A Social Media System For Ad Agencies To Get Up-to-Speed Quickly

A large percentage of ad agency principals want to know where to begin with social media marketing. There are so many options they feel overwhelmed and don’t know where to begin. Where is the best place to start?

michael gassMichael’s 60 day social media system helps ad agencies get up to speed with social media quickly

I’ve developed my own system that I’m glad to share. It provides an accelerated way for agencies to get their head around social media, build a credible presence in a short period of time (60 to 90 days) that also will provide professional enrichment and at the same time provide tools for branding, new business and networking.

I usually start with a one day workshop to provide an overview of social media marketing for ad agency new business and come up with answers to key questions that will accelerate our productivity.

I’ve found that to the best  prospective client “gate-way” to agencies has changed from their website to an agency blog. It is the central platform for your presence in social media and it is where you want to generate a steady flow of traffic.

To get an agency blog up and running quickly there are some questions that must be answered such as these:

  • Who is our best target audience?
  • What is our point of differentiation from our competitors?
  • What are our core  agency strengths?
  • What kind of helpful resources does the blog provide so that we can write a simple descriptor statement for our blog? 
  • What are the key search words we can dominate for our target audience to find our site?
  • Who will be the face(s) for the agency?
  • What are the top 10 to 12 categories we will write to?
  • What is the title and domain for our blog?
  • What blog platform are we going to use?

Having answered these questions, the next step for a period for the next 30 days is to put those writing for the blog on an accelerated program of reading and writing. 50 blog posts of value within the first 30 days. It is a lot of writing and there are reasons for this intense schedule:

  • Learning to write for web which is far different than writing for print.
  • Finding your writing voice.
  • Developing reading and writing habits for the future.
  • Assimilation of what you are reading. You don’t know what you know until you write it down.
  • Having enough resource material for credibility and too repurpose.

I help acquaint participants to Google Reader and assist in organizing their reading for this initial period. Having all of their resources to coming to them instead of having to search for them. Identifying the tools that will use to further enhance Google Reader.

I then set up milestones through a simple online management system, Basecamp, to keep the process moving forward and stay on track.

The next 30 day period is used to repurpose the content of the blog and begin to generate traffic through SEO, Twitter, Newsletter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Technorati, StumbleUpon, Digg, YouTube, Flickr, etc. This is done while continuing a writing schedule of between 3 to five blog post per week. 

Blog analytics are reviewed which provide great feedback for the resource material that best resonates with the target audience. Adjustments are made.

If you want to use this system on your own, I would suggest:

  1. Start with a one day workshop for the agency principals and a few of the executive staff (you don’t want to many involved at this stage, it is like herding cats).
  2. Create a simple plan for moving forward with an agency blog as the central platform to which you will generate targeted prospective client traffic.
  3. Set milestone dates and designate specific responsibilities.
  4. Create benchmarks for measuring ROI and for making adjustments based on feedback from your target audience.

I’m always glad to share my point-of-view (for what it is worth) and answer questions.

Below are some additional articles that may be of interest:


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About Michael Gass

Consultant | Trainer | Author | Speaker

Since 2007, he has been pioneering the use of social media, inbound and content marketing strategies specifically for agency new business.

He is the founder of Fuel Lines Business Development, LLC, a firm which provides business development training and consulting services to advertising, digital, media and PR agencies.

Comments

  1. Michael, this is a great post that I will be sharing with others. Repurposing your blog content through social networking sites is an efficient and resourceful way to generate traffic. I must now follow you on Twitter.

  2. Michael,
    You’ve made a believer out of me. In less than 2 months we have had more traffic to our blog that to our web site in the last 3 years!!
    People are sending me notes and signing up for my newsletter. It’s great. I know it’s only a matter of time before I get some new business leads. We are planning a social media boot camp for them later this summer.
    I’ve already signed up one client to help them get a blog started so I’ve already paid for your consulting fees.
    To anyone who’s serious about social media Michaels the guy to get you in the game.

  3. John,

    That’ very kind of you to say. It’s been a genuine pleasure working with you and the SONNHALTER agency.

    This post is also written for those that would prefer to go it alone. I hope the info provides you with some direction and help as you jump into social media.

  4. Michael,

    I like your suggestions though I can’t write 50 posts in 30 days. If I did that, we couldn’t get our work done.

    I’m lucky if I get one per week.

    With only two people in the agency, we don’t have deep resources to have others assist with postings.

    Neil

  5. Neil,

    I understand but there is a way. I’ll be glad to share some tips if you would like to give me a call.

  6. Michael –
    As someone just starting out in my own business and just starting to gather momentum in this business, I find ALL your posts so informative. It’s like having a private coach. I have written for blogs in the past and now that I’m on my own, how do I create entries that are fresh and worthy of reading? Or is my blog meant to be my take on all that’s out there? Compared to the expert folks like yourself, I am a wee fish in a big pond!
    Kristen

  7. Kristen,

    Thank you for your comments. I’m glad you are finding my posts helpful. It is from that perspective that you should write your posts that will generate interest and endear you to your audience. As you learn and grow, you pass it on. Don’t be afraid to create and espouse your specific point of view, even when it goes against the grain of the majority. That will just help you stand out more and be taken seriously.

    Be very focused as you start by defining a snarrow target audience. Write specifically to them. People want to work with people that they know, trust and like.

    If I can ever be of help, please don’t hesitate to let me know.

  8. dougbrowncreative says

    Another extremely helpful post Michael. I will forward it along to my teammates as we look to integrate some of your other suggestions from this week.
    Much appreciated,
    Doug

  9. Doug,

    Glad you found it to be helpful. Please let me know if you have any questions as you implement it.

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