Sprout Agency Workshop

Rise and grind

October 29, 9:00a.m. — 4:00p.m. CST

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Get ready to roll up your sleeves and do the work that will push your agency—and your career—forward.

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We’re serving up a virtual three-hour, two-track deep dive into #agencylife and its unique opportunities and challenges.

Whether you’re a leader or a strategist, you'll have the chance to connect with an impressive community of agency professionals and to uncover tactical advice on how to be more efficient and effective in your role.

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What’s in it for you?

Leader Track

For the leaders joining us, we’ll tackle some of your greatest challenges:

  • Winning new business
  • Packaging unique service offerings
  • Operating a team at scale
  • And more!

8:55 am

Welcome

Luke Reynebeau, Customer Marketing Sr. Manager at Sprout Social

9:00 - 9:45am

Growing Your Pipeline: How to Think Like a Sales Leader

Willie Mullen, Director of Agency Sales at Sprout Social

Agency leaders often identify as marketers, business owners and sometimes even designers. But to lead your agency’s growth, you need to start thinking of yourself as a sales leader. We’ve tapped our own Director of Agency Sales, Willie Mullen, to share his expertise on how to assume the sales leadership role in your agency.

In this session, you’ll learn:

  • How to identify your ideal customer profile
  • Tips to perfect your sales process and close more deals
  • Live Q&A with Willie

9:45 - 10:30am

Evolving Your Offerings: How to Price, Package and Pitch Your Social Media Services

Greg Mullen, Agency Partner Program Manager at Sprout Social

Finding the perfect pricing and packaging for your agency services is a challenge. And since managing client expectations is an agency’s most common challenge, aligning your price point to a moving target can feel next to impossible.

In this session, you’ll learn:

  • How agencies can map their social media services offering within larger client retainers, through project-based work and as a standalone client package

Panelists:

  • Buck Flather, Senior Channel Account Manager at Sprout Social
  • Dana Bakich, Founder and CEO at Positive Equation
  • Eric Mellen, Partner at Cobblestone Media

10:30 - 11:15am

Leading the Way: How to Build an Agile Team Within a Distributed Workforce

Maggie Zahm, Agency Sales Manager at Sprout Social

For agency leaders, the work doesn’t end at winning the pitch or delivering awesome campaigns. A critical part of finding success is managing your team—who works with you, what they work on, how they collaborate with each other and with clients and even where they work.

In this session, you’ll learn:

  • How your fellow agency leaders:
    • Structure their teams within client and project work
    • Know when to hire
    • Invest in and develop teams
    • Work in a remote-friendly and distributed workforce world

Panelists:

  • David Chon, Director of Content Marketing at Hawke Media
  • Gibran Huerta, Founder and CEO at BIEN Media
  • Helen Todd, Co-founder and CEO at Sociality Squared

11:15 - 12:00pm

Why Your Next Client Won’t Be in Marketing

Luke Reynebeau, Customer Marketing Sr. Manager at Sprout Social

The role of social has evolved. Hell, the role of marketing has evolved. Complex tech stacks, a heightened value on the customer experience, and the convergence of sales, marketing and technology is a unique opportunity for your agency to expand outside of your traditional client set.

In this session, you’ll learn:

  • From customer service, sales, technology or R&D, learn more about the buyers of today and tomorrow.

Guest Speaker:

  • Lesley Pinckney, SVP of Digital and Social at GMR Marketing

12:00-1:00pm

Sprout Social Master Class: Listening and Analytics (Optional)

Hina Merchant, Solutions Engineer at Sprout Social

Grab your lunch, bring your questions and join us for a Sprout Social Master Class in Sprout Listening and deep analytics. We’ll be giving a general overview of both our listening and analytics tools, but more than anything, this is the time to get your questions answered.

Strategist Track

For those of you on the front lines, we’ll empower you with tips and tools to:

  • Managing client expectations
  • Secure a seat at the marketing table
  • Excel in the agency social landscape
  • And more!

12:00 - 1:00pm

Sprout Social Master Class: Listening and Analytics (Optional)

Hina Merchant, Solutions Engineer, Sprout Social

Grab your lunch, bring your questions and join us for a Sprout Social Master Class in Sprout Listening and deep analytics. We’ll be giving a general overview of both our listening and analytics tools, but more than anything, this is the time to get your questions answered.

1:00 - 1:45pm

How to Manage Client Expectations (and Impress Your Boss Along the Way)

Lexy Burton, Agency Account Executive & MJ Price, Senior Agency Account Executive at Sprout Social

#Agencylife is fast-paced, invigorating and overwhelming. And between the challenges in building trust, change management and fire drills, client management often feels like it’s out of our hands. But trust us, it’s not!

In this session, you’ll learn:

  • Best practices and tips for how to effectively manage your client relationships, and impress your boss along the way

1:45 - 2:30pm

Don’t Put Social in the Corner: How Social Media is Critical to Success for 5 Emerging Marketing Trends

Joe Huber, Customer Community Strategist at Sprout Social

Nearly half (47%) of all social marketers—from interns to the C-suite— say developing a strategy that supports their organization’s goals is their number one challenge. And as connection and resonant messaging become integral to success in social and business, it’s more important than ever to ensure social plays a part in every facet of your clients’ marketing strategies.

In this session, you’ll learn:

  • Five marketing trends that will have a significant impact on the way brands and consumers connect in 2020
  • The role that social can and should play in each

Panelists:

  • Raven Gill, Social Media Manager at Communicators Group
  • Caribe Alvarez at Touxhee
  • Erik Keith, Chief Innovation Officer at CSG

2:30 - 3:15pm

Content Rockin’ in the Paid World: How to Optimize Your Social Content for Both Organic and Paid Success

Christine Albrecht, Strategic Agency Customer Success Manager, Sprout S

Your social media marketing mix has likely shifted to more investment in paid. And that brings its own set of challenges for creating, testing and reporting on the messages and content you and your team creates. But don’t overlook that paid social contains a treasure trove of engagement opportunities and audience insights.

In this session, you’ll learn:

  • How agencies can optimize the performance of client content
  • What role paid social plays in your efforts
    Lessons from the real-life campaigns of three agencies that you can apply today

Presenters:

  • Billy Ash, Chief Digital Officer at Today’s Business
  • Emily Soloman, CEO at The Food Marketer
  • Nicole Spears, Senior Content Strategist at Upward Brand Interactions

3:15 - 4:00pm

How to Make Space for Creativity in a Billable Hour World

Mig Reyes, Director of Product Design at Sprout Social

Your clients and teams are always asking for more. They expect social strategists and the folks on the frontlines to be efficient, productive and drive results. But they also want creativity. How can agency professionals keep up with the 24/7 demands of social, deliver sound results, maintain their boundaries and keep their creative edge?

In this session, you’ll learn:

  • How to stay creative with a never-ending backlog
  • How to make space for exploration in an “always on” working environment.

4:00 pm

Closing

Christine Albrecht and Luke Reynebeau

Speakers

Buck Flather

Senior Channel Account Manager, Sprout Social

Billy Ash

Chief Digital Officer, Today’s Business

Caribe Alvarez

Chief Operating Officer, Touxhee

Christine Albrecht

Strategic Agency Customer Success Manager, Sprout Social

Dana Bakich

Founder & CEO, Positive Equation

David Chon

Director of Content Marketing, Hawke Media

Emily Solomon

CEO, The Food Marketer

Erik Keith

Chief Innovation Officer, CSG

Gibrán Huerta

Founder & CEO, BIEN Media

Greg Mullen

Agency Partner Program Manager, Sprout Social

Helen Todd

Co-founder & CEO, Sociality Squared

Hina Merchant

Solutions Engineer, Sprout Social

Joe Huber

Customer Community Strategist, Sprout Social

Lesley Pinckney

SVP of Digital & Social, GMR Marketing

Lexy Burton

Agency Account Executive, Sprout Social

Luke Reynebeau

Customer Marketing Sr. Manager, Sprout Social

Maggie Zahm

Agency Sales Manager, Sprout Social

MJ Price

Senior Agency Account Executive, Sprout Social

Mig Reyes

Director of Product Design, Sprout Social

Nicole Spears

Senior Content Strategist, Upward Brand Interactions

Raven Gill

Social Media Manager, Communicators Group

Willie Mullen

Director of Agency Sales, Sprout Social

Community

The single greatest resource at the workshop will be the 1,000+ fellow agency professionals working alongside you helping you build and grow.

Reap the full rewards of this real connection by joining our Agency Facebook Group, getting certified and becoming part of the Agency Partner Slack community. And don’t forget to engage on social!

As a #SproutPartner, we're now more equipped than ever to monitor #GMB reviews and respond to them on behalf of our clients. Phenomenal cross over for our #SEO and #SMM teams.

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