Agency Team Development: Dog Years and M-Shaped Marketers

Agency life works in dog years.

And I don't mean that people only remember your birthday every seven years. 

I'm talking about experience gain—your personal growth rate. 

If done right, it's a huge advantage.

The sheer number of repetitions agencies can get over regular companies is powerful.

If I hadn't entered the Army out of college, I'd have wanted past Chris to work at an agency.

The growth rate is exponential, but many people take it for granted. 

I saw it most clearly while interviewing people to work at our agency.

There's a vast difference between 10 years of experience and 1 year of experience 10 times.

People who worked with brands were often in the latter camp. Unfortunately, most of the people from the agencies I interviewed were right there with them. 

Agencies can force you into the former if you approach it right.

Step 1: Pick the skills you want to go deep on. 

I don't necessarily buy into the idea of T-shaped marketers. 

I believe in M-shaped marketers. 

Most people can go deep on 2-3 skills. You'll make a name for yourself if you focus on one particular skill and crush it, but this isn't how most people want to work. It's also not something that agencies can get a ton of value from unless they have massive teams.

Many skills have related traits. For example, being a great copywriter does not mean you're a great content writer. However, it does mean you've acquired skills that make it easier to learn to write content well. 

This is where the M-shaped marketer comes in. You can go deep on a few skills, and there's likely one skill that'll influence multiple others. 

With this approach, you can accomplish more with a smaller team, while still specializing in an area of marketing. 

Step 2: Create your growth plan. 

If you know where you are and where you want to go, all that's left is creating a map. 

This seems commonsensical, but it's skipped too frequently. 

If you want to get better at email marketing, just writing more emails isn't the solution. You need to practice deliberately. 

How are you approaching headlines? Preview text? Body copy? CTAs? 

Each piece is important and should get attention. 

Yes, you can learn to produce quality by first producing quantity. But you'll get there much faster if you have a specific action plan for growth. 

Step 3: Take every opportunity you can to practice and push yourself. 

Agencies have an incredible opportunity for growth: using themselves as guinea pigs. 

Want someone to improve their content writing chops? Have them take over the blog for your internal brand. 

Want someone to practice email marketing? They can build some nurturing campaigns. 

This reduces the risk of failing for your clients but also gives you more reps fast. 

Then, you've shortcut some of the potential failings so you can start working that skill with your clients and seeing better results. 

Embracing the Dog Years

I truly believe you can get 7 years of experience every year you work in an agency. 

But it's only possible if you put in the effort to make it so. 

Be deliberate in your personal and team growth, and you'll find your agency improving in record time.

Don't waste this opportunity.