Webinar recording: How to build the value of your agency
We recently hosted the first in our series of webinars and in-person events, focusing on the key themes that influence the success of agencies and the essential steps that agency owners should take to build value ahead of a potential exit.
We are delighted to share our key takeaways from our speakers Steven Mallon, Founder of Argent Consultancy, Paul Winterflood, Head of Corporate Finance Media, and George Hatswell, Corporate Finance Director, both of Moore Kingston Smith.
Marketing services M&A summary for 2024 and 2025 Outlook
- Despite the wider economic challenges in 2024, deal volume was similar to 2023, albeit made up of a lot of smaller transactions than in previous years. Acquirer appetite remains strong however, good news for agencies that are currently preparing for a sale.
- Within marketing services, data analytics, experiential, creative, and PR agencies were the most highly sought-after sectors by acquirers in 2024. We expect social, influencer and ecommerce agencies to be highly sought after in 2025 as the concept of social commerce continues to grow.
Driving value within your agency
- Make sure you have a strong understanding of the drivers of agency value and ensure you can benchmark how well your agency is (or isn’t) performing against them so you can identify the strategic areas of improvement to prioritise.
- Successful agencies tend to have common traits – founders need to understand to improve profitability, maximise their valuation and exit position they must change their focus from being tactical to being strategic, focusing on key drivers of value.
- Agencies need a proactive approach to sales and marketing to ensure they are qualifying new business opportunities appropriately and delivering sustainable revenue growth. This will enable agencies to pitch for the right new business and focus on high-quality opportunities.
- Founders need to build a skilled senior team, focused on strategic planning, reducing the reliance placed on the founders, and allowing them to reduce their involvement in the day-to-day operations, so they can work on the business rather than in it.
- Agencies need to be able to demonstrate their value to clients and build senior relationships with their clients. Securing additional revenues from existing clients is essential to help retain clients, add value and increase income security.
How we can help
Please get in contact if you would like to discuss this webinar in more detail, or if you have any corporate finance-related questions.
The next webinar in our series ‘How to get your people and financials exit ready’ will take place on Tuesday 25th February – register your interest here.
