The human touch returns as top prospecting priority as agencies look to accelerate growth
The human touch is back as a top prospecting priority for growth. The New Business Barometer 2024 conducted by jfdi, the UK’s leading specialist new business consultancy, and award-winning strategic insight agency Opinium reports on trends and issues impacting new business growth.
The largest and most comprehensive industry study of its kind, Barometer is conducted nationwide, with data drawn from 266 agency business development professionals across 18 disciplines from creative to media; digital to experiential; content to social.
A key finding is that agencies looking to accelerate growth are returning to human-basedprospecting – as strategies shift from lead generation digital outreach to a human-connected approach. 88% of respondents activated management connections to prospect– with 44% citing this a top strategy; 68% asking clients for referrals and 67% forming alliances and partnerships. This change may be driven by email overload and an explosion of pushed content in an over-supplied agency market.
Observes Camilla Honey, CEO, jfdi: “In our challenging new business market, competitive edge is everything and it’s interesting to see the human touch is overriding overwhelming digitally based automated approaches. AI watch out!”
Considered the industry benchmark of performance and insights for UK new business and agency leaders, The Barometer, in its seventh year, is published in partnership with Agencynomics, The IPA, Prolific North, BIMA, Bristol Creative Industries, The Drum Network and the Alliance.
Mark Clark, CEO, jfdi comments, “New business is the lifeblood of every agency whatever its age, size or expertise. As a practice it changes at the same pace as the agency world it serves. How you manage that change is an invaluable competitive advantage. Which is why the Barometer offers much more than data and insights. When applied, it’s a playbook on how to win in the world of agency new business.”
Adds James Murphy, Founder, & CEO, New Commercial Arts, “The industry is evolving so relentlessly and rapidly, that you’ve always got more to learn and skills to hone. No more so than in new business – where briefs and pitches are, rightly, demanding more of us. The jfdi/ Opinium Barometer is, quite simply, the gold standard of new business benchmarking. Our go-to source for exceptional insights and practical solutions to contemporary pitching.”
Key Findings Also Include:
Practical and affordable ideas that deliver are winning pitches. The proportion of respondents saying they commonly win projects with ideas that are ‘practical/affordable/deliverable’ has risen 8 points to 33%.
Clients are awarding business with combination of rational and emotional decisions: 73% stated relevant experience and expertise (up 6 percentage points on last year) and 69% mentioned good chemistry.
The shrinking new business pool. The total value of new business targeted by larger agencies has fallen by -28% while opportunities pursued has remained consistent (+2%). This suggests that larger agencies may be targeting more project-based work, previously the preserve of small and medium-sized agencies.
The rise of the cancelled pitch. 43% of respondents reported client withdrawal of budget as the most common reason for not winning a pitch. Significantly, this is up 10% points on last year. Other reasons include: “rarely given a reason” [41%]; “economic uncertainty” [33%]; “ideas not deemed affordable” [20%]; “agencies failed to demonstrate relevant expertise/capability” [18%.]
The ticking stress bomb. 70% of new business practitioners report their role becoming more stressful over the last 12 months. With new business teams generally recognised as the most resilient in the agency, this worrying trend signals the need to ensure mental health welfare and wellbeing in this space.
Josh Glendinning, Research Director and Partner at Opinium remarks, “The New Business Barometer’s unparalleled insight shows how the pressures of a tough economic environment are cascading through the marketing industry. Clients are demanding more than ever during the pitch process but finding it more difficult to provide concrete assurances to agencies that work will be commissioned.”
Katie Lee, COO, Wavemaker, UK concludes: “Right now, clients are looking for partners who can help them achieve sustainable growth in an exceptionally challenging environment. And pitching is the ultimate platform to showcase how we help transform brands’ business and accelerate growth in new places and spaces. jfdi has been a remarkable collaborator for many years and the jfdi/Opinium New Business Barometer benchmarks our pitch practice with actionable insights.”
Methodology: Fieldwork conducted October-December 2023. With 266 respondents across the national marketing services industry. Across small agencies (less than 50 employees) Medium agencies (50-150 employees) Large agencies (150 + employee). Across 18 core agency disciplines.
Source: jfdi
jfdi/Opinium New Business Barometer Reveals Challenges and Opportunities for Agencies in 2024 added by newsroom on
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