FUEL LINES Fueling Ad Agency New Business Through Social Media

 It’s time to un-level the playing field. To have success with social media, agencies need to fly a differentiated social media flag.

Small-to midsize ad agencies tend to constantly promote how they are alike rather than how they are different from other agencies. They tend to look and sound just the same.

When agencies gave up fighting against the social media tide and decided to dive in, instead of using this new communications channel to showcase how they were different, they ended up just following the lead of others. Once again positioned as a generalists instead of a specialist and following the “safe-way” rather than the “smart-way.”

I had hoped that agencies would have learned this lesson by now, “if you try to appeal to everyone, you  will appeal to no one”.

Having spent my entire advertising career in new business, I know first hand the financial pressures small to mid-size agencies are under. I understand their reservation for not wanting to focus to narrowly on a target audience or discipline. I know all of the excuses for not wanting to drive a stake in the ground and define themselves for who they are. But agencies are missing a grand opportunity.

Social media provide  agencies to boldly declare who their target audience truly is, what their points of differentiation are. Social media allows agencies this freedom without fear of  ”throwing the baby out with the bath-water.” It provides favorable, acceptable conditions for the agency’s principals to fly their differentiated flag proudly without fear of missing “other” opportunities that use to come by way of their personal networks and referrals.

Agencies tend to look and act the same because they merely have a check list of social media tools and platforms to prove their participation. But their social media practice has no strategy, no connection to a particular target audience, no demonstration of how they are different. Merely showcasing that they are a bona-fide member of the global social media community.

Here are my 5 tips for flying your agency’s differentiated social media flag:

1. Create an agency blog for a specific targeted audience. If you don’t, it will lack focus and be nothing more than mishmash that has no flavor , appeal or audience.
2. Have an objective. I would suggest the objective to be using social media for your agency’s new business pipeline. Inbound new business leads through content marketing that positions you as a thought leader to your best prospective clients.
3. Remember that social is about people. I would strongly suggest that you don’t incorporate your blog into the branding of your agency’s website. Give it room to breath and grow on its own. Let your agency’s blog be a reflection of key persons within the agency instead of trying to socialize an entity. You connect with people online the same way you do offline, but online you can efficiently reach more people over a much broader geographical area. People want to work with people that they know, trust and like. Social media provides you with this great opportunity to network.
4. Don’t be afraid to use social media differently than the way it was intended. Some social media purists act like Barney Fife and may threaten you with”citizens arrest,”  but there is just one social media rule for you to keep in mind, there are no rules! This is still the wild, wild west.
5. Never lose your marketing mind when it comes to social media. Remember that it is just another communication’s channel. I have had much better success working with the agency “baby boomers” and their getting up-to-speed with social media than younger staffers who understand this new communication technology but they lack the experience in marketing and advertising. Don’t be intimidated. It’s not as hard as it may appear to get your marketing mind around the social media space.

Additional articles that may be of interest:

• 10 suggestions for creating an ad agency blog for new business
• 50 of the Best Insights from Ad Age’s First Ever Small Agency Conference
• Ideas for Creating an Ad Agency New Business War Room
• 7 Tips to Find Time for Ad Agency New Business
• The Top 10 Social Media Questions Ad Agency Clients are Asking
• IBM Study: The end of advertising as we know it
• Twitter List: 500+ Advertising Agencies on Twitter
• The Top 100 Social Brands of 2009
• Ad agency having explosive new business growth by leading with social media

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 20th, 2010 at 1:19 pm and is filed under Agency Blogs, Agency Leadership, Fuel for Thought, New Business Tips, New Business Tools, New Business Trends, Social Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.