November « 2011 « FUEL LINES Fueling Ad Agency New Business Through Social Media

Think Multiscreen for Ad Agency New Business

November 11, 2011

Photo Credit: mbiebusch

Keeping up with mobile technology and how it impacts consumer behavior is important because it inevitably effects how ad agencies will be reaching prospects in the near future.

“Most marketers are still struggling to figure out how to truly capitalize on the opportunities represented by long-form video and — more recently — social content. Now, a new imperative is clear, especially for those spending heavily on TV. Content and experiences that move seamlessly from one screen to another are an absolute must.” Jeremy Lockhorn, VP Emerging Media, Razorfish

Consumers’ use of emerging media driven by new technologies is moving at such a lightning pace that it’s difficult for agencies and the brands they represent to keep up. There is also the tendency for marketers to “over-focus” on things like television, mobile and social media as stand alone mediums rather than fully comprehending consumer behavior and creating a multiscreen strategy.

Emerging media and new technology also impacts business development for ad agencies. There is a need to understand how prospects are using new technology such as mobile and web-enabled devices. Plus there is a paradigm shift in business development for agencies from outbound new business tactics to inbound marketing. Agencies will need to be able to effectively reach prospective clients through a multiscreen new business strategy.

To better understand the impact of new technology and its rapidly evolving use of consumers here in the U.S., digital agency giant, Razorfish, partnered with Yahoo Mobile to conduct a study of mobile habits.

Here are some of the highlights from this study:

80% of respondents are mobile multitasking while watching TV.
70% of respondents who multitask do so at least once a week, with nearly half (49%) reporting everyday multitasking.
60% check their phones at least “once or twice” during the course of a TV show, and 15% stay on the mobile Web for the full duration of the show.
The top 5 categories for multitasking: 1. Reality 2. News 3. Comedy 4. Sports 5. Food
94% of multitaskers engage in some kind of mobile communication. In order — They are text, talking, email, social networking and IM.
60% of multitaskers are accessing additional content of some type.
44% is unrelated to what’s on TV versus only 38% related to TV.
Survey respondents were more likely to state that they frequently engaged in multitasking during TV ad breaks.
36% of multitaskers use their connected devices for looking up information on a commercial they just saw.

Click on the following link to read Jeremy’s article and additional information regarding the Razorfish and Yahoo Mobile Study: ”Forget Mobile – Think Multiscreen”

Additional articles that may be of interest:

Photo Credit: mbiebusch

3 Comments | Digital, New Business Trends | Tagged: Ad Agencies, ad agency new business, business development, emerging media, Jeremy Lockhorn, Michael Gass, mobile, Razorfish, Social Media, Yahoo Mobile | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

20 Top Inbound Marketing Resources for the Paradigm Shift in Ad Agency New Business

November 9, 2011

Intersection Consulting

Advertising agencies, PR firms and digital shops should reverse their new business efforts from “Outbound Marketing” techniques to “Inbound Marketing.”

There is a dramatic paradigm shift for acquiring new business opportunities for advertising agencies, digital shops and PR firms. Agencies need to rethink their approach to new business and intensify their focus on inbound tactics, such as creating magnetic content that will attract prospective clients, rather than relying on the traditional interruption model which consumers are responding to less and less.

MarketingSherpa reported in a CMO Study, 80 percent of decision makers said they FOUND their vendors (not the other way around). Inbound Marketing is marketing focused on getting found by customers.

Most agencies are spending the majority of their new business efforts on “Outbound Marketing” tactics such as direct mail, cold calling, email blasts and other efforts that push their message out to a wide, diverse prospective client audience. Their prospects are already inundated with over 2000 interruptions per day. They are becoming experts at blocking out those unsolicited outbound tactics.

It is much more effective and efficient to follow the paradigm shift to “Inbound Marketing” techniques where 100% of your potential clients will begin an agency search by using Google. The internet, coupled with social media marketing and inbound marketing techniques, takes the ability to network and gain referral business to a whole new level. It allows agencies to maintain a top of mind awareness without using interruption tactics and helps to build relationships quickly.

If an agency has been 90% focused on outbound marketing tactics and only 10% on inbound marketing, I recommend that they do just the opposite.

To make this shift effective, the most successful Inbound Marketing programs will have three key parts:

Content – Content is the fuel for this new business engine. It is what attracts potential clients to your site.
Search Engine Optimization – 90% of new business begins with online search.
Social Media – This will amplify the impact of your content.

Those agencies that adapt to this new business paradigm shift from “outbound marketing” methods to “inbound marketing” will have a distinct advantage over their competition. Some are already seeing results.

In a recent 2011 HubSpot ROI Study, 69% of businesses surveyed said that inbound marketing attributed to their lead generation success.

With help from American Business Media and the Business Marketing Association, Junta42 and MarketingProfs surveyed over 1,100 North American B2B marketers from diverse industries and a wide range of company sizes. The survey revealed that inbound marketing was a key lead generation source for 63% of the respondents:

Brand Awareness – 78%
Customer Attention/Loyalty – 69%
Lead Generation – 63%
Website Traffic – 55%
Thought Leadership – 52%
Sales – 51%
Lead Nurturing – 37%

The internet and the rise of social media has changed the nature of ad agency new business and subsequently changed the shape of the sales funnel. That initial client conversation today is much different from the one a decade ago because the prospect often knows as much about your agency as the new business director does and the prospect is already much more “qualified.”

Here are 20 of Fuel Lines’s most popular resources for helping agencies make the shift from outbound marketing to inbound marketing for new business:

Image Credit: Intersection Consulting

3 Comments | Agency Blogs, Content Marketing, Creating Content, New Business Tactics, New Business Trends, Social Media | Tagged: ad agency new business, business development, digital shops, inbound marketing, lead generation, Michael Gass, Public Relations, Social Media | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

12 Initial Steps for Ad Agency New Business Directors

November 3, 2011

Photo Credit dennis.vetu

If you are charged with developing a new business program for a small to midsize ad agency, PR firm or digital shop, then this article is for you.

I’ve often found that new business development people often lack experience. They also usually have responsibilities other than new business development.

If this is your situation, I’ve pulled together a list of brief steps to help you to get a jump-start for your new position.

1. Develop a SWOT analysis and conduct staff interviews.

SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

I recently wrote an article about creating a SWOT analysis that you may want to review as a resource to help you get started. A SWOT analysis was also a part of Steve Jobs’ 12 Rules of Success.

Conducting a SWOT analysis is a very straightforward, non-complicated process for gathering agency information quickly around 4 key categories: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

A SWOT analysis also provides you with a focus for conducting internal staff interviews which will give you some helpful insights into your agency.

2. Review creative and case studies.

Most of the agencies that I work for have a samples room. We always make sure there were samples of creative work to share with prospective clients. If your agency has such a resource, spend time reviewing each piece of creative and creative campaigns.

I would suggest reviewing all of the current creative campaigns. Spend some time with the creative staff and ask them to take you through the process of how each of the campaigns were developed and the results.

Most agencies will have case studies written that you can review. If your agency lacks the case studies, now would be a good time to get these done. This would be helpful to have, even if you have to be the one who gathers the information and writes the studies.

3. Review past RFPs.

This is another way to utilize the information that has been developed for various RFPs and will help you to get up to speed about your agency quickly. From billings, agency experience, past and current clients along with staff profiles. These responses are filled with rich information and will highlight agency experience across a variety of industries and disciplines.

4. Identify and profile your agency’s top 5 competitors.

This information will come together in the development of your SWOT analysis. I would suggest learning as much as you can about your agency’s top competitors.

What accounts were lost to your agency’s competition and why?
How does the competition compare with your agency? Look at staff size, billings, client roster, category experience, location, agency networks, awards, etc.
What are your competitor’s weaknesses?

5. Identify and profile your agency’s best target audience.

Your target audience will become clearer as you progress through these steps. This is a vital step for new business success. Most small to midsize agencies refuse to identify who their target is because of the fear of missing a new business opportunity that won’t be reflective of your target audience. But that doesn’t have to be the case.

No agency can be everything to everybody. If you try to appeal to everyone your agency won’t appeal to anyone.

Agencies may have spent lots of money for someone to tell them who their target is but they lack the will power to publicly state it.

For your purpose as the new business director, you need to know who the target is. I wouldn’t waste time trying to build internal consensus – just go through the process and do it on your own. If you don’t, you won’t be able to successfully go beyond this step to create a new business program that has focus.

6. Identify the best positioning for your agency and create a strong point of differentiation.

Again, you don’t have to have buy-in internally for this to work. You should be able to easily create a positioning and point of differentiation having completed the earlier steps. You will waste a lot of time if you try to reach this decision collectively.

It’s important for you to conduct this step expeditiously to be able to move on to creating a new business plan. Most agencies get stuck in a rut at this step. That’s why they are in a perpetual state branding their agency and can never quite get there. But it’s new business development purgatory so just do it!

7. Create the parameters for qualifying agency prospects.

You can burn up a lot of your energy, along with the energy, good will, creative and financial resources if you aren’t focused on the right prospective clients. You are not charged with mere new business activities, but on the activities that will generate the best return on investment to get your agency the “at-bats” with qualified prospects.

There are a number of tools to assist you in evaluating potential clients and creating a set of parameters for prospects. The List, Hoovers Online and Redbooks to name a few. You can develop parameters by marketing budget, company size, location, etc.

The establishment of parameters for prospective clients will also help with new business focus and eliminate chasing after and wasting resources on the wrong prospects.

8. Set REALISTIC goals and objectives.

There’s a tendency with a lot of agencies to set unrealistic goals when they want to reach the elusive “next level.” You’ll need to be able to accurately describe what the next level looks like and create a realistic, measurable plan on how to get there. Unrealistic goals and objectives will turn into meaningless activities that carry no weight.

9. Create a simple New Business plan built around your agency’s culture and resources.

The plan doesn’t need to be beyond 2 to 3 pages. It should be a realistic plan that takes into consideration the current agency culture and resources available to implement the plan.

I would suggest creating a budget for new business. Taking into consideration both the finances and time investment that it will take to consistently implement.

10. Implement the plan.

Remember, a plan is just a plan until it is implemented. Plan your work and work your plan. This step is that simple.

Remember that consistency is a key component to success. Without consistency the plan is doomed for mediocre success or complete failure. This is also a time for evaluation and adjustments.

11. Evaluate your program monthly and create 1 page report of the measurable results.

I am against a lot of reporting on new business activities. It will bleed valuable time and energy from implementing your new business plan. Bottom line, in the end, you are going to be judged on the qualified “at-bats” you generate rather on the amount of new business activities. You can showcase lots of activities, but if those don’t turn into new business opportunities, your position will be in jeopardy.

That isn’t to say there shouldn’t be any reports on what you’re doing. I would suggest limiting the reporting to a 1 page monthly update that includes measurements against your agency’s new business goals and objectives.

12. Be prepared to make adjustments

Following the monthly evaluation of your program, you should be ready to make any necessary adjustments to your plan. Adjustments are always necessary and an important part of the process.

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