Finding our niche and our solidifying brand identity is a hugely important part of what we do as agencies when it comes to growth and business development. But what comes after that? How do we use this identity to best engage with our target audience? Rob King, Founder of The Client Key, explains why campaign-driven engagement is the way forward.
Leading with value, not service
The temptation when communicating, directly with a lead, or through our content, is to tell people about what we do.
“Whenever you get into the nuts and bolts of going out there and contacting clients, there’s various ways you can do it,” says Rob.
“How are you going to put your thought leadership out there to the world? Are you doing it by marketing and social? Most people, when they talk to any new client, lead with services, not value. And I think that’s a trap which is quite easy to fall into.”
And this is where campaign-driven engagement comes in.
What is Campaign-Driven Engagement?
Rob says: “A campaign approach to business development is really you owning a particular topic.
It might be something like: ‘The pressures that funded startup SAS companies face in marketing spend.’ A very specific topic that you can own the narrative on. You generate a piece of comms or PDF that you would send to that person instead of saying:
‘Can we come and talk to you about development?’
Or: ‘Can we come and talk to you about X, Y or Z?’
You are putting out a think piece essentially around a topic that is highly relevant, thought-provoking, and dare I say it? Maybe even a little controversial?
The idea of this is you land with a thought-provoking message that makes them want to talk to you.
And that’s really what a campaign-driven approach to business development is all about.”
So the message here is that your best marketing tool is your expertise. Don’t be afraid to make that the focus of your content rather than your agency.

Rob King, Founder, The Client Key
Rob founded The Client Key in 2017. And since then, The Client Key have worked with the creative sector, empowering companies to implement strategies that grow their businesses.