Many agencies feel siloed into their own agency, niche, or operations day-to-day. Because of this, tuning into information sources like digital marketing agency podcasts becomes all the more crucial to give agency leaders and operators the necessary knowledge, expertise, and firepower to keep their agency and client relationships alive and thriving.
At the time of this writing, COVID-19 has struck the U.S., unfortunately for the world, the economy, and for many of our clients, fellow companies, and agencies. The silver lining of this less than ideal situation is that we’ve been forced to step back from the mundane, daily tasks and frameworks that may set us in a business rut. We’ve been afforded the unique (once-in-a-lifetime, really) opportunity to rethink and really rewire how we want things to work at work. Podcasts can be a strong motivator to kick you into high gear about other effective ways to run your agency.
That said, pop on one of our top 10 picks of podcasts for digital agency owners when you’re on your daily socially distanced walk, commuting after all this is over, droning out your children’s singalongs, cleaning the house, or cooking your meals.
We took great pains to ensure only the best podcasts for digital agencies were included and some quick information to get you to the podcasts quicker! Enjoy.
1. Smart Agency Masterclass
Jason Swenk is one of the most knowledgable in the business. If you haven’t started listening to his podcast yet, you’ll want to start. The Smart Agency Masterclass interviews amazing guests who have experience running successful businesses and optimizing every corner of the agency. Reviewers say it’s by far the most detailed & value-packed podcast for an agency owner, and if it went away, it’d be truly missed as it delivers real value, every time.
- Host: Jason Swenk, agency coach and former multimillion dollar agency owner
- Release schedule: 2x per week
- Style: Mixed format; Jason Swenk discussing topics, + interviews with occasional guest experts, 20-70 min each
- Episodes / ratings: 300 episodes, 5.0 rating on Apple from 98 reviews, 1 million downloads as reported on Jason’s website
- Recent topics: does your agency have a problem scaling, how much do internal errors really cost your agency
- Must-listens:
- Should Your Agency Add Content Creation as a Service? (w/ Steve Pockross, CEO, and Paul Zalewski, VP of Marketing of Verblio)
- How One Agency Grew to $15 Million in Under 10 Years (w/ Eric Vardon)
2. THRIVE Podcast, Your Agency Resource
Kelly Campbell brings decades in the agency business to help creative, media, and technology agency leaders learn how to level-up with this podcast. This could be for more established agencies that need to define ideal clients, implement greater efficiency, and unlock higher margins, or be the guiding light for newer agencies in preaching predictable revenue, growth hacking, and trends in technology to create systems and processes.
- Host: Kelly Campbell, agency transformation coach and former agency owner
- Release schedule: Roughly bi-weekly
- Style: Video, with frequent interviews with guest experts, 15-40 min each
- Episodes / ratings: 69 episodes, 5.0 rating on Apple from 6 reviews
- Recent topics: mind training for agency owners, why clients end agency relationships, peer support for agency leaders
- Must-listens:
- Planning During a Pandemic (w/ Drew McLellan)
- Increase Deal Flow at Your Agency (w/ Dan Englander)
3. The Digital Agency Show
Brent Weaver’s mission is to enable agency owners to transform their businesses so they can increase prices, work less, and grow profits. His approach to this podcast (and uGurus) is to encourage agencies to “niche for more riches.” Each interview deep-dives into emotional details, unique insights, and shines a spotlight on nuances of entrepreneurship, brought to life by the thoughtful interviewing and commentary by Weaver.
- Host: Brent Weaver, CEO of uGurus, an elite group of agency gurus and mentors, and educational materials on how to run an agency well
- Release schedule: Weekly, Tuesdays
- Style: Interview style w/ guests every week, 30-50 min each
- Episodes / ratings: 147 episodes, 5.0 rating on Apple from 62 reviews
- Recent topics: the power of illustration in agencies, level up content game, finding success niche-ing
- Must-listens:
- Content as a competitive advantage (w/ Steve Pockross, CEO of Verblio)
- Become an exceptional leader (w/ Bob Ruffolo)
4. Build a Better Agency
As the founder of AMI, the Agency Management Institute, Drew McLellan has been a leading voice in the agency thought leadership space for years. He’s been a guest on nearly all the other podcasts on this list and is certainly closest to the “textbook” resource on agency operations (besides, there are 237 episodes of this podcast to dig into!).
Because of this, his podcast would be of value to smaller or larger agencies alike, and all his guests are agency-centric or have an expertise in an area that he believes agency owners need to know more about. His podcast is on the longer side of others on this list.
- Host: Drew McLellan, agency thought leader, works with 250+ agencies directly every year, long-time podcast host and author
- Release schedule: Weekly, Mondays
- Style: Mix of format; Drew McLellan discussing topics, + interviews with guest experts, 30-70 min each
- Episodes / ratings: 237 episodes, 4.9 rating on Apple from 194 reviews
- Recent topics: what agencies don’t know about the PPP program, grow your agency using creative collaboration, how to sell with authority as an agency
- Must-listens:
- Purpose-Filled Recruitment and Retention (w/ Steve Lowisz)
5. The Agency Trailblazer Podcast—Love Your Agency
Lee Jackson has the admirable goal of helping web agencies fall in love with their business again. His podcast, situated squarely in the WordPress universe, directs agency listeners at any phase in the agency lifecycle on how best to grow their businesses and get back time with their loved ones. Reviewers laud that this podcast keeps them up-to-date on trends, optimizing workflows, business, and tech for WordPress.
- Host: Lee Jackson, agency expert, long-time podcaster, and owner of membership agency community called Agency Trailblazer on Facebook
- Release schedule: Weekly, Wednesdays
- Style: Lee Jackson riffing on different topics, occasional guest, 20-40 min each
- Episodes / ratings: 300 episodes, 5.0 rating on Apple from 30 reviews
- Recent topics: managing your agency finances, productive online meetings, the one-page business plan
- Must-listens:
6. Agency Life: Real Stories from MarTech Agency Owners
One of the newer podcasts to the game on the list, Agency Life proves to be catching up fast at 54 episodes strong. Clodagh aims to bring real stories from marketing technology agencies owners to your ears, including “the highs and lows and everything in between of the crazy roller coaster ride of agency life.”
- Host: Clodagh Higgins, ex-HubSpotter, digital agency mentor, coach, consultant, speaker, and author
- Release schedule: Roughly weekly
- Style: Clodagh Higgins riffing on different topics, occasional guest, 20-40 min each
- Episodes / ratings: 54 episodes
- Recent topics: how to create a work from home policy, homelessness to starting an agency, making it easy to manage client relationships
- Must-listens:
- Learn How to Use Content Creation As A Competitive Advantage for Your Agency (w/ Steve Pockross, CEO of Verblio)
- Opportunities & Trends For Agencies in 2020 (w/ SEMrush)
7. The Mind of a Marketer
Ryan Stewart brings air-tight SEO expertise to the table with advanced marketing tactics for entrepreneurs & digital agency professionals with this podcast. As he says, he covers “only what’s working in marketing RIGHT NOW.” Reviewers, especially those more frenzied agency owners among us say that among their limited slots for listening to podcasts every week, they always make time for Mind of a Marketer, some going so far as to say episodes are a “true breath of fresh air.”
- Host: Ryan Stewart—sold 2 companies, had 60+ employees, and has helped hundreds of clients grow their businesses through digital
- Release schedule: Sporadic weekly, 1 to sometimes 4 per week
- Style: Ryan Stewart riffing on different micro-topics, occasional guest with specific question, 5-25 min each
- Episodes / ratings: 49 episodes, 5.0 rating on Apple from 10 reviews
- Recent topics: how to offer low-cost SEO services, explode your visibility on LinkedIn
- Must-listens:
8. Beers with Max
Max Traylor hosts this unique video / podcast love child with the tagline of “hot topics with a cold one”. Now, Beers with Max is on rapid-fire during the times of COVID-19, hosting nearly all of its content on Max’s LinkedIn Feed. Good for agencies needing to specifically productize better, or agencies looking for more of a “real talk” tone in approaching their business.
- Host: Max Traylor, agency consultant and expert on productizing consulting services
- Release schedule: Roughly weekly, now on LinkedIn for live shows on Fridays
- Style: Max Traylor riffing on different topics with guests, 5-10 min ‘quick bites’ each, longer interviews for podcast
- Episodes / ratings: 5 years’ worth of archive, dozens of comments/engagement on LinkedIn posts, 1,000+ views on a couple
- Recent topics: what makes a great strategic planner, selling expertise vs. hours as an agency, disqualifying prospects
- Must-listens:
- Why Ideas Die & How to Meet the Minimum Viable Messaging of a Successful Idea (w/ Tamsen Webster)
9. The Digital Agency Growth Podcast
Dan Englander, with oodles of agency experience, hosts leaders in agency-land who tell in-the-trenches stories from agencies across the board, brands you’re familiar with, and technology. This podcast is a must-listen for anyone in an agency, folks wishing business interviews sounded more like real people, and businesses in the B2B space in particular.
- Host: Dan Englander, CEO and founder of Sales Schema, host of The Digital Agency Growth Podcast, former agency employee
- Release schedule: Roughly weekly
- Style: Dan Englander riffing on different topics, occasional guest, sometimes spans mediums like a recording of a webinar in a recent episode, 30-80 min each
- Episodes / ratings: 41 episodes, 5.0 rating on Apple from 6 reviews
- Recent topics: how to sell agency services in uncertain times, forming effective agency partnerships, fractional CMOs
- Must-listens:
10. The Verblio Show
Last but certainly not least, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention our own new podcast: The Verblio Show. Our CEO Steve Pockross hosts leaders from across the industry for their insights on marketing, content creation, and the future of work. The Verblio Show is for digital agencies, marketers, SEO wizards, and anyone interested in down-to-earth conversations on the state of the industry—with a dash of levity thrown in for good measure.
- Host: Steve Pockross, Verblio CEO
- Release schedule: 2x per week on Mondays and Wednesdays
- Style: Interviews with expert guests, 15-50 minutes each
- Episodes / ratings: 14 episodes, 5.0 rating on Apple from 25 reviews
- Recent topics: managing and marketing through the COVID crisis, bringing diversity and inclusion to the workplace, how agency CEOs can better scale sales
- Must-listens:
- How to Lead with Conviction and Embrace Controversy (w/ Liz Giorgi)
- Our Good Intentions Aren’t Enough – Practicing Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (w/ Dr. Tolonda Tolbert)
- Why Outsourcing Needs a Modern, Mission-Driven Makeover (w/ Suneet Bhatt)
There you have it! You don’t need me to tell you, but there are loads more digital marketing agency podcasts where these came from, and more starting every day (especially in quarantine!).
If you’re interested in learning more about how content marketing is part of the winning formula for more (and more valuable) client retainers to build and scale your agency, schedule an upcoming demo with one of our agency specialists to learn more about Verblio’s platform. Verblio’s innovative approach has built successful solutions for 500+ digital marketing agencies atop a unique system to allow writers to succeed and confidently write content that is consistent and high-quality.
