What is business development, and how do you get into it?
by Anomaly
Advice
Published 11th June 2025
Business development might sound like a buzzword from the corporate world – but within the creative industries, it's an essential and exciting function that helps agencies grow and win work. Whether it’s helping your team land a big brand pitch or finding smart ways to showcase your agency’s expertise, business development is all about building relationships and creating opportunity. We spoke with the team at Anomaly to explore what the role involves and how to break in.
🤔 What is business development?
Business development is all about helping a company grow by finding the right people who need what it offers. That might be a product, a service or a creative idea.
In a creative agency, this often means spotting potential clients, starting conversations and guiding the process that leads to a pitch or partnership. It’s a mix of sales, marketing, strategy and relationship-building – all working together to open up new opportunities.
🗺️ What’s the landscape like?
Business development looks different depending on where you sit. In agencies, you’re often selling a service and a team’s creative capability. You’re storytelling on behalf of your agency. In in-house brand teams, you might be focused on a product or platform, building partnerships to grow reach or distribution.
In the creative industries, this work is often called “new business”, especially when it’s about bringing in fresh clients. But business development can also refer to deeper strategic work, like forming long-term partnerships or helping shape how a company presents itself to the outside world.
In small studios, one person might do everything. In larger teams, you’ll find dedicated roles across marketing, PR, partnerships and sales, all working together to drive growth.
📂 What kinds of projects does it involve?
Here are just a few of the projects a business development team might lead:
- Pitching for new clients – shaping strategy, organising internal teams and helping craft pitch presentations.
- Hosting events – from concept to delivery, to engage potential clients and raise agency profile.
- Launching new services – collaborating across teams to introduce new offerings to the market.
- Creating a business development strategy – analysing past performance, identifying growth areas and setting goals for the year.
👀 Where might I have seen this work in action?
You’ve probably encountered the results of business development without even realising it:
- When you see a new agency-client partnership announcement, that likely started with a business development lead identifying and nurturing the opportunity.
- When an agency founder speaks at a major event, there’s a good chance business development helped secure the slot and maximise its impact.
- When a thought leadership piece goes viral, business development may have helped shape the content and align it with strategic growth areas.
🤝 What roles exist in business development?
Here are a few of the key roles – including those accessible at entry-level:
- New business executive – Researches leads, supports pitches, and keeps materials and CRM up to date.
- Marketing/PR executive – Builds profile through social, press, events and content.
- Account executive – Supports client work and may pivot into business development over time.
🔨 What tasks are involved?
Here’s what your day-to-day might include:
- Coordinating pitch responses and proposal documents
- Shaping agency credentials and case studies
- Preparing for client meetings and chemistry sessions (informal meetings designed to see if a client and agency are a good fit!)
- Building reputation through PR, events, and content
- Researching brands and tracking industry moves
- Updating CRM tools and logging pipeline activity (e.g keeping track of potential leads and future opportunities)
- Supporting strategy creation and reporting progress
🧫 What’s the culture and schedule like?
Deadlines can be tight, especially when multiple pitches are happening at once, and things occasionally spill into evenings or weekends. But when you’re not actively pitching, the pace is more manageable. You won’t typically have day-to-day client demands – giving you a chance to plan ahead and prepare.
The culture is collaborative and often sociable, especially if you enjoy events, meeting new people and finding creative ways to represent your company.
💡What skills or traits help?
This work is great for people who are:
- Naturally outgoing and good at building relationships
- Strategic thinkers who love connecting ideas and teams
- Emotionally intelligent and great at reading a room
- Commercially curious or interested in how businesses grow
- Organised and methodical, with good attention to detail
🧑💼 What can I expect to earn?
For entry-level roles like new business executive, salaries in London usually start around £30k, with potential for strong growth as you move into senior positions.
🌍 Where do you work from?
Due to the collaborative nature of business development, it is often best done in person. You'll often need to meet clients, attend strategy sessions and attend events. However, some smaller or digital-first agencies are more open to hybrid or remote setups.
Occasional travel may be needed – especially when pitching or working across offices.
🎒 What should junior talent know?
If you're starting out, there are plenty of ways to show you're ready to dive into business development – even without formal experience.
James Connolly, Director of Business Development at Anomaly, recommends these steps:
- Start in account management
It’s a common entry point, giving you a strong understanding of how an agency works and what clients need. - Learn the industry landscape
Get familiar with the major agencies, the types of clients they work with, and the kind of work they create. - Say yes to helping on pitches
Volunteering to support on pitch prep shows initiative and gives you exposure to what business development involves. - Understand how agencies grow
Try to build an early understanding of how creative businesses make money and win work. - Build transferable skills
Experience in project management, presenting, or working as part of a team will give you a solid foundation.
💡 Bonus tip: Get on LinkedIn regularly. Follow industry leaders, especially heads of business development. Pay attention to what they post – from advice to job openings – and use it to stay connected and inspired.
You don’t need a degree in sales or marketing to break into this field. What matters most is curiosity, confidence and a willingness to get stuck in.
Resources to get into business development
Like the sound of working in business development? Below are some essential resources, platforms and tools to help get your foot in the door.
Access schemes
Jobs boards
Training
Resources
- IPA New Business Resources
- Industry news: Campaign, Adweek, Creative Review, It’s Nice That
Anomaly is a Creative Lives in Progress brand partner. Every year, we partner with like-minded brands and agencies to support our initiative and keep Creative Lives a free resource for emerging creatives. To find out more about how you can work with us, check out the Partner Page.