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Building a Leading Agency: An Interview with Andy Crestodina on Content Marketing Strategies & Organic Growth

Updated on December 19, 2024

6 Min Read
andy crestodina interview

Andy Crestodina is the co-founder and CMO of Orbit Media Studios, a web development and SEO firm in Chicago founded in 2001.

Orbit Media builds and optimizes 30+ B2B lead generation websites per year for midmarket brands. It is a digital agency 100% focused on websites. It does design, development, copywriting, optimization, and analytics.

Read the full interview with Andy Crestodina to discover his insights on content marketing, team building, and overcoming common challenges. Don’t miss this opportunity to gain valuable knowledge from a seasoned industry expert.

Mansoor: Can you tell me about your journey to becoming an agency founder?

Andy: 24 years ago, I cofounded Orbit Media with a friend. He was already building websites. I wanted to be a designer more than anything in the world, but because I had no portfolio (or skills), I had no chance of getting hired.

But starting a company is easier than finding a job.

So we founded the agency and never looked back. It’s grown from a humble two-person beginning to a 55-person award-winning digital agency. But it took a long, long time to get here.

Here’s a picture of my desk in 2001. Times have changed!

andy crestodina workstation setup

Mansoor: What are your key areas of expertise within the agency?

Andy: My job is growth.

We grow through a 100% organic content strategy. We have never bought an ad.

That means I do a lot of speaking, writing, and recording. The backbone of our content strategy is our newsletter, which for 12 years was just on our website, but four years ago, we started publishing on LinkedIn as well.

I also give a lot of presentations at conferences and webinars everywhere. I also record videos for YouTube about once a month.

So there is a lot of repurposing and reformatting. Research from articles makes it into my presentations. Parts of presentations become videos.

Each year, we reach millions of readers, thousands of webinar/video viewers, and hundreds of in-person event attendees. This all translates into new qualified leads every week, some directly from networking and content, some from SEO and our website.

Mansoor: How would you describe your marketing philosophy?

Andy: We attribute our success to an obsession with content quality and originality.

When we publish something, our goal is to make it the best piece of content on that topic.

  • New original research 4x per year
  • Contributor quotes from experts in every article
  • Detailed how-to videos in every other article
  • 10+ images (mostly charts in screenshots) in every post

To see an example of a typical article, here’s a post we did about how to use GA4 for SEO.

Scroll through, and you’ll find a 12-minute video that explains everything: quotes from four subject matter experts, 11 images, and 3500+ words. I sincerely can’t think of anything else to add.

seo tutorial article

Imagine. What would happen if you created and posted something like this every other week for 10 years? The answer: a steady stream of qualified leads. Hundreds of thousands of subscribers. Millions of readers.

Stay 100% focused on the quality of the content. Publish something unexpectedly helpful and people will remember it. They’ll talk about it for months. You still need to know what works in search and social, but everything is easier if the quality is high.

Mansoor: How do you balance marketing and client work?

Andy: I would never be able to do this job if I didn’t have an amazing team doing the client work. We have a CEO who supports the managers and managers who support a team of resourceful and talented experts.

This means that projects are going well, clients are happy, and I rarely need to get involved with the delivery work. This frees me up to go all-in on content, networking, and events.

It also means that the jobs here are relatively low-stress and results for our clients are strong. It’s a delight to dig into GA4 and see the performance of these website projects.

Perhaps the one thing that I am most proud of is this: the average tenure on our team is almost 8 years. And we have many people who have been here for 15 years!

Of course, I’m always looking for a marketing benefit, so I had this pageblock added to our team page…

orbiteer tenure statistics

Here are a few tips for consistent, high performance on client work:

  • Do not take on clients if they don’t fit into your ideal client profile
  • Communicate project risks and challenges early and often
  • Have a strong documented process but stay flexible
  • Have a backup plan for any critical aspect of projects

Mansoor: What are some of the most common challenges you face doing founder-led marketing?

Andy:

Time.

I have some new ideas and initiatives I’d like to launch. But there’s just no space for them on my calendar. I’m 100% sure that a regular LinkedIn Live would drive new leads, but it’s very difficult to add something without first deciding what content programs to delegate or retire.

Bias.

I have to admit, even though I’ve never tried paid marketing, it might work really well. It’s very likely that a clever approach that combines paid ads with our best content would strengthen the middle of the funnel. But because I don’t know anything about it (and because I’ve heard a lot of nightmare stories about wasted ad budgets), I’m biased against it.

Scale.

Some of our marketing is based on relationships. I’ve built those over time. I’m honored to say that I’ve become friends with some of the biggest influencers in digital. But that doesn’t scale at all. How can I have someone else handle outreach and collaboration? How can I get someone else to take a stand on these topics?

As you may have already concluded, the solution to each is the same. Let go…

Mansoor: How do you stay updated with industry trends and incorporate them into your marketing?

Andy: I attend many events and see industry leaders present. I’m also part of several private social media networks and mastermind groups. My friends often share great articles and videos with me directly.

I also have regular, short monthly calls with a few subject matter experts. Some of them continuously experiment with AI. We trade notes and prompts, successes and failures. These one-on-one conversations have been amazing for my learning.

Mansoor: What advice would you give to agencies looking to grow?

Andy: Here are some of my best tips for a high-performing content strategy:

  • A few times per year, take a stand on a topic. Come out with a strong point of view.
  • Conduct research a few times per year. Publish new data that makes your site the primary source for new information.
  • Build a network of subject matter experts and collaborate with them on content.
  • Make sure there is a video component in your marketing.
  • Be consistent. Never miss a deadline. Commit to your content just like you’d commit to payroll.
  • Say yes to every opportunity to present, including classes, workshops, webinars, etc. You’ll be ready for the day when you have the chance to speak on a big stage.
  • Host a regular local meetup.
  • Write every day.

We conduct an annual survey of content marketers, which tracks various approaches to content. One of the questions asked is about results. When we check the correlation between content marketing approaches and the bloggers who report “strong results,” it reveals which approaches are the most effective.

Here is the data:

content marketing statistics 2024

– Source: Orbit Media Studios

…but before you do any of this, you must polish the key pages on your website to perfect. Fill them with answers, evidence, and reasons to believe.

Right now, as you read this sentence, you may see a visitor to your website. What are they reading? What aren’t they finding? What claims did you make but fail to support with evidence? Can they see your face? Can they tell what you believe?

Mansoor: What would you recommend to your clients to help them achieve their goals?

Andy: Optimize your marketing from the bottom of the funnel up. Don’t do any content marketing until your sales pages are a masterpiece of conversion optimization.

Mansoor: We’re grateful for your time and expertise, Andy. Your contributions have made this interview a valuable addition to our blog. Thank you!

Want to learn more from Andy Crestodina? Follow him on LinkedIn and stay updated on his latest insights and projects.

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Mansoor Ahmed Khan

Been in content marketing since 2014, and I still get a kick out of creating stories that resonate with the target audience and drive results. At Cloudways by DigitalOcean (a leading cloud hosting company, btw!), I lead a dream team of content creators. Together, we brainstorm, write, and churn out awesome content across all the channels: blogs, social media, emails, you name it! You can reach out to me at [email protected].

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