February « 2009 « FUEL LINES Fueling Ad Agency New Business Through Social Media

10 Blogging Tips for Ad Agency CEOs

February 27, 2009

The tips below are going to differ considerably from other recommendations in the blogosphere. But please be reminded that they are intended primarily for agency principals of small-to midsize ad agencies and given entirely from a new business perspective. Agency principals have to “get” social media. You can only “get” it by being a participant.

A personal blog will provide you with a direction, focus and professional enrichment unlike anything you have ever experienced before. Your personal networks skyrocket giving you the opportunity to generate the right kinds of new business leads that are a better match for you agency. Plus, you wont have to be constantly chasing after new business, your new business pipeline will always remain full.

As important as a website was for your ad agency a blog is now as equally important if not more so. It should become the gateway to your agency.

So with those things being said, here are my 10 tips for the development of an agency blog for new business:

1. Before you start to write learn to listen.

Identify and read other online resources that would important to your target audience. Read blogs of competitors. Subscribe to blog RSS feeds through Google Reader or the feed reader of your choice. Using a feed reader will greatly help you to strategize and organize your online reading. Get a feel for how blogs are written. Writing a blog post is much different than writing for print. People tend to scan for information online rather than reading word-for-word. You’ll gain lots of ideas for your own posts from your online reading.

2. Do not incorporate your blog into your agency’s website.

You will need to allow your agency blog room to breathe and evolve apart from your current branding. As you interact with your target audience, your online focus group, they will become the decision makers as to what information resonates, what messages are appealing, what their marketing challenges and obstacles really are. You may think you know what they want but you will continually be surprised as you receive their input, reflect upon your blog’s analytics. What you gain from this experience will help you discover an “appealing” position and proper branding for your agency from your prospective clients perspective.

3. Blog posts should written by the agency’s principals.

Social media is personal and you are the face of your agency. We are in a relationship oriented business and clients want to work with someone that they know, like and trust. Therefore agency principals should lead the way.

Another reason I advocate that the blog post be written by the agency principals, is that they are the least likely to leave the agency. Therefore equity isn’t lost if a staff member chooses to leave for another agency.

4. Keep the design simple.

Limit your creative and interactive staff’s involvement in the design process unless you want to greatly slow the process down. The design of your blog should be nice and clean, not the place showcase your agency’s creative capabilities. Here content is king. I personally recommend using either WordPress.org or WordPress.com as your blog platform. These are simple blog platforms that are relatively easy to use and provide just the right bells and whistles.

5. Own your domain name.

I have seen a number of agency blogs with a wordpress.com or blogspot.com in their URL. Be sure to own your domain name. That way, if you ever change blog platforms, you wont lose traffic to your site. I

6. Create a simple written plan for your blog.

From my perspective, the objective for your blog is to generate leads and new business for your agency. To reach this objective you will need to identify your target audience, who you are writing to. What are their advertising/marketing/communication challenges? In what ways can you become an invaluable resource and help? You’ll need a name for the blog. An appropriate tag line that states what this site is about. Park Howell’s tag line, “Creating a deeper shade of green marketing” says a lot. Mine, “Fueling ad agency new business.” Identify the categories that you will be writing to. I would suggest limiting the categories to 10 or less. Mine are new business, tips, tactics, tools talents and trends.

As you begin your blog remember, you cannot be everything to everybody and the more general your blog is the less traffic you can expect. Within 10 months time I’m generating 16,000 page views to a very specific target audience, small-to midsize ad agencies.

7. Keep a list of blog post ideas.

I’m often asked “don’t you run out of ideas when you are primarily writing about new business for ad agencies?” The answer is no. Every morning I start the day by opening my Google Reader. I have RSS feeds from about 16 of my favorite blogs. I scan quickly through the list of post titles, when one catches my attention I open it up and read it. It often sparks ideas for my own posts or is information that I can site and link for my readers. I use a browser bar tool called “Press This” that allows me to post a draft of that article in my blog. I have some 270+ posts that are published and over 45 drafts. I often peruse through my drafts for a post to flesh out. I also keep a list of post ideas on my DeskTop. I never find myself lacking for something to write about that wont be of some help to my audience.

8. Set a goal for the number of posts to write per week.

I saw a dramatic change in my blog traffic and audience interaction after I reached the first 50 posts. That seems to be a magical number not only for me but for clients as well. I actually put principals on a schedule and help coach them to write their first 50 post within thirty days. By the end of the thirty day period they have developed some helpful habits, understand how to write for web and find their own style. I have a goal of posting five times a week. The feedback that I gain is what motivates and excites me. My readers are very loyal and I don’t want to disappoint them by not having fresh content.

9. Repurpose your blog content.

With over 270 posts I have lots of material to utilize through other new media tools. Your blog posts can actually be turned into a book, that was one of my earlier goals and I am close to the content needed. You can also create your own ebook, white papers, EzineArticles, informational press releases from your content. I can use my blog post content for an email newsletter that is sent every other week. It takes literally minutes to create the newsletter which in turn generates a lot of traffic to my blog. I use a tool called Tweetlater, to automate posting on Twitter which is now the leading traffic generator for FUEL LINES. You will find all the effort you’ve put forth in your writing for your blog can be repurposed in lots of different ways through a number of different online channels and will have a long, long shelf life.

10. Learn how to generate blog traffic.

The current communication revolution makes it critical that you know this stuff so that can provide better direction for your agency and for your clients. Park Howell, president of Park & CO, an ad agency in Phoenix, AZ, created a Film Festival contest among his staff with the winning team receiving $1000. Each team had to create a video, upload it to YouTube and create an online campaign to drive traffic to it. He was helping his staff learn by doing. That is what having your own blog can do for you. Learning how to generate traffic to your blog is an eye opening experience. You will better understand SEO, web analytics, RSS feeds, email campaigns, HTML, etc. Plus you will know the importance of and learn how to use tools like FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Delicious, Technorati, Digg and StumbleUpon just to name a few.

Understanding social media is not for a specialized department or group within the agency. Every staff member needs to understand it. How will your agency be able to integrate social media into the marketing mix for your clients if you and your staff really don’t understand it. What better way to learn than to use these tools than to generate new business for your agency through social media.

Social media is permanently revolutionizing our industry. It isn’t an option to not participate. If your agency is to survive you’ve got to “get it.” Only as a participant will you genuinely come to understand what a valuable tool it is for your agency and for your clients.

18 Comments | Agency Blogs, Content Marketing, New Business Trends, Social Media | Tagged: ad agency, agency blog, agency ceos, agency principals, new business, park howell, park&co, SEO, Social Media | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

10 Reasons Ad Agencies Should Participate in Social Media for New Business

February 25, 2009

Fortunately the debate on whether or not ad agencies should participate in social media is rapidly shifting to how they should participate. But just in case your agency is still on the fence, here are 10 reasons why should participate in the social media arena:

Small agencies can compete with much larger agencies. Smaller agencies are more nimble and can more quickly adapt their agencies to utilize social media for themselves and for their clients. I don’t know if you will ever have another time as golden as now for your agency to gain market share.
Build awareness. You will find it much easier to build awareness for your agency nationally than you were able to do locally. That is of course if you are willing to differentiate your agency, stand for something, have an appealing position for a particular target audience. It is faster, cheaper, more efficient and effective to build awareness for your agency using social media than with traditional tools. Go ahead and keep making cold calls if you want but you wont find anything that works better than social for new biz.
Agency branding. Social media is a great tool to simplify the complexities of developing your agency’s brand. I speak from experience. Just Twitter and ask @parkhowell @she-conomy @sahabib, @ericbrody @jacirusso @karasmamedia to name a few.
Networking on steroids. Social media is a tremendous networking tool. It is the most efficient and effective way of establishing relationships for new business that I have ever used. People have a strong desire to work with people that they “know.” You can network with more people at home in your sweat pants, in your recliner, with your laptop using social media tools than all of the trade shows, seminars, cocktail parties, client lunches, ADFed and Chamber meetings you could possibly attend.
Social media is a great teacher. Social media teaches ad agencies to develop the best new business practices, the way we all should have been doing new business all along. That is leading with the benefits to our target audience rather than agency capabilities. It’s more about them and less about us. Social media is a great help to think, write and talk always to the benefits. Social media provides the best personal enrichment tools I have ever used in my entire professional life.
Know what your prospective clients really want. Understand how to create the right appealing message that causes them to initiate the conversation. Know what their challenges and obstacles are. Have the ability to understand how to market their business better than they do.
Generate significant prospective client online traffic. You can generate great traffic through you agency’s blog and social media tools. As I’ve said often before your agency’s blog is the gateway to your agency. Your agency’s website is more like a static brochure. As important as it was for every agency to have a website it is now just as important to have an agency blog (Note: My page views for last month was almost 16,000 and I’m one person serving a very narrow niche).
Lead generation. When you have an appealing position and you can generate traffic to your agency blog, you’ll in turn generate leads. The new business paradigm for small-to midsize ad agencies has shifted. Instead of pursuing new business, your best prospective clients will find you, soon get to know you and even initiate the call. That conversation will be much further down the road than cold calling.
Reputation management. Social media provides tools to monitor your agency’s brand. Conversations about your agency are going to take place with or without you. It’s by far better to know what’s being said and having an opportunity to respond.
Positioning as an expert. Social media gives your agency an opportunity to be positioned as a respected and trusted expert. Clients are more likely to listen and allow you to lead. An added benefit is that specialist get paid more, are not dependent upon local business and have the opportunity to work with the clients that are the best fit for their agency.

Social media isn’t a fad. It not only is changing the advertising industry as we know it, but it is one of the most important new business tools in your agency’s tool box.

Additional articles that may be of interest:

17 Comments | Agency Blogs, New Business Tips, New Business Trends, Social Media | Tagged: Ad Agencies, awareness, branding, Michael Gass, midsize ad agencies, new business, small ad agencies, Social Media | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

In times of economic crisis shouldn’t ad agencies lead?

February 24, 2009

Given the current economic crisis and the communications revolution, on Monday, February 23rd, media baron Rupert Murdoch issued an urgent internal communication, warning his staff:

“We are in the midst of a phase of history in which nations will be redefined and their futures fundamentally altered. Many people will be under extreme pressure and many companies mortally wounded. Our competitors will be sorely tempted to take the easy beat, to reduce quality in the search for immediate dividends.

Let me be very clear about our company: where others might step back from their commitment to their viewers, their users, readers and customers – we will renew ours.”

He declared, “The direction of the business now and over the next few years will define the character of our company for decades.”

Hopefully the advertising industry, with all of its resilient creative and intelligent minds, is as committed to finding solutions for its clients during the current economic crisis and global communications revolution.

What are your thoughts? Do you think ad agencies are already leading or are they behind?

2 Comments | Recession | Tagged: Advertising Industry, agencies lead, economic crisis, Michael Gass, Robert Murdoch | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

25 Ad Agency Blogs, Vote for Your Favorite for February

February 22, 2009

It’s time for you to vote for your favorite agency blog for the month of February. 25 ad agency blogs have been submitted to FUEL LINES. The winner will be featured on FUEL LINES throughout the month of March.

These are the 25 agency blogs submitted for the month of February:

A Ride Uptown, Mascola/Group, New Haven, CT

B&A blog, Columbus, OH

BINGenuity, Bing Design, Yellow Springs, OH

Blip, Martino Flynn agency, Rochester, NY

Bolin Digital Blog, Bolin Marketing, Minneapolis, MN

Brand Tracks, Locomotion Creative, Nashville, TN

Brains on Fire Blog, Greenville, SC

Brunner Digital Blog, Brunner Digital, Pittsburg, PA

Contact Media Blog, Contact Media, Tampa, FL

Creating A Deeper Shade of Green Marketing, Park&Co Phoenix, AZ

Cure for Common Marketing, Jackson-Dawson Marketing Solutions, Greenville, SC

Demi & Cooper Advertising blog, Elgin, IL

Design Buzz, Design Matters Creative Group, Lake Forest, CA

Direct Dispatch, Haggin Marketing, Mill Valley, CA

FEED, Razorfish agency, Seattle, WA

Fluid Studio’s Big Idea Blog, Bountiful, UT

Free Advertising Candy, EVOK Advertising, Lake Mary, FL

Karasma Media blog, Harlem, NY

ID-ology blog, ID Branding, Portland, OR

Paramore | Redd blog, Nashville, TN

Razor Branding, The Russo Group, Lafayette, LA

She-conomy, Holland + Holland, Birmingham, AL

SPURspectives, Spur Communications, Overland Park, KS

VBP Out Sourcing, Glen Burnie, MD

WOMENK!ND , Womenkind agency, New York, NY

The Zapwater Blog, Zap Water Communications Chicago, IL, was selected by FUEL LINES’ readers as the Ad Agency Blog of the Month for January. They received 283 of the 649 votes cast. Congratulations!

For the latest agency new business updates subscribe to FUEL LINES by Email

Michael Gass, agency new business consultant, primarily to small and mid-size advertising agencies, utilizing both traditional and new media tools.

8 Comments | Social Media | Tagged: Bing Design, Blip, Bolin Marketing, Brains on Fire, Brunner Digital, Contact Media, Demi & Cooper, Design Matters Creative Group, EVOK Advertising, Fluid Studio, Holland and Holland, ID Branding, Jackson Dawson Marketing, Karasma media, Locomotion Creative, Martino Flynn, Mascola Group, Michael Gass, Paramore Redd, Razorfish, Spur Communications, The Russo Group, VBP Outsourcing, WomenKind | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

Ad Agency New Business News from the Front Lines

February 20, 2009

I usually have my blog post written in advance and have preselected the date/time for at least five post to be published for any given week. This week has been a bit different. For some reason it has been more of a challenge this week comparative to others. I thought I would make this post a bit more personal to share what I’m hearing from small-to midsize ad agencies across the country.

More agencies are coming to grips with the importance of social media that it is a necessity. If they are to survive they must “genuinely” be participant. They can’t just give lip service to its importance, they must demonstrate to their clients that they “get it.” This is a big change from clients pushing, prodding and poking their agencies to get with it in social.
I believe agencies are starting to wake up to the fact that their business model must change. There aren’t many, but there are a few examples of agencies beginning to figure out how to generate income from social media.
A lot of agencies are still trying to figure out what their staff make-up should be and will be say in the next five years. What skills sets will be most needed, what new positions will need to be added.
Some agencies are so financially stressed from client’s marketing budget cutbacks, that they are frantically searching for any tips on how to generate leads within the next 30 days. They are extremely frustrated at the lack of network, referral business and their cold calling initiatives have been fruitless.
A number of agencies CEOs that I’m hearing from are trying their best to hold their staff together without having to make deep staffing cuts. Their outlook for 2009 seems to be more about holding-on for what they feel will be a difficult year.
A few of the agency principals that I talk with are genuinely excited about this communications revolution and are energized by the possibilities it creates. They are stepping up and stepping out to grow their agency and gain market share despite the recession. They are not waiting around for other agencies to figure this out. They are carving out their own path, creating their own model for success.

“If the ad community and marketing community with all of its creative and intelligent minds cannot find a solution for using, effectively using, social networks and user-generated content, it will be the greatest loss to the advertising and marketing business that we’ve ever experienced.” Jack Myers, a leading media analyst

5 Comments | New Business Trends, Social Media | Tagged: ad agency ceo, Blogs I Recommend, Michael Gass, midsize ad agency, principals, small ad agency, Social Media | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

Ad agency having explosive new business growth by leading with social media

February 14, 2009

Social media teaches ad agencies to do new business the right way.

I thought FUEL LINE readers would like to have an example of agency good news in the midst of all of the bad news.

The Russo Group, a small ad agency (full time staff of 19) in Lafayette, Louisiana, is having explosive new business growth using and leading with social media. Instead of laying off they are hiring. 104% net profit over this time last year. New clients, all outside their market, located in California, Illinois, Iowa, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington D.C. Washington state even England. All won without having to pitch and their prospective clients called them. Her new business programs hard cost for last year? $11.95.

I talk with ad agency CEOs on a daily basis. There is a lot of doom and gloom in the beginning of 2009. I understand the pain and frustration many small to midsize ad agencies are having in the midst of a global economic crisis and a revolutionary shift in the advertising industry. Here are a few comments that are typical of what I’m hearing:

“We are an old company living on the concept of high design and total quality production when the world is YouTube video quality. We’re trying to sell $5,000 identity packages when web sites in India design logos for $50. What the reality of that is that the $50 logo is acceptable quality because it’s done in time for the next wave of Twitter messaging your client is sending out.”

“We’re fighting alligators, employees are worried and paralyzed and the demands of our time just to save business without revenue is daunting.”

“I know how to make money on a $35,000 print ad but how are we going to make money on social media?”

“I spent the night thinking about my little company. We’re dead. Dead in the water. 60 days, 90 days, I don’t know but we’re dead.”

“We just had the third client in less than two weeks to tell us that they are drastically reducing their ad budget for this year.”

Now for some good news. I think you will enjoy FUEL LINES first podcast interview with Jaci Russo, principal of The Russo Group. Jaci is impressive (more so than her interviewer). Jaci’s agency was started in February 2001. A typical small full service ad agency that had been obtaining new business through a cold calling system, referrals and networking.

Realizing a change was coming, Jaci lead her agency into social media and she is using it as a new business tool.

The results:

8 new clients since January
Agency’s profits up (January 2009 vs pre-recession January of last year) 104%
New clients located in Texas, New York, California, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Illinois, Washington State, Washington D.C. and London
All new client accounts won without a pitch
All of these prospective clients that became clients initiated the call to the agency

In the following audio taped interview with Jaci Russo, she discusses social media, its impact upon her agency’s business model, new business acquisitions and profits.

Interview with Jaci Russo

“There is a change coming … you can’t be all things to all people … people like to do business with people they like … not everybody likes us but that is okay … we’re now fishing in a global pond … we’re not laying off, we’re hiring … we don’t see a recession … clients are still spending but they are moving their budgets into different places … I feel very connected to what is going on in the world … if you have nothing else but time social media is not a bad way to invest it … social media right now is the biggest tool in the tool box for now … most results and least expensive … this is how (new business) is suppose to work.” Jaci Russo

I want to say thanks to Jaci for willingness to share and provide positive example to agency’s in these trying times. Also a special hello and thank you to the staff at The Russo Group. I’m told they all are readers of FUEL LINES. And to all of those who have asked, they are not my clients. I recently met Jaci through Twitter.

Here are a few ways to engage Jaci online. I’m sure she would enjoy hearing from you.

Additional articles that might be of interest:

Social Media “Teaches” Ad Agencies to Promote Themselves the Right Way

Ad Agency Survey Finds Traditional New Business Methods Aren’t Working

Is it the end for cold calling as an agency new business tactic?

Social Media Impacts Ad Agency New Business

A Revolutionary Time for Ad Agency New Business

Agencies Gaining New Business Opportunities Using Social Media

Unconventional Times Call for Unconventional New Business Methods

56 Comments | New Business Tips, New Business Trends, Social Media | Tagged: Blogs I Recommend, Jaci Russo, Lafayette, Louisiana, Social Media, The Russo Group | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

Build Ad Agency New Business Virally

February 13, 2009

Viral marketing campaigns are a great way to generate awareness for your agency and provide opportunities for agency new business.

internet Instead of happenstance, viral marketing is becoming a science. An emerging industry dedicated to understanding what makes marketing viral. GoViral, is just one example of a company that specializes in launching viral campaigns by ”seeding” clips on the web in places where they will be picked up and spread online.

Patrick Aloft has assembled an excellent list of successful viral marketing campaigns. Patrick is Director of Search at Branded3, and author of BlogStorm, a blog discussing internet marketing and search engine optimization news and strategies.

Here’s Patrick’s list of “Top 10 Viral Campaigns of All Time:”

Ronaldinho: Touch of Gold (Nike) 23.5 million people have watched this ad on YouTube.
My Heart Will Go On (Free Macbook Air) 21.9 million users who viewed this clip
Guitar (GuitarMasterPro.net) 45 million viewers
Dynamite Surfing (Quicksilver) 10 million page views
Do The Test (Transport for London) 3.7 million people have viewed the video in 3 months
Stolen Nascar (TaxBrain.com) $1 million dollars worth of TV exposure within days
Threshers 40% Off Voucher
Subservient Chicken (Burger King) 46 million views in the first week
Gorilla Advert (Cadbury’s) millions of views of a gorilla playing the drums
Hotmail from 500,000 to 12 million users in less than a year

Review each campaign from Patrick’s List through this link: Top 10 Viral Campaigns of All Time:

If you know of a campaign that deserves to be on Patrick’s write about it in the comments.

For the latest agency new business updates subscribe to FUEL LINES by Email

Michael Gass, agency new business consultant, primarily to small and mid-size advertising agencies, utilizing both traditional and new media tools.

3 Comments | New Business Tactics, New Business Tips, New Business Trends | Tagged: ad agency, blogstorm, Brande3, Patrick Aloft, viral campaigns, viral marketing | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

Social Media Metrics for Ad Agency New Business

February 11, 2009

This simple statement speaks volumes to the ad industry, your agency’s promotional efforts and advertising for clients.

“If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it.”
Lord Kelvin

One of the reasons social media is growing in popularity is that it is more measurable than traditional media. That is especially important in this down economy. I am able to measure and improve upon my social media communications at incredible speed. Here are a few things that I am measuring which enables me to better reach my goals and objectives:

My blog analytics. I check them up to ten times a day. Beyond page views here are just a few of the things I am able to know: what posts are the most popular, how many unique visitors I’ve had, direct traffic and referred traffic, where referred traffic came from, where people who read my blog are located, the average length of time someone was on my blog, etc.
Blog Comparison Tools. There are a number of tools that are available that allow you to measure the power of your own blog. I happen to use Websitegrader. It provides me with a benchmark detailed report on how well my blog is performing. I can also enter any other blog URLs that I choose and receive a comparison report. I’m also part of Ad Age’s Power 150 marketing blog. When I initially subscribed my blog it ranked in the 900 range of marketing blogs. Within 10 months I was able to work my way into the top 400. My goal is to one day break into the top 150.
Email Newsletters. I just sent one out yesterday with links back to my blog. Links to new and related blog posts. the post that I thought would generate the most traffic didn’t. I was able to test subject lines prior to mailing to my entire list. I’ve been able to determine what is the best day and time of day to email. what that help to drive new traffic to my blog, what readers are most interested in, other referring sights.
Additional Social Media Tools. I can measure everything from Facebook, SlideShare presentations to LinkedIn. I even utilize a number of different metric tools to help improve upon my usage of Twitter, which by the way has become the leading traffic generator to my blog. I of course know how many people are following me on Twitter and how many I’m following but I also can use various tools to track the click throughs on my Twitter posts. I can measure my ranking in Twitter, the number of times a post has be retweeted, how my retweets rank compared to others. I know how I rank in Twitter, according to Twittergrader I have a grade of 99.91, I rank number two in Birmingham and number five overall in my state. The tool gives me a benchmark and helps me to improve.
Money and Time. The easy part is knowing how much money I’ve spent, last year ($922) utilizing social media for new business. Social media doesn’t cost much, many of the tools are free but it is very time intensive, so I’ve started keeping up with time to get a better pitcher of my ROI.

You’ll find plenty of helps online with suggestions on how to measure the various tools you use. As you enlarge your online footprint you will need to customize your own metrics to help you reach your goals and objectives.

For the latest agency new business updates subscribe to FUEL LINES by Email

Michael Gass, agency new business consultant, primarily to small and mid-size advertising agencies, utilizing both traditional and new media tools.

7 Comments | Social Media | Tagged: Lord Kelvin, measuring social media, Metrics, Social Media, Tweetlater, Twitter | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

A Twitter Business Model Contest is Won by an Ad Agency

February 9, 2009

I recently had a discussion with the CEO of a 59 year old ad agency in New York who said, “I know how to generate income from a $35,000 print ad but how do I generate revenue from social media?” That is the big question that all small-to mid-size ad agencies are facing.

If you have been a follower of Twitter you know that even though the service has exploded with growth, they do not have a business model to generate income. Silcon Alley Insider, a new business site that covers the technology, media, and communications industries, decided to Create Twitter’s Revenue Model Contest and just recently named a winner.

I’m glad to share with you that it was an ad agency, the Denuo Group. They are a boutique non-traditional ad agency serving clients such as AstraZeneca, Hewlett-Packard, Procter & Gamble, and General Motors.

You can view their winning solution through this link: Denuo Group’s Twitter Business Model Presentation

I’ve also included links to 11 Business Plans For Twitter that Alley Insider identified as some of the contest’s best:

It is good to see initial thoughts to tools such as Twitter, Facebook and other social media tools, just how the can become viable and profitable businesses and the evolving business model that will be needed for ad agencies.

Related FUEL LINES posts:

18 Comments | New Business Trends, Social Media, Twitter | Tagged: denuo group, Silcon Alley Insider, Twitter contest, Twitter revenue | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

Social Media: How to Generate Leads for Ad Agency New Business

February 6, 2009

I recently read and interesting blog post article written by Chad Levitt, titled, “Cut Your Marketing Budget to Zero and Still Generate Leads.” Chad interviews the VP of Marketing at Hubspot.com, Mike Volpe. Mike shares why traditional outbound marketing is dying and inbound marketing is growing.

Below are some nuggets from that interview that I hope will be of help as you evaluate your ad agency’s new business initiatives.

Outbound Marketing - “Cold calls, TV ads, email list rentals – is becoming less and less effective because people are becoming better at blocking out those channels with tools like caller ID, TiVo, and spam blockers.”

Inbound Marketing - ”Marketing analytics are critical because you need to know what is performing and what is not performing so you can optimize and improve your overall results.”

“Outbound marketing still works. But every day it gets more difficult and more expensive. It’s just a frustrating, dead-end experience.” Regarding inbound marketing he says, ”At HubSpot, if you fired the entire marketing team and cut the budget down to zero, we’d still generate a couple thousand leads per month because of the presence we have built over the past couple years.”

Blogging a Top Source for Inbound Leads – Mike says that their blog is one of the top 5 sources for leads because:

The articles written are an important part of their SEO efforts. They have over 400 articles that show up for all kinds of searches.
The articles are also an important part of their social media efforts because they give them a variety of interesting things to talk about.
Blog articles are a great way to nurture leads.

Hubspot has built an audience of about 9,000 people that regularly read their blog post articles.

Their blog analytics, poll, surveys, comments all provide invaluable insights to their target audience. They understand what works and what doesn’t. What messages resonate and are appealing to their target audience.

Inbound lead generation is much faster, more efficient and affordable than outbound lead generation. Plus much less frustrating and easier to sustain.

Make sure to visit the New Sales Economy.com blog to read the entire interview and follow it’s author Chad Levitt on Twitter.

Additional articles of interest:

11 Comments | New Business Tips, New Business Trends, SEO, Social Media | Tagged: Blogs I Recommend, Chad Levitt, Hobspot, lead generation, Mike Volpe | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

Socially Benefitting from My Twitter Habits

February 4, 2009

I’m sitting in front of the flat screen with my laptop halfway watching the new television program “Lie to Me” when I noticed that I’ve formed some habits, Twitter habits. No matter if I’m working or at leisure I’m drawn to Twitter.

Is time spent on Twitter worth it?

I’ve a lot of work to do for my own business and for my clients and I can’t afford to spend lots of time on Twitter, particularly if it has no benefit.

First let me address a small portion of Twitter’s benefits:

Networking tool. I’ve met a good number of professionals who I can now call friends. We’ve been able to share and discuss tips, trends, tactics, etc and be of help to each other.

Timely helps and resources. In need of immediate info, I’ve been able to make a request through Twitter and receive assistance immediately. Just yesterday I was conducting research for a client and someone on Twitter had a book that was loaded with the info that I needed. They volunteered to make copies of the info I needed or would mail me the book. I can give you dozens of other examples of generosity from people on Twitter.

Breaking news and new information. It has gotten to the point that most of the breaking news from either local, state and national news I’ve received through Twitter. I also am notified of just released industry articles and research.

Research. Not only have peopled shared research and resources but I’ve been able to conduct my own research such as these two current polls, Is Cold Calling an Effective Ad Agency New Business Tactic? How is business for your ad agency after the first couple of weeks of 2009?

Appreciation. Everyone likes to feel appreciated. When you help others through Twitter folks are quick to share their appreciation.

Personal brand evangelists. Word of mouth and a friends recommendation is huge. When you give people on Twitter will reciprocate by telling others in their network, often with zeal. They can be as passionate about your brand as you are. I’ve said this often that tools like Twitter is like networking on steroids.

The Twitter habits that I have developed save me time, allow me to be consistent and stay connected with my online community. I thought identifying a few of these Twitter habits may be of help to tto FUEL LINE readers.

When I sign onto Twitter, the first thing I do is check my direct messages and replies. I also use www.search.twitter.com and type in my Twitter name: Click here for a sampling of results.

I use a tool called Social Too to auto follow those who follow me and unfollow those who unfollow me. This tool does the best job of that over any that I’ve used. My ration of those I follow to those following me is within 100 persons and kept in balance due to this tool. An added benefit is the daily report that is automatically emailed to me daily letting me know of new followers and unfollowers. If there are lots of unfollowers I need to check to see if I’m using Twitter to the best benefit of my followers.

A program called Twitter Karma, helps me to automate the management of my Twitter follows and unfollows and provides daily report.

Angela Maiers, educator, author, blogger who now leads Maier Educational Services, developed a simple Twitter Engagement Formula that has provided provides purpose and direction for my participation. Using her 70-20-10 Formula.

70 % of my Twittertime is spent sharing the resources of others as well as my own.

I have over 260 blog post containing helpful new business tips, tactics, tools, talents and trends. I use a tool called Tweetlater to post links to that content on Twitter. Tweetlater allows me preschedule the release date and time of each posts days or even weeks in advance.

I am subscribed to another Twitter tool called Tweetbeeps. These are similar to Google Alerts. I can easily keep track of conversations that mention me, industry information, blog URL, etc.

In addition to my blog analytics I use Retweetrank to gauge what microposts are becoming viral and how I rank based upon people retweeting my posts. Today my Retweet rank:

@michaelgass is ranked 169 on retweetrank http://www.retweetrank.com/michaelgass/ Where do you rank?

Another metric tool that I use often is Hubspot’s Twitter Grader, which measures the reach and authority of a Twitter user. I’ve been able to attain a Twitter ranking of 100 and am now ranked number two among the Twitter Elite in Birmingham. You can also use Twitter Grader to make your own button to include in your post and encourage others to Tweet it:

One of the biggest benefits from my Twitter habits is the traffic it generates to my blog. I started seriously using Twitter back in September. Within five months I now have over 2,200 followers on Twitter and it has become the single best traffic generator to FUEL LINES. In the month of January, with a very specific niche audience of small-to midsize ad agencies, I had over 14,037 page views.

The better I become at using Twitter, Twitter tools and forming Twitter habits traffic to my blog accelerates. The more traffic more new leads that are generated.

Additional articles of interest:

18 Comments | New Business Tools, Social Media, Twitter | Tagged: Blogs I Recommend, FUEL LINES, Hubspot, Michael Gass, Social Media, Tweetbeeps, Tweetlater, Twitter, Twitter Grader | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

Bridgestone WINS ADBOWL 2009!

February 2, 2009

On the biggest night of the year for the advertising industry, tires roll over the Super Bowl Ad competition, besting beer for the first time in six years.

As of 12:00 am EST, the top 5 ads as ranked by ADBOWL voters on a five point scale were:

Click to view: Bridgestone’s Taters

“Last year Bridgestone came in a surprise number two,” said Steve McKee, president of McKee Wallwork Cleveland. “And this year they seized the top two spots. Good for them.”

“This year’s biggest surprise was how poorly Anheuser-Busch fared in ADBOWL,” said McKee. “Unlike past years, their spots just fell flat.”

McKee believes that this was a particularly smart year for marketers to advertise. Viewers turned to the tradition of the big game and the advertising extravaganza to take their mind off of the gloomy economy and its impact. “The Super Bowl is the only time when people actually tune in for the ads,” said McKee. ”Despite their seemingly expensive price tag, the ads reach their target audiences for just pennies per household. That’s a great buy in any economic climate.”

During and after the game last night, viewers went to www.ADBOWL.com and rated the commercials on a scale between one and five, with one being a “fumble” and five being a “touchdown.” A complete listing of the results, including breakdown of winners as voted on by by sex and age, can be found at www.ADBOWL.com.

ADBOWL Winners 2002-2009:

2009 – Bridgestone’s “Taters”
2008 – Budweiser’s “Clydesdale Team”
2007 – Bud Light’s “Rock, Paper, Scissors”
2006 – Bud Light’s “Hidden Fridge”
2005 – Anheuser-Busch’s “Applause”
2004 – Budweiser’s “Donkey Dream”
2003 – FedEx’s “Castaway”
2002 – M&M’s “Chocolate on Your Pillow”

McKee Wallwork Cleveland offers planning, creative, and media services to a broad range of growing companies, including Taos Ski Valley, Heritage Hotels & Resorts, Mr. Rooter Plumbing, and The Natural Stone Council. Founded in 1997, the agency earned a spot on the 2002 Inc. 500 list of the fastest-growing private companies in the nation and is a two-time EFFIE Award winner.

Rassai Interactive is a full-service interactive agency that specializes in the production of video-driven websites and integrated web strategies. Since 2001, Rassai Interactive has been providing progressive internet solutions to a wide variety of clients including Texas Christian University, Carter & Burgess, American Iron Horse Motorcycles, and Texas De Brazil.

Additional articles of interest:

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Michael Gass, agency new business consultant, primarily to small and mid-size advertising agencies, utilizing both traditional and new media tools.

1 Comment | New Business Tools, New Business Trends | Tagged: AdBowl, Bridgestone ads, McKee Wallwork Cleveland, Michael Gass, Steve McKee, Super Bowl ads | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass