have identified the key business development strategies and tactics, it is time to consider the business development skills your team will need. Business development skills require a broad range of technical skills but there are some that make a difference.

When the Hinge Research Institute studied marketing and business development skills in our annual High Growth Study, we found that the firms who grow faster have a skill advantage within their marketing and business development teams.

In the chart below, we see which business development skills are the most important for the high growth firms: 

Let’s dive into the top three skills from this list. 

The number one business development skill high growth firms enjoy are strong project management skills. And for experienced business development specialists, this makes good sense. Staying organized, accurately tracking business development activity, and managing accounts are essential for building and maintaining strong business relationships. Activities like the proposal development see business development team resources manage and produce a strong proposal quickly, including the right stakeholders, and without sacrificing quality.

The next most important skill is simplifying complex concepts. In business development conversations, it is vital that team members are strong communicators of your firm’s service offerings and capabilities. Those who are able to take a comlex scope of work and communicate it in a way that a potential buyer can understand. Speaking in industry jargon or overly complicated charts is a fast way to see a business lead become unresponsive. Therefore, it is no surprise to see that the fastest growing professional services firms have an advantage in communicating complex information in a way that buyers understand.

The third most important business development skill is face-to-face networking. Despite the hiatus of many in-person events, high growth firms still reported that strong networking skills are a top skill enjoyed by their firms. Strong face-to-face networking skills are as much of an art as it is a science. While some can be more charismatic than others, everyone can prepare their teams with the resources and plan they need to succeed in a networking environment.

Review the other business development and marketing skills in the figure above and determine which skills your team should aim to develop. Strategy development for planning your business development plan, research for understanding the competitive landscape and industry trends, and social media prowess all play an important role in business development, too. Developing these skills should be a key priority of your business development team.

How to Create Your Strategic Business Development Plan

A Business Development Plan is a document that outlines how you implement your business development strategy. It can be a plan for an individual, a practice or the firm as a whole. Its scope covers both the marketing and sales functions, as they are so intertwined in most professional services firms.

Here are the key steps to develop and document your plan.

1. Define your target audience

Who are you trying to attract as new clients? Focus on your “best-fit” clients, not all possible prospects. It is most effective to focus on a narrow target audience. But don’t go so narrow that you can’t achieve your business goals.

2. Research their issues, buying behavior and your competitors

The more you know about your target audience the better equipped you will be to attract their attention and communicate how you can help them. What are their key business issues? Is your expertise relevant to those issues? Where do they look for advice and inspiration? What is the competitive environment like? How do you stack up?

3. Identify your competitive advantage

What makes you different? Why is that better for your target client? Are you the most cost-effective alternative, or the industry’s leading expert? This “positioning” as it is often called, needs to be true, provable and relevant to the prospect at the time they are choosing which firm to work with. Be sure to document this positioning, as you will use it over and over again as you develop your messages and marketing tools.

4. Choose your overall business development strategy

Pick the broad strategy or strategies to reach, engage and convert your prospects. You can start with the list of top strategies provided above. Which strategy fits with the needs and preferences of your target audiences? Which ones best convey your competitive advantage? For example, if you are competing because you have superior industry expertise, a thought leadership/content marketing strategy will likely serve you well.

5. Choose your business development tactics

A great place to start is the list of the most effective tactics we provided above. Make sure that each technique you select fits your target audience and strategy. Remember, it’s not about your personal preferences or familiarity with a tactic. It’s about what works with the audience.

Also, you will need to balance your choices in two important ways: First, you will need tactics that address each stage of the business development pipeline shown in Figure 1. Some techniques work great for gaining visibility but do not address longer-term nurturing. You need to cover the full funnel.

Second, you need a good balance between digital and traditional techniques (Figure 2). Your research should inform this choice. Be careful about assumptions. Just because you don’t use social media doesn’t mean that a portion of your prospects don’t use it to check you out.

Figure 2. Online and offline marketing techniques

When, how often, which conferences, what topics? Now is the time to settle on the details that turn a broad strategy into a specific plan. Many plans include a content or marketing calendar that lays out the specifics, week by week. If that is too much detail for you, at least document what you will be doing and how often. You will need these details to monitor the implementation of your plan.

7. Specify how you will monitor implementation and impact

Often overlooked, these important considerations often spell the difference between success and failure. Unimplemented strategies don’t work. Keep track of what you do, and when. This will both motivate action and provide a great starting place as you troubleshoot your strategy. Also monitor and record the impacts you see. The most obvious affect will be how much new business you closed. But you should also monitor new leads or new contacts, at the bare minimum. Finally, don’t neglect important process outcomes such as referrals, new names added to your list and downloads of content that expose prospects and referral sources to your expertise.

If you follow these steps you will end up with a documented business development strategy and a concrete plan to implement and optimize it.

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