Your bottleneck

Not enough private sector conversations.

Revenue opportunity

€200K/yr

The gap · rough, but the shape is right

2025Created Agency revenue€470K

targetEnd of 2026€670K

gapFrom private sector clients€200K

path A40 clients × €5K (video, report, infographic)€200K

path B5 clients × €40K (full campaign or retainer)€200K

Start with path A. Low-ticket, fast decisions, no committee needed. Once they’re in, they grow into path B naturally.

Diagnosis

Why is this the bottleneck?

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Based on your discovery call · 21 May 2026

The work is there. The credentials are there. Women in Global Health proved the model works at the private sector interface. What’s missing is a system to generate those conversations at volume.

The credibility already exists across sectors. The bottleneck is pure outreach volume.ConfirmedDiscovery call

When conversations happen, they convert. The close rate is not the problem.ConfirmedDiscovery call

Right now, private sector growth depends almost entirely on word of mouth. There is no proactive system.The gapTo close

Strengths to play to

The proof that answers the question before it’s asked.

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Confirmed in discovery · 21 May 2026

Before activating any new route, these three things are already in place. Each one makes the next step easier, and more likely to land.

A measurable result at the private sector interface

Women in Global Health: Created Agency doubled their social media engagement. Not a vague improvement: a result with a number. In a market where every agency claims results, a documented 2× outcome from a mission-driven organisation that works alongside private sector partners is the answer to “have you done this before?”

Plays into → Routes 01, 02, 03 and 04: lead with the result, not the pitch

A network that carries trust into private sector conversations

19+ documented projects across EU institutions, UN organisations, international NGOs, and global health foundations. Every one of those relationships sits adjacent to private sector partners and sponsors. The trust already exists in the network. Route 01 is about asking for the introduction.

Plays into → Route 01: opens this week with 3–5 referral conversations

A positioning that most agencies chasing this market cannot replicate

GIZ Benin, Africa-EU Energy Partnership, IFC, TANGO Project, the European Commission, the EU Youth Forum. The depth and breadth of this portfolio answers the question private sector buyers always ask first: “Do you actually understand this world?” Most agencies come from pure marketing or pure compliance. Created Agency comes from inside the mission.

Plays into → Routes 02, 03, 04 and 05: credentials close the trust gap before the conversation starts

01 / 05

Audience research

Who to reach, and what makes them act.

Primary target

Sustainability Communications Manager

Primary

Owns the external story around ESG and CSRD reporting. Has budget or direct access to it. Under pressure to produce reports that are compelling, not just compliant. Active on LinkedIn. Usually holds an advanced degree and tends to over-index on technical language.

1,000+ employees CSRD in scope EU / Belgium LinkedIn active

How to reach them

LinkedIn search: "Sustainability Manager" OR "Head of ESG" for Belgium, Netherlands, France

Hashtags they follow: #CSRD #sustainabilityreporting #ESG #corporatesustainability

Events: EUSEW (Brussels, June 9–11), CSR Europe Forum, GRI conferences, CSRD compliance training sessions

Trigger moment: When they publish or share a sustainability report on LinkedIn

Their world

What they read: ESG Today, GreenBiz, Sustainable Brands, EFRAG updates, GRI newsletters, European Commission sustainability policy briefings

How they use LinkedIn: Active commenter on peers’ sustainability posts. Follows GRI, EFRAG, CSR Europe. Uses #CSRD and #sustainabilityreporting daily. This is where peer recognition happens for them.

What they’re quietly afraid of: Being accused of greenwashing. Publishing a report their own leadership finds embarrassing. Picking an agency that doesn’t understand the substance, and having to brief them for weeks to fix it.

What they actually want: To be recognised as a genuine sustainability leader in their sector: not just compliant, but ahead of the field.

Secondary target

Marketing Director

Secondary

At mid-size companies where sustainability is not yet a dedicated function. They handle ESG communications alongside brand and marketing. Time-poor, often under pressure from leadership to "do something" with the sustainability data they now have to collect.

100–500 employees Generalist role Belgium-first Fast decision

How to reach them

LinkedIn search: "Marketing Director" OR "Head of Marketing" for Belgium, SME sector

Trigger moment: Company posts about a sustainability initiative but the content feels generic or underperforms

Entry offer: Low-ticket (€5–8K) standalone deliverable: report design, video, or infographic

Warm route: Introduction from an NGO client who has private sector sponsors

Their world

What they read: Marketing Week, Campaign, WARC, Belgian Marketing Federation newsletters, and sustainability trade press only when ESG lands on their desk from leadership

How they use LinkedIn: Follows marketing director peer groups, Belgian marketing associations, CMO thought leaders. Less active in sustainability hashtags; they discover sustainability communications as a gap, not a passion.

Events: Belgian Marketing Federation (BMF) events, sector industry conferences, brand summits, not sustainability conferences (that is the sustainability manager’s territory)

What they’re quietly afraid of: Looking uninformed when sustainability comes up. Budget spent on content that doesn’t satisfy the sustainability team. Getting caught between marketing ambition and legal caution on ESG claims.

Market context

Why the timing is right.

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CSRD implementation data, Belgian regulatory filings, and industry reporting · May 2026

CSRD is creating a wave of companies that must now publish sustainability reports for the first time. Most have done the compliance work. Almost none know how to make it compelling.

11,700+ EU companies are currently in CSRD scope. Belgian companies with 250+ employees are reporting for the first time in 2026.11,700+In scope now

76% of EU companies now publish sustainability reports, up from 72% last year. First-time reporters are driving the growth.76%Now reporting

Most sustainability teams run 2 to 5 people. They need communications support, not more compliance consultants.2–5Avg team size

The business case for telling the story well

Companies that communicate their sustainability impact do not just do the right thing. They grow faster. Products with ESG-related claims grew 28% over five years versus 20% for those without, based on actual purchase data rather than stated intent (McKinsey & NielsenIQ, 2023). Companies with genuinely high sustainability practices significantly outperformed peers in stock market and accounting performance across an 18-year study (Eccles, Ioannou & Serafeim, Harvard Business School, 2014). BCG found that climate-focused companies generated total shareholder returns 35% higher than the S&P 500 over five years (BCG, 2025).

This is why Salesforce, Patagonia, and Unilever invest heavily in sustainability communications: not as a cost, but as a competitive advantage. The companies that get this right are building trust that converts directly into revenue and partnership preference. The gap between the quality of what companies are doing and the quality of how they communicate it is not just a communications problem. It is a commercial one.

Market environment

The playing field you are entering.

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Six forces shaping this market, and the opportunity inside each one. The political tile is the key insight.

Demographic

Sustainability managers: advanced degree, 2–5 person teams inside large organisations. Women now represent 60% of new sustainability manager hires globally (GreenBiz, 2024). Marketing directors handling ESG are generalists: busy, budget-constrained, and increasingly accountable for sustainability content without a specialist background.

Economic

Compliance costs are already absorbed. Communications spend is the next incremental decision, and easier to approve than it looks. A standalone ESG content piece is a defined scope with a clear deliverable, not an open-ended retainer. Budget decisions at this scale typically sit with one person, not a committee.

Social

70% of EU employees want to work for companies with strong ESG credentials (Deloitte 2024). Anti-greenwashing sentiment is high. Generic sustainability content is increasingly a liability. The bar for authentic communication keeps rising and peer recognition in sustainability networks is real currency for this audience.

Technological

Interactive digital reports are replacing static PDFs. Video and visual formats dominate stakeholder engagement. LinkedIn is the primary professional channel for this audience, both for distributing sustainability content and for peer recognition within the sustainability community.

Ecological

Net zero and biodiversity targets are extending the scope of sustainability reporting. Supply chain transparency requirements are making sustainability narratives more complex. The gap between the complexity of what companies are doing and the clarity of how they explain it keeps widening.

Political: key insight

CSRD mandates all EU companies with 1,000+ employees to publish audited sustainability reports. The 2025 EU Omnibus directive narrowed scope but opened a voluntary track for companies that invested in preparation. Belgium’s 2026 CSRD implementation is creating a first wave of mandatory reporters right now. This is the political window that makes Routes 02, 04 and 06 viable.

What drives them

What they’re moving toward, and away from.

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Use this to write outreach that lands. Match your message to what they actually feel, not what you want to say.

What’s keeping them up at night

Publishing a report no one reads: compliance data without a story

Looking like they’re greenwashing: form over substance

Wasting budget on content that doesn’t move their stakeholders

Explaining their work to an agency that doesn’t understand it

What they’re really after

Being recognised as a genuine leader on sustainability in their sector

A report that stakeholders actually reference and share

Content that makes their internal team proud of what they’ve built

A partner who gets the complexity and translates it without losing it

Limiting beliefs

What stops them from saying yes.

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These are the exact thoughts running through their head before they say no. Each one has a counter. Use the counter in your outreach, your first message, your proposal opener.

The belief

"No agency will actually understand what we’re reporting on."

The reframe

Lead with the NGO work. Show Women in Global Health before you say a word about Created Agency. Let the work answer the belief before it’s even raised.

The belief

"We’ll spend more time briefing them than it’s worth."

The reframe

Name the low-ticket entry offer upfront. €5–8K, one deliverable, fast turnaround. They don’t have to bet the relationship on a big project to find out if you’re worth it.

The belief

"It’ll look like marketing. Not like the real work we’ve done."

The reframe

Point to specific NGO outputs where substance is the story. Your work for organisations with real impact looks nothing like agency marketing. Let them see that before the call.

The belief

"We can’t justify the cost to leadership."

The reframe

One marketing manager can approve a €5K project without a committee. Position the first project as a test, not a commitment. Remove the internal justification problem entirely.

Quote bank

What they actually say.

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Use these verbatim in outreach copy, subject lines, and proposals. They resonate because they are real.

Nothing kills the mood in a kick-off session quite like explaining that we are doing this because we have to, because some bureaucrat in Bruxelles said so.

Industry interview

Sustainability reports can often be dense and data-heavy, making them difficult for stakeholders to engage with.

Industry interview

CSRD regulation has definitively increased the complexity in sustainability reporting. The main challenge is the uncertainty around the sustainability regulation landscape, which makes it hard for Sustainability Managers to define long-term plans.

Research

55% of CFOs fear their sustainability reporting could face greenwashing backlash, and 96% report problems with the quality of nonfinancial data they receive for reporting.

Research

Fear of greenwashing accusations and a lack of confidence in sustainability practices drive cautious, often muted communications strategies, even among companies with genuinely strong credentials.

          More voices needed: Reddit (r/sustainability, r/ESG), LinkedIn comments, YouTube. Research session TBC.
        

02 / 05

Strategy

Routes to €200K.

Planning

How to run this well.

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Timeline · Markets

This Thursday

Select + set up

Dimitrios picks 2–3 routes to test. Raoul builds what is needed to start. The goal is data, not perfection.

June 9–11

EUSEW (Route 05)

If Dimitrios attends: have conversations, test appetite. Even one discovery call booked is a signal for June.

End of June

Review and decide

Go harder on what is working. Activate routes 3 or 4 if appetite and budget allow. Depends on what the data shows.

July onwards

Scale

Proven routes run at volume. Winning approaches become systems.

Prospect markets

Belgium Netherlands Germany France

Content edge

Prospects doing significant work here get a warmer open

Benin Ethiopia Latin America Greece

Route 01

Referral programme: the warm introduction already exists.

Est. €35–55K / yr ⓘ

How we got to this

5 referral-converted clients per year at €8–10K average. Referred leads arrive pre-sold and rarely negotiate on price. Full activation assumes consistent monthly outreach across all 7 network categories.

Why this will work

92% of people trust a personal recommendation above any other form of outreach (Nielsen, 2021). A warm referral converts at 3–5× the rate of a cold approach. Dimitrios’ network includes NGO clients, EU institution contacts, event connections, former colleagues, and peer agencies. Every one of them potentially knows someone at a company that needs exactly what Created Agency does. The introductions already exist. They just have not been asked for.

Audience insight

The #1 limiting belief in this audience: “Will they understand our complexity?” A referral from a trusted peer pre-answers it before the first call. The prospect does not start from zero. They inherit confidence from someone they already trust.

First step

Created Agency's network spans seven distinct contact types, each needing a different opening line. Map the full list and identify 10–15 people with the clearest adjacency to private-sector sustainability work:

NGO clients: they have seen the work, “You know first-hand how hard it is to make sustainability visible. Who in your network needs that now?”
EU institution contacts: credibility transfer, “We have delivered for the Commission. Who in your private-sector network is under pressure to report on sustainability?”
UN and international org contacts: global scope, “If you know a corporate team struggling to communicate impact globally, we should talk.”
Consulting and funding agency partners: client fit, “When your clients need to communicate the outcomes of funded work, we handle the production side.”
Former colleagues: personal trust, “You have seen the work. If anyone in your current network needs it, I would love an intro.”
Event connections: recency, “Since we met at [event], we have moved into sustainability comms for private clients. Looking for warm introductions.”
Peer agencies: overflow, “If you ever have a client who needs video you cannot take on, we are the shop you would feel good passing them to.”

Send in batches of 5, every 3–4 days. Track what language gets replies. After three batches you have data to refine. For anyone whose referral converts to a signed client, offer a concrete thank-you: a short-form social video from their first project, something they can post on LinkedIn. Entry project for referred clients: €8–10K (a referred lead arrives pre-sold on quality; do not discount).

Why this works on the buyer

Trust transfer from a known source is the most powerful buying trigger that exists. The referred prospect does not evaluate Created Agency from scratch. They inherit confidence from a relationship they already trust. The limiting belief “will they understand our complexity?” is pre-answered before the first conversation even starts.

Phase 1 target: end of June

10+ people asked → 3+ warm leads received → 1+ call booked → 1 client won

If this works: est. €35–55K / yr at full activation

Natural extension

If this route gains traction, consultancy partnerships become the next layer. Firms like Greenomy, CO2 Logic, and BDO Belgium identify the communications gap in every CSRD engagement. One relationship puts Created Agency in as the recommended production partner across their entire client base. Worth opening that conversation once the referral programme is running.

Route 02

Social monitoring: catch them in the moment.

Est. €25–40K / yr ⓘ

How we got to this

1 converted client every 6–8 weeks from active LinkedIn monitoring, at €5–8K average per initial project. Based on 20 genuine comments per month yielding 3–5 conversations. Scales directly with comment frequency and response quality.

Why this will work

Route 02 is reactive. Companies post about their sustainability work and signal where they are. You do not go looking; they surface through what they publish. LinkedIn is the primary channel for CSRD and ESG communications in this market. Activity spikes every time a report is published, a regulation is announced, or a company hits a sustainability milestone. CSRD is now mandatory for large EU companies and voluntary reporting is growing, which means the volume of sustainability content on LinkedIn increases measurably each quarter. The engagement window is short: posts peak within the first two hours. A timely, informed comment from someone who understands the substance lands as a peer, not a vendor. The gap between the quality of their sustainability work and the quality of how they promote it is the opening. Route 03 is the proactive version of this same insight.

Audience insight

The person posting is most often a sustainability manager or a marketing director with ESG in their scope. Both fear the same thing: publishing content no one notices. A timely, substantive response signals you understand the work, before you say anything about Created Agency. For the sustainability manager, peer recognition is real currency. For the marketing director, it is proof the investment is landing.

First step

Set up a social listening tool (Brand24, Alertly, or SentiOne) to monitor LinkedIn in real time for #sustainabilityreport, #CSRD, #ESGreport, and #CSR. When a company posts, you get a push notification. Before responding, check one thing: would this person book a production? CSRD posts from HR teams and legal compliance managers are not the audience. Sustainability managers and marketing directors who own communications budget are. If yes, respond within the hour with a single genuine question, one that proves you read the post. Not “great post”, not a pitch. A question only someone who understands this world would ask. Realistic cadence: 3–5 posts per day, 4 days per week. Expected funnel: 20 comments per month, 3–5 DMs, 1–2 calls. Note: LinkedIn restricts third-party API access, so also turn on LinkedIn’s native notifications for the hashtags to close any gaps. A simple notification workflow can pre-load a suggested question angle before you write, reducing the blank page problem to under 2 minutes per response.

Why this works on the buyer

They have already signalled pride in the work. A timely, informed response feels like recognition from a peer. Loss aversion does the rest: they don’t want that work to go unnoticed. Speed is the competitive advantage. One well-placed comment within the hour beats ten generic ones the next morning.

Phase 1 target: end of June

20+ posts engaged → 5+ conversations started → 2+ calls booked → 1 client won

If this works: est. €25–40K / yr at full activation

Route 03

Untold impact: doing the work, not telling the story.

Est. €25–40K / yr ⓘ

How we got to this

1 converted client per month from content gap outreach, at €5–7K average per initial project. Requires reviewing 8–10 companies per week and keeping 15+ active outreach conversations running. Volume-dependent.

Why this will work

Route 03 is the proactive version of Route 02. Instead of waiting for companies to post about sustainability, you find them first. 78% of investors say clear sustainability communication directly improves their confidence in a company (PwC, 2025). 88% of institutional investors scrutinize ESG as thoroughly as financial results (PwC, 2022). Companies like Salesforce and IKEA lead with sustainability at every event and briefing not because it feels right, but because it drives talent, investor confidence, customer loyalty, and pricing power. The opportunity: Belgian and EU companies running webinars and thought leadership campaigns that have real sustainability impact in their profile but leave it entirely out of the story. They are doing the work. They are not getting the credit.

Audience insight

What they actually want: to be recognised as a genuine sustainability leader in their sector. This route hands them that recognition, not by selling it, but by naming the gap they can see but have not fixed yet. Specific, observational outreach changes the dynamic entirely. It is not a cold pitch. It is an insight they could not see themselves.

First step

Target three content types, ranked by signal strength:

Webinars (primary): long enough to reveal what a company actually cares about, often recorded and public. The gap is obvious when sustainability is absent.
Event keynotes and presentations: when a CEO talks about vision without mentioning sustainability, that is a leadership gap, not a comms gap. Stronger conversation starter.
Investor briefings and earnings calls: sustainability is now financially material under CSRD. If it is missing from investor comms, that is a compliance risk. Highest urgency of the three.

Getting transcripts without attending: Otter.ai (paste any video link, auto-transcribes), Tactiq Chrome extension (joins live webinars or reads recordings in real time), or YouTube auto-captions (free and instant for anything posted there). Realistic pace: review 8–10 companies per week, expect 3–4 strong gaps worth referencing. The clearest gap signal: a company has a separate sustainability page or ESG report, but none of that language appears in their main thought leadership content; they have siloed it. Reach out with a specific observation: name the content piece, name the sustainability initiative they are not connecting to it, and frame the gap as a missed commercial opportunity. Not a criticism. An insight they could not see themselves.

Why this works on the buyer

The prospect is not being sold something they haven’t thought about. They are being shown a gap they couldn’t see themselves. That is a different conversation entirely. Specific, observational outreach consistently outperforms generic cold approaches. And the limiting belief “will they understand our complexity?” does not apply. You have already demonstrated that you understand both the work and what is missing from how it is being communicated.

Phase 1 target: end of June

8–10 companies/week reviewed → 3–4 clear gaps found → 15+ outreach sent → 4+ responses → 1+ call booked → 1 client won

If this works: est. €25–40K / yr at full activation

Route 04

CSRD window: compliance done, story not told.

Est. €20–30K / yr ⓘ

How we got to this

2–4 enterprise clients per year at €6–10K per sustainability communications project. Lower conversion rate than other routes due to cold enterprise outreach, offset by higher repeat engagement potential once trust is established.

Why this will work

Across the EU, thousands of companies have already done the compliance work. The data is collected. The sustainability report is filed. Almost none of them know how to make it compelling. This is not a Belgian opportunity; it is an EU-wide one. Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and France are the highest-density markets: close to Brussels, aligned regulatory environment, and a high concentration of companies reporting for the first time. Phase 1 focuses on mandatory reporters: EU companies with 1,000+ employees and €450M+ turnover under the post-Omnibus CSRD scope. They are reporting regardless. The question is whether the story matches the substance. A second group is worth knowing: companies that invested heavily in CSRD preparation but were removed from mandatory scope by the 2025 Omnibus directive. They can now publish voluntarily and get ahead of competitors who will eventually be forced to report. Voluntary leadership is a stronger positioning than compliance. This is the Phase 2 expansion once the mandatory track is validated.

Hottest lead type

First-time reporters. Publishing a sustainability report for the first time is a genuine milestone inside the company. The team is proud. Leadership is watching. They have not yet found a communications partner. An outreach message that acknowledges the milestone lands very differently from a cold pitch about services. Identify them by searching for companies that filed their first CSRD report in 2025–2026 or that just added “sustainability” to their annual report for the first time. They are likely the most emotionally receptive audience in this entire route.

Audience insight

From the DESTEP analysis: the political environment is creating the conversation before you need to. The compliance deadline is already on their calendar. They are not deciding whether to report. They are deciding who helps them tell it. That is a very different conversation to walk into.

First step

Build two lists. Start with Phase 1: EU companies with 1,000+ employees and visible sustainability obligations (CSRD registries, annual filings, LinkedIn). Focus initial outreach on Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and France where density is highest. Use regulatory urgency as the message angle. Phase 2 list (build in parallel, activate later): companies that were actively preparing for CSRD in 2024–2025 and were removed from mandatory scope by the Omnibus directive (LinkedIn sustainability job posts going quiet is a signal). Angle: own the narrative ahead of competitors who will eventually be forced to report.

Why this works on the buyer

For in-scope companies: the compliance deadline creates built-in urgency and a decision already made. The question is which partner they use. For voluntary leaders: owning the sustainability narrative in their sector before competitors are forced to report is a compelling first-mover proposition. Both groups have done the work. Neither has told the story.

Phase 1 target: end of June

40+ companies identified → 20+ outreach sent → 3+ positive responses → 1 proposal sent → 1 client won

If this works: est. €20–30K / yr at full activation

Route 05

Event circuit: they’re already spending.

Est. €10–20K / yr ⓘ

How we got to this

2–3 event-sourced clients per year at €5–8K per project. Seasonal and event-dependent. The strength of this route is the quality of in-person introductions, not outreach volume.

Why this will work

Companies sponsoring sustainability events have already allocated budget for visibility. They need standout assets to make that sponsorship count: reports, videos, event recap content, social packages. The upcoming Belgian calendar is concrete. European Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW) is June 9–11 in Brussels, three weeks away. The European Sustainable Industry Summit follows October 13–14, run by CSR Europe. CarbonZero closes the circuit October 27–29. Sponsors of these events are committed to visibility. They just need better assets to deliver it.

Audience insight

From the economic environment: event sponsors have already allocated budget for visibility. The decision is made. The question is which agency. Being specific about the event signals homework done and removes the evaluation friction before the first conversation starts.

First step

EUSEW (June 9–11, Brussels) is three weeks away. The goal is not to pitch; it is to have real conversations and test appetite. Go to the event, talk to sustainability leads and comms teams, and listen. If someone asks for a discovery call, take it. Even one inbound at the event is a strong signal for the June decision point. Capture what you hear about communications gaps and budget. That intelligence becomes the brief for October.

If appetite is confirmed: October is where the outreach campaign runs. Map sponsors of the Sustainable Industry Summit (October 13–14, CSR Europe) and CarbonZero (October 27–29) at least six weeks before each event. Reach out with a specific offer tied to what they are sponsoring, not a general pitch. Budget is already allocated. The question is which agency gets it.

Why this works on the buyer

Meeting someone in the room at their own event removes every cold-approach barrier. No email to ignore. No decision to defer. The conversation happens because you are both there. If they want a discovery call on the spot, they are already past the evaluation stage. October outreach to sponsors works the same way: referencing their specific event signals homework done and collapses perceived risk before the first reply.

Phase 1 target: end of June

EUSEW attended → 10+ conversations had → 1+ discovery call booked → appetite confirmed for October → 1 client won

If this works: est. €10–20K / yr at full activation

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Execution plan

Unlocks after Thursday’s call once we have agreed on the top routes and confirmed first steps. Every week without a running system is a week the gap stays open. That is the decision on Thursday.

04 / 05

Results and insights

Tracks what is working across your five routes. Which conversations converted, which routes produce the best clients, and what to do more of. Unlocks once the first tests are running.

05 / 05