A 7 Step Guide to Successful Infographic Production for Ad Agency New Business

October 31, 2011

An infographic can be a great way for small to midsize ad agencies to communicate their unique position in the marketplace. 

Infographics is derived from two words: ‘information’ and ‘graphics’, and stands for the graphical representation of data and information.

Why infographics for ad agency new business?

  • Visually create a positioning for your agency - “A picture is worth a thousand words.”
  • Gain a positioning of expertise within a particular industry or discipline.
  • If you include an  “embed code” for your infographic, it can help your agency’s website or blog site gain rankings for a particular niche. l
  • Infographics are easily shared and become viral that will also increase online traffic and build awareness for your agency.

Voltier Digital agency located in Delray Beach, FL, is a content marketing agency that has been creating lots of buzz for themselves through the use of Infographics. One of their newest inforgraphics was recently highlighted in this Mashable article, Inbound Marketing vs. Outbound Marketing [INFOGRAPHIC] building a great deal of exposure for the agency.

“At Voltier Digital, we aim to stay on top of new inbound marketing tactics. Infographics have become super hot over the past 24 months and we are excited to share our experience and to give you a little direction on how to execute world-class infographics for your brand.”

Voltier Digital shares some helpful tips on how to create your own infographic in 7 simple steps: 

Additional articles that may be of interest:

7 Comments | Digital, Promotion, Social Media | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

Ad Agency New Business 101: Conduct a SWOT Analysis

October 20, 2011

Photo Credit Pshegubj

A SWOT analysis is a good starting point for someone who is charged with creating new business opportunities for a small to midsize advertising agency, PR firm or digital shop.  

Part of Steve Jobs’ 12 Rules of Success: Perform SWOT analysis. As soon as you join/start a company, make a list of strengths and weaknesses of yourself and your company on a piece of paper.

This strategic planning method, when used properly, can be  a valuable tool for making decisions, setting strategy, and evaluating courses of action. You should use it as an initial step for defining your agency’s new business objectives. It is a helpful tool for reviewing your agency’s current focus and positioning.

SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Strengths and weaknesses are internal factors. Opportunities and threats are external factors. Internal factors are ones that you have control over. External factors are ones you don’t have much control over.

  • Strengths: internal characteristics of the agency that gives it an advantage over the competition. What does your agency do well? What resources are available? List your agency’s attributes: people, expertise, credentials, etc.
  • Weaknesses: internal limitations that are a liability and create a disadvantage relative to the competitor. They are things that detract an agency from its ability to obtain new business. It could be a lack of expertise or resources, location, positioning, training, etc.
  • Opportunities: the external competitive advantages that are helpful to you achieving your new business objectives.
  • Threats: external factors that are potential threats to your agency’s new business. These are challenges that are created by an unfavorable trend or development that may lead to deteriorating revenues or profits. Proactively plan for and respond to them.

Ask yourself the following questions from a new business perspective:

  • How can we leverage our strengths?
  • How can we improve upon our weaknesses?
  • How we can capitalize on our opportunities?
  • How can we minimize our threats?

The true value of the SWOT analysis is in bringing this information together, to assess the most promising opportunities, and the most crucial issues.

Before you begin, review the following 3 steps and keep them in mind to avoid the danger of it becoming a meaningless exercise.

Step 1 – Collect the Information

Conducting a SWOT exercise for your agency is a straight forward exercise. Begin the SWOT analysis by conducting an inventory of internal strengths and weaknesses within your agency.  This shouldn’t be only one person’s perspective. You will need to include others in this process. Plan to interview your agency’s key executives and possibly your entire staff. Use open-ended questions built around these four areas. Keep your SWOT short and simple with a bullet point list. The analysis should become an executive summary.

Step 2 – Prepare a Plan of Action

Unbelievably, 62% of agencies don’t have a planned new business effort.

You should review your SWOT summary with a view of creating a plan that addresses each of the four areas. It serves as a basis for the development of a new business plan that will be your guide for implementing a successful new business program.

The SWOT analysis will act as a filter for lots of information and will allow you to  better interpret and identify the primary keys for your new business plan.

Follow the KISS (keep-it-simple-stupid) method. Keep everything as simple as possible including the plan. A one page plan will easily suffice.

Step 3 – Benchmarks for Measurement

Set goals that are realistically achievable within the culture and resources of the agency.

There is a lot of truth to the old cliché, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” Conducting a SWOT analysis will allow you to know what agency data needs to be collected to use as a benchmark for key objectives for the future.

The SWOT exercise will provide a clearer direction for new business and will allow you to easily set new business goals that stretch your agency while being realistically attainable.

For instance, a lot of agencies will say, “we want to double the size of our agency over the next year.”  Your SWOT analysis provides the kind of information that helps determine if that goal is attainable.  It may be more realistic to state the objective as: “We want to increase the agency’s new business by 25% over the next three years.”  

You want to set goals that are realistic given the agency’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

Additional articles that may be of interest:

6 Comments | Best Practices, New Business Plans, New Business Tactics, New Business Tips | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

IBM Study: The 4 key challenges that CMOs everywhere are confronting

October 13, 2011

As CMOs struggle there is a window of opportunity for ad agency new business. 

A new IBM study of more than 1,700 chief marketing officers reveals that most CMOs are well aware of the changing marketing landscape and the need to make fundamental changes to traditional marketing methods of brand and product marketing.  But they are struggling to respond. Their unpreparedness to manage these key changes in the marketing arena presents a great opportunity for advertising agencies, PR firms and digital shops. But, only if they are prepared to lead.

The study’s findings point to four key challenges that CMOs everywhere are confronting: 

  1. The explosion of data - 90% of the world’s data today has been created in the last two years alone.
  2. The rise of social media - 56% of CMOs view social media as a key engagement channel
  3. Channel and device choices - The growing number of new marketing channels and devices, from smart phones to tablets, is quickly becoming a priority for CMOs.
  4. Shifting demographics - New global markets and the influx of younger generations with different patterns of information access and consumption, are changing the face of the marketplace.

The Importance of Social Media

This study reiterates the importance of social media and the need for agencies to be better positioned as leaders in this evolving consumer engagement channel. Currently very few of the global or regional advertising agencies can claim a leadership position within this space.

Carolyn Heller Baird, CRM research lead for the IBM Institute for Business Value and the global director of the study, likens marketers who underestimate the impact of social media to those who were slow to view the internet as a new and powerful platform for commerce.

“The inflection point, created by social media, represents a permanent change in the nature of customer relationships … Like the rise of e-business more than a decade ago, the radical embrace of social media by all customer demographic categories represents an opportunity for marketers to drive increased revenue, brand value and to reinvent the nature of the relationship between enterprises and the buyers of their offerings.”

CMOs identify customer relationships as one of their top priorities. They recognize the impact of real-time data and social media supplementing traditional methods of marketing and gathering market feedback, but they remain stuck in traditional approaches. Missing another opportunity to lead, agencies haven’t been receptive to social media and slow to understand its relevance.

“Marketers who are receptive to social media and the insight it provides will be far better prepared to anticipate future shifts in markets and technology.”

Additional insights from this study:

  • 78% of CMOs expect more complexity over the next five years, but only 48% are prepared to deal with it.
  • 82% of CMOs say they plan to increase their use of social media over the next three to five years, only 26 % are currently tracking blogs, 42 percent are tracking third-party reviews and 48 % are tracking consumer reviews to help shape their marketing strategies.
  • 63% of CMOs believe return on investment (ROI) on marketing dollars spent will be the most important measure of their success by 2015. However, only 44 % feel fully prepared to be held accountable for marketing ROI. 
  • Less than half of the CMOs surveyed have much sway over key parts of the pricing process and less than half have much impact on new product development or channel selection. 
  • 56% of CMOs view social media as a key engagement channel, but they still struggle with capturing valuable customer insight from the unstructured data that customers and potential customers produce.
  • CMOs still focus primarily on traditional sources of information such as market research and competitive benchmarking and 68% rely on sales campaign analysis to make strategic decisions.
  • Four-fifths of respondents plan to use customer analytics, customer relationship management (CRM), social media and mobile applications more extensively over the next three to five years.
  • 75% of CMOs believe marketing must manage brand reputation within and beyond the enterprise.

The IBM 2011 CMO Study Video News Release:

To access the full 2011 IBM Global CMO Study, visit http://ibm.com/cmostudy

7 Comments | Agency Leadership, New Business Trends, Social Media | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

The All Business “No Bull Crap” Guide to Social Media Marketing

October 11, 2011

Turning social media into social media marketing for ad agency new business.

No Bullshit Social Media is a new book that I highly recommend for ad agencies. It is hype-free advice on how to use social media marketing for business and contains a wealth of statistics, illustrations and case studies. The books insights will be of practical help to your agency and clients.

The reason your agency needs social media is that it can drive real new business opportunities and will provide a serious step up on your competitors. 

The book is co-written by Jason Falls and Erik Deckers.

I’ve known Jason since starting my own consultancy back in 2007. He understands ad agencies having previously worked for Doe Anderson, a regional agency in Louisville, KY. Jason has built a successful and highly regarded digital and social media consulting service, the Social Media Explorer. He also authors one of the most widely read and well-respected blogs in the industry where he shares his insight at ExploringSocialMedia.com.

Erik was an early adopter of social media and has been blogging since 1997.  He is the co-owner and VP of Creative Services for Professional Blog Service in Indianapolis. He has been a newspaper humor columnist for 17 years, and is published in 10 newspapers around Indiana. Erik co-authored Branding Yourself: How to Use Social Media to Invent or Reinvent Yourself (Pearson, 2010). He also helped write Twitter Marketing For Dummies.

I love the following quote taken from the first chapter of the book. It sets the tone for the practical no-nonsense advice you are going to find in this book.

“Social Media Is for Hippies. Social Media Marketing Is for Business.”

That is exactly the mindset needed if you are going to generate new business through the use of social media. Jason and Erik, unapologetically, break from the way early adopters of social were using it. Their philosophy is more pragmatic by taking social media from the playground to the office suite to market your business.

“… the social media marketing world now knows that companies need business outcomes from their social media efforts, namely increased sales, profits, and market share.

A lot of preparation went into writing this book. Erik shared with me that he and Jason spent over 5 months on just the research for the statistics and illustrations on how businesses are finding success with social media marketing. These case studies makes a persuasive argument for social media’s potential as it continues to evolve and mature.

“If social media can help overthrow a government, what will it do for your company.”

Most agencies are accustomed to gaining new business through networks and referrals. Social media has the potential to take your personal networks to a whole new level. Jason and Erik provide you with rich insights on why and how you should do it.

The book addresses 7 major benefits social media marketing has for businesses and agencies.

Social media marketing can:

  1. Aid in branding and awareness
  2. Protect your reputation
  3. Extend public relations
  4. Build community
  5. Drive customer service
  6. Funnel research and development
  7. Drive sales and leads

A reminder that you can’t measure your progress until you first define success. This book gives you a strategic blueprint to get your agency focused for new business success with social media marketing and some great ideas to help your agency become more of a social business.

PEOPLE want to work with other PEOPLE that they KNOW, TRUST and LIKE.

Order the book now at NoBullshitSocialMedia.com. I purchased the Kindle version from Amazon but you can also order it from B&N, Borders, Books-A-Million and Que.

2 Comments | New Business Trends, Social Media | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

The Single Most Important Twitter Tool for Ad Agency New Business

October 7, 2011

TweetAdder is one of the most important tools you can use to build a targeted following on Twitter. 

There are hundreds of 3rd party tools for Twitter, but one stands out above the rest as the most productive for using Twitter for new business.

You don’t want followers just to have followers. Inbound lead generation will only happen if the bulk of your followers are your agency’s best prospects.

TweetAdder is a software program that charges a one-time fee to download and use this tool to build a Twitter database of people to follow.

The program allows you to search by profile data, such as searching for  a companies CMOs. Anyone with that title in their Twitter profile you can add to your database of people to follow.

Another important feature of TweetAdder allows you to follow everyone that follows a particular Twitter account. For example, you can follow everyone that follows the AdAge’s Twitter account and also follow everyone that AdAge follows.

It would be best to find and follow the Twitter accounts that have an appeal primarily to your target audience such as a Twitter account for an association or tradeshow. You will get more people to follow that are your true targets.

Here’s an example: The Littlefield agency in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has Casino marketers as a primary target audience. They wouldn’t want to follow everyone that follows the Isle of Capris Casinos, the better choice would be to follow everyone that follows the American Gaming Association’s Twitter account and all those that the American Gaming follows.

Another great benefit for using TweetAdder is you can follow all who follow your competition’s Twitter account and everyone your competitor follows.

TweetAdder also has filters to help eliminate Twitter accounts that are least likely to be true prospects, such as those which have no profile photo. No profile photo is an indication that a Twitter account isn’t very active.

TweetAdder also allows you to automatically Follow, Unfollow and Followback Twitter accounts.  Doing this manually requires a great amount of time. TweetAdder simplifies these processes.

Once it is set-up, TweetAdder is easy to maintain. All you need to do is open the program each day and let it run in the background on the computer. To add additional prospectives to your database, when it runs low, is easily done.

This program is very simple to use, an intern or a college student could be trained to use it.  This task could also be added to the responsibilities of your agency’s receptionist and would require mere minutes of time each day.

Click on the following link to review TweetAdder with a Free Trial Demo

Additional Twitter tools that I recommend for your review:

7 Comments | Twitter | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

8 Reasons Why This Is Such An Exciting Time for the Smaller Ad Agencies

October 5, 2011

Big Fuel

Unconventional times call for unconventional methods for ad agency new business.

These are certainly unconventional times that we live in. A recent IBM study states that we will see more change in the next 5 years than in the previous fifty.

We are still in the midst of the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression. The recession that began in 2008 still isn’t over and economists are forewarning the possibility that this could be a double-dip recession.

The rise of social media as another communication’s channel, has impacted our society and the way we do business. Social media marketing best practices are quickly evolving. But as soon as you start to get comfortable using Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, a new social media platform is introduced, such as Google Plus, and it’s back to school all over again.

Smart phones and tablets further impact our culture and how we communicate.

New business professionals for ad agencies and PR firms, who were once good at what they did are now struggling.  The way new business is acquired is changing rapidly. The interruption type tactics, which were successful in the past, are becoming less and less effective.

With all of the upheaval and uncertainty for our industry, this is certainly an exciting, revolutionary time to be in advertising. Particularly for the small-to-midsize advertising or public relations agency.

8 reasons why this is such an exciting time to be in advertising, particularly for the smaller agencies:

  1. They have the opportunity to build awareness well beyond their local markets.
  2. A real opportunity exists to work with bigger clients and nationally known brands.
  3. Agencies can generate more appeal by creating a narrower niche. They can hyper-focus on a specific target audience, category or discipline or a combination of these.
  4. Increased revenue by being better positioned for their advertising and marketing expertise through category or target audience experience or through a particular discipline.
  5. Network and referral business becomes more efficient.
  6. Inbound lead generation is proving to be less expensive than traditional outbound leads.
  7. Allows agencies to work with the clients that match up well with its core strengths.
  8. More new client accounts can be won without pitching.

9 Comments | Fuel for Thought, New Business Tips, New Business Trends | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

5 Tips for Using Direct Mail for Ad Agency New Business

October 4, 2011

Photo Credit Ian Broyles

Direct mail isn’t dead as a tactic for ad agency new business.

When everyone Zigs, maybe you should Zag. So much attention is being given to online tactics, it may be a good time to do the opposite and utilize some offline tactics such as direct mail to raise awareness for your agency and stay top-of-mind with prospects.

A lot of small to midsize advertising agencies fail at their own direct mail efforts because they give up after only a couple of mailings when there is little or no results. Direct mail isn’t dead. But it’s not very effective unless it is used consistently and that is usually a problem for most agencies. We are always our own worst client. 

Your agency is probably like most. When things get busy with client work, work for the agency is often neglected.  Here are 5 tips to keep your direct mail project moving: 

1. Keep the creative process simple.

I’ve seen a number of agencies attempt to design some very elaborate mailers, one-at a time. This isn’t good use of your agency’s creative energy. Have your creative department design an entire campaign, 12 mail pieces, an oversized postcard would suffice.  Have them printed an on the shelf read to mail each month.

You can also mix in other types of mailings such as personal letters, hand written notes, self mailers. You can also send work in expensive boxes to high target prospects.

Locomotion Creative printed a case study and creative sample on post cards that could also be sent as an entire collection in an elegant box.

When it was learned that search consultants often complained about the size of mailings received from agencies and one search consultant said, “Whatever you send me, make sure it can fit in a standard file folder.” So the Lewis Communications created a unique folder just for search consultants.

2. Treat this project  like a project for your agency’s most important client. 

Open a job, develop a creative brief and have a start date and hard deadline for delivery so that it gets done.

3. Use a direct mail service. 

Let them print, pre-sort and stamp for efficiency and savings. I’ve learned that the more things you can outsource, the more consistent your efforts will be. You not only save time, but you can save money.

4. Purchase a mailing list.

Most agencies don’t have the time and resources to develop and maintain their own database. Executive positions change often. Shop around and purchase a targeted list of companies. Purchase a list for 1 to 2 years and multi-use. Names, titles and addresses plus phone numbers that you can use for your “warm call” program.

5. Have a strong call to action.

Here’s an example: What is the first step that you “normally” take with a new client? Perhaps this exploratory session, market audit or brand audit could be something that you could carve out as a “first step” for prospective clients. A good value that would at least pay for your time and also eliminate the “tire kickers.”  You have personal face-time with a qualified prospect.

Additional articles that may be of interest:

4 Comments | New Business Tactics | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

Advertising Week: Resources for Daily Reports, Live Updates and Videos

October 3, 2011

If you can’t attend Advertising Week here are some good resources to follow the events, capture insights and even participate in the dialogue through Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google +.

Oct. 3 kicks off Advertising Week, New York’s premier annual gathering of marketing and communications leaders from around the world.

Begun in 2004, Advertising Week now draws over 70,000 people who will attend some 200 events featuring the industry’s best and brightest thought leaders. The panels, programs and parties during Advertising Week are divided among multiple locations.

In honor of the week, The Huffington Post has dedicated a new site to cover the events, news, people, articles, blogs and buzz for the week: The Huffington Post Advertising Week 2011. This is a helpful resource.

Here are a few of the articles and insights from Day 1:

Google and Facebook to Take Advantage of Advertising Week

Both Google and Facebook are announcing new ad formats that each hopes will increase engagement between consumers and brands. According to Bloomberg, Google is launching Web-based circular ads that will “make Internet advertising look more like the Sunday paper.” Facebook is also planning to announce its own new crop of “expandable” ads, Mashable reported.  Read more

For additional updates from Advertising Week:

1 Comment | Agency Leadership, New Business Trends | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

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