Have you thought about using global languages to boost your customers’ search engine?
In 2010, Guido worked in Expedia’s search marketing department in London, covering the EMEA market. What he learned there was the importance of having a different strategy for each country with native language specialists. So, over the past few years in GA AgencyHe has invested in building a multilingual team, recognising London to facilitate this.
Many agencies can’t afford to have multilingual in-house teams, especially those covering ten languages. It’s common to use outsourced translation services to fill this gap, and the results don’t compare to hiring local professionals. Guido takes time out of his day to share his journey with Business Matters.
What problem does your company solve?
We offer our digital resources and expertise to our client partners – to help them become more competitive in the digital space. Of course, most of the time the ultimate goal is to increase online revenue. As part of our work, we also want to educate our clients, and we try every time to explain why we do this or that.
What products or services do you offer?
We are a 360-degree digital agency and one-stop shop for customer acquisition.
We have become a full-service digital agency in response to the fact that customer acquisition these days happens across multiple channels. When the agency started over ten years ago, we specialized in search engine marketing (SEO and SEM) as this was the primary channel for customer acquisition in the digital space. Now it’s different. Customer acquisition happens across multiple touchpoints and having one agency partner to manage them all has proven to be a huge benefit.
We provide our clients with digital strategy, data analysis and reporting, and then we activate different marketing channels such as SEO, SEM, social commerce, programmatic marketing, Amazon marketing, influencer marketing, etc. We also provide high-quality content, whether text or visual, as this is essential for a successful digital strategy.
What kind of companies do you deal with?
We’ve built our experience with established international brands. Over 50% of our clients are businesses with annual revenues of over £100m, however we also work with emerging brands and exciting start-ups. We look for long-term partnerships with our clients, so we’re a little selective about the companies we work with. It’s important that you believe in the project.
What is your USP?
The digital agency market is more competitive than ever and it’s important that we differentiate ourselves. One of our biggest selling points is that we are a multilingual team. Our in-house team covers ten different languages, allowing us to execute active projects in 18 countries.
Our specialists treat each of our clients’ sites as if it were their own project. This is a huge added value. Of course, this approach is not suitable for all companies, it is suitable for medium and large brands that have a presence in more than one country.
What are your company values? Have you ever been challenged, and if so, how did you handle it?
Honesty is probably the most important thing. If we don’t see a chance for success in a project, we won’t take it. We are in it for the long term, and reputation is essential to our business. We also never lock clients into contracts. We always leave the opportunity open to terminate a contract without any reason with 30 days’ notice. There is no reason to keep a client if they are not happy.
Another value is transparency. For most of our services, clients are charged per hour per month. Each GA team professional records their hours at the end of each day and compares them to the projects they have worked on. We then send the report to our clients on a monthly or quarterly basis to show how well they fit into the agreed scope of work.
How can you ensure you hire a team that reflects your company’s values?
We are getting better and better at this. I started this business three years ago and at the beginning I didn’t have much experience in HR or recruitment, so I made mistakes. With practice, reading and experience this is no longer a problem. We also hired an HR manager this year. We have a good process, and I am happy with my team. They all reflect the company’s values, are smart, kind and always willing to help each other. I am still involved in recruitment; I interview each candidate at the final stage to understand if they match our values.
Are you happy to offer a hybrid home/office business model?
Yes, 100%. I think it’s the best solution. After I left Expedia, I worked for five years as a consultant and did everything remotely, and I loved it. Now with GA we have an office in central London (Soho), and some people come into the office, some permanently, some keen on the hybrid approach and some want to work from home, which I’m okay with because I’ve been doing it for many years. I think that nowadays if you have the tools to control your productivity, there shouldn’t be too many problems with working from home. I also realise that some people want to go into the office, especially after the Covid lockdowns, so we offer that option.
Do you have any tips for managing suppliers and customers effectively?
While working at Google and Expedia, I managed sourcing agencies like us. My advice is to give agencies time. 3-6 months is a good time for them to understand the dynamics of the business, the products, the consumers, etc. If the agency is promising, a little time will bring results, but over time their impact will improve and improve. So, it is important to wait a few months before evaluating the agency.
As for client management, I have worked with over 100 clients between my consulting and agency work, and the results have been generally positive. What I tell my team is, first, be nice/polite. You are providing a service. At the same time, try to build rapport and have a sense of humor. It is boring to talk to someone every week and have a cold rapport.
Second, always make sure you have an answer! If you don’t have the answer now, do your research and review it. They hired you for your expertise, so make sure you demonstrate it at every opportunity.
Third, respond quickly. My rule of thumb is to respond to every email in less than one business day. If the email requires a long response, respond quickly to confirm it and come back with an answer after doing your research.
Finally, go the extra mile. It’s a great way to show your interest in your clients’ project.
Do you have any advice on financing or cash flow for new startups?
I started my company with very little capital. I quit my job at Expedia and started working as a consultant, but before I quit, I made sure I had enough savings to last me at least a year without income.
I was a bit intimidated, of course, as I had a great full-time job that paid well for my age. However, once I started my own business, the freedom and time I had gave me the motivation to build a website, put together a viable service offering and find clients (the most complicated and important part). At the same time, it was important to keep costs to a minimum; I was working from coffee shops, not offices.
Next, it is important to offer services with a retention model that allows you to plan. Working on multiple individual projects is painful because it is clear that every time you finish, you have to look for new clients again. It is better to avoid this.
Another tip is to understand which customers are safe in terms of payment and which ones might cause you problems; with safe customers, usually established companies, don’t pressure them if they are a little late. With annoying customers, send them a reminder as soon as they are late, and if they ignore the reminder, stop providing the service.
If you could ask the government to change one thing about businesses, what would it be?
In the past few years, hot topics like Brexit and Covid-19 have caused a lot of people to leave the UK. This has added a layer of complexity when hiring digital talent, so what I’m probably asking for is an easier way to get visas for foreign workers coming to the UK.
What is your position towards your competitors?
I get inspired by them and want to learn. When I see agencies in our industry doing better than us, I don’t get jealous. I want to understand why they are better than us and what we can do to be more competitive.
I spend time browsing their website, history, services, and start following the company’s LinkedIn page. All this is done with the goal of learning how to improve ourselves.
Do you have any ideas about the future of your company and your dreams?
We have some ambitious goals for this year. We want to continue to grow. To that end, we aim to hire a few experienced employees to bring more expertise to our team; we are looking for people with agency experience to contribute new ideas.
We also want to update our services with the future in mind. The digital world is evolving rapidly, so it’s essential to keep up with the services we offer, otherwise they can quickly become outdated. Two years ago, we launched Amazon Marketing Services, and last year we started working with TikTok. This year, we have something new ready to launch (secret…), and we’re always actively researching and testing emerging technologies for future use.
Finally, we want to gain more experience in more markets, by adding more international people to our team.
