Essential Elements of an Ad Agency's Business Plan

November 10, 2016 by Sannidhya Baweja

Day 2 of INBOUND16 and this was the first session of the day. Jody Sutter covered 8 Essential Elements of an Ad Agency’s New Business Plan


Jody emphasized on having a plan, rather than investing in a strategy that would drain all your money. A well calculated strategy can get you results even on a shoestring budget.

Mistakes by Ad Agency

Jody then took a look at the common mistakes which marketers makes, that leaves them with zero ROI
70% of the marketers lack a consistent or integrated content strategy

Takeaways for Ad agency

The key take-away from the presentation was, before making financial goals or expecting returns, an agency must make a clear strategy.


But, in order to come to any strategy you must ask a few important questions to yourself:

  • How many pitches you need to be in?
  • What’s the reasonable and aspirational-sized client?
  • What categories are you best suited to pursue?
  • What level of support will you need?
  • What’s your budget?


In the end Jody categorized agencies based on their behavior:


The presentation was a great success as people couldn’t wait to apply knowledge they gained from the session.


I hope you also would have some questions which you ask yourself before implementing a strategy.

Would love to hear some experience and questions which you have in this regard.

And yes, don’t forget to check out our INBOUND16 coverage, for great session recaps and curated social media feeds.