Small But Mighty Agency: How to Grow Your Agency

Backed Into a Corner and Building a Better Growth Playbook

Audrey Joy Kwan Season 1 Episode 155

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0:00 | 38:29

There's a moment Joe Teo describes in this episode that will feel familiar to a lot of agency owners: revenue flattening, a growth channel that stopped working and no plan B.

For Joe, the CEO and co-founder of HeyOrca, that moment forced a question most marketers never think to ask: what if you'd built a growth strategy with no foundation underneath it?

In this episode, Joe breaks down how HeyOrca rebuilt their growth engine through community-led marketing after paid ads hit a wall, and what they learned about the difference between having an audience and building a community.

We get into:

  • Why systems alone (newsletters, Slack groups, webinars) don't create community, and what actually does
  • The shift from "what should we publish next?" to a question that changes everything
  • How paid ads fit into a community-led strategy without becoming the whole strategy
  • The participation signals worth tracking beyond likes and comments
  • Why Joe thinks AI fatigue is pushing people toward something most marketers are underestimating

Joe is also the author of Community-Led Marketing, and his take on where trust, attention, and growth intersect right now is one I think you'll be thinking about long after the episode ends.


Show Notes:

-Website: heyorca.com

-Community-Led Marketing ebook: heyorca.com/ebook/community-led-marketing

-Joe Teo's LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/josephteols

-HeyOrca's LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/heyorca

Get the full show notes and more information here: https://audreyjoykwan.com/podcast/ep155

Podcast Edits by Lindsay Curtis