I read an interesting ADWEEK article regarding the “Changing Role of Rainmakers”. Suffice to say that with a major paradigm shift for how ad agency new business is acquired it also significantly impacts the role for those with the responsibility for business development.
Agency leaders say that the job has become more complex and therefore more difficult to cast. As a result, searches for new business talent takes longer.
“It’s just such a hard position to fill,” said Michael Zuna, New York managing director at Publicis Groupe’s Saatchi & Saatchi, whose new CMO, Benjamin Bittman, started last week. “The Mad Men-rainmaker days — that doesn’t happen anymore. It’s a tough job.”
Why? These are some of the reasons given:
- Because client reviews in recent years have generally become more complicated, given the expanding marketing needs of clients
- The more common presence of search consultants
- RFP-driven processes
- Participation of procurement executives
- Agencies generally are reinventing themselves for the digital age and how they market that to prospective clients and consultants has changed
“There are not a whole lot of people who have done this job in the past who know how to do it well now,”
Avi Dan, a former new business executive at Euro RSCG, Berlin Cameron United and Saatchi who’s now president of Darling in New York.
The agencies mentioned in this article are the large agencies. Large agencies acquire new business differently than small-to mid-size shops. But I have no doubt small to mid-sized agencies new business development must change as well.
“With over 50% of client relationships lasting less than two years and the average CMO tenure 27 months, the role of new business at our agencies is more important and a bigger focus than ever.
Behind the closed doors of every shop there is a person or group of people whose very jobs are to focus on the growth of the agency’s reputation, client base and skill set, not to mention revenue. But do you have the right person(s) in place to successfully carry out your own agency marketing plans? ” Noelle Weaver, Advertising Age’s Small Agency Diary
Having a working knowledge of social media isn’t even an option any longer for an agency’s new business director. Social media is having a big impact on how agency’s promote themselves and how they are found online by their prospective client audiences.
Here are 4 ways social media impacts ad agency new business:
- A paradigm shift for how new business is acquired. According to a recent CMO survey, 80% of decision makers say they found the vendor, not the other way around.
- SEO is now a critical part of new business strategy. According to Marketing Sherpa, 80-90% of business to business transactions begin with a search on the web.
- An agency blog is a necessary component for marketing your agency. As necessary as it was for an agency to have a Website, it is now as relevant for them to have a blog. It becomes the gateway to the agency and puts a face to it.
- The growth of new media mandates agencies participation. Social media is now mainstream, your agency’s credibility is suspect if it isn’t walking the walk, not just talking the talk.
So before hiring someone responsible for your agency’s new business efforts, in addition to the questions regarding their new business expertise, think about asking some additional questions like these. How they answer will tell you what they really know about social media.
- Do you read blogs? Which ones?
- Do you have a personal blog? What’s it about?
- What are the social networks do you participate in?
- Have you ever uploaded a video online? What program did you use to do it?
- Besides making phone calls—how else do you use your mobile phone?
- Have you ever registered a domain name?
- Do you use social bookmarks or tagging?
- Do you use a feed reader of some sort? Which one? Why?
- How do you use Twitter?
- Do you have a Facebook page? LinkedIn?
What you are looking for is participation, experience and credibility in social media.
If you need someone to lead your agency’s new business initiatives, I highly recommend (without renumeration) TalentZoo.com
Additional articles that may be of interest:
- Social Media for Agency New Business is Networking on Steroids
- Ad Agencies: What has social media done for you?
- JetBlue tests the social media credibility of ad agencies vying for its account
- Does your ad agency have a social media marketing strategy? Try the POST method.
- The New Rules of Engagement for Ad Agency New Business
- Ad Agency New Business is Driven to Distraction
- Clear and Present Danger of Social Media for Ad Agencies
- Socializing Your Ad Agency’s New Business Development
[...] The Changing Role of Ad Agency Rainmakers [...]
I’m the president of a marketing agency (marketing research) and I’ll turn 62 this year. I like and use LinkedIn every day, write a blog for our healthcare brand, and read a lot of material piped directly to me from online sources. But I question what may be an underlying premise to your piece: that fluency in the social media surpasses the ability to build, nurture, and win relationships with prospective clients–in the traditional way–of meeting with them face-to-face, winning their trust, and demonstrating through pitches, proposals, and references that our team should be their team.
Dan,
Fluency in social media dosen’t surpass networking in the traditional way, it enhances it.
I didn’t mean to imply that social media surpasses ones ability to build, nurture and win relationship with prospective clients. Those skills are important. I do believe that social media takes our networking ability to another level and greatly enhances it. Face-to-face meetings are enhanced and more fruitful following intial engagement through social. Social media provides and efficient means for networking communications which allows us to communicate with more people over greater distances than ever before.
I’m not far behind you. I’m 52.
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As a new business developer, social media is a welcome addition to my toolbox. It provides a robust ability to humanize our brand and get into some elusive markets. Another valuable benefit of using social media is that it’s proof of our companies ability to successfully change and experience the challenges a client may face when integrating social media into their own brand strategy. p.s. – I’m nearly 50.
[...] The Changing Role of Ad Agency Rainmakers [...]
[...] The Changing Role of Ad Agency Rainmakers [...]
[...] The Changing Role of Ad Agency Rainmakers [...]
[...] The Changing Role of Ad Agency Rainmakers [...]
Michael,
Invaluable insights for agency leaders. It should give them pause as they give the revolving door one more spin in the search for the business development “rainmaker” of myth and lore.
The fact is, most agency business development has always been hard work. At least for me it has never been about glad-handing and golf. (I don’t even play golf.) Instead, it requires excellent business sense, broad knowledge with as many wells of deep expertise as possible, persistence in the face of second-guessing, flexibility and courage.
Social media, as well as the other developments you cite, are the most recent wrinkles. The skills and characteristics I cited still are of great value. It’s just that today’s business development white knight has new dragons to slay.
Neal Kielar
Growth. Innovation. Culture
http://AgencyBabylon
@AgencyBabylon
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