Content Marketing « FUEL LINES Fueling Ad Agency New Business Through Social Media

How to Consistently Create Great Content for Ad Agency New Business

February 22, 2012

Creating original content is a powerful tool to differentiate your agency and create new business opportunities but it is also a big challenge.

Content marketing will provide a foundation for generating leads and turning those leads into new business opportunities as well as build an awareness and positioning for your agency. The biggest challenge will be in finding the time to create the content. But this doesn’t have to be such a daunting task.

The following infographic demonstrates how you can easily create great content if you will remember that writing compelling content isn’t about coming up with something completely original.

The graphic is based on 21 Ways to Create Compelling Content When You Don’t Have a Clue by Copyblogger guest writer Danny Iny.

Like this infographic? Get more content marketing tips from Copyblogger.

Additional content marketing articles that may be of interest:

Leave a Comment » | Content Marketing, Creating Content | Tagged: ad agency new business, blogging, content marketing, Copyblogger, Danny Iny, Infographic, Michael Gass, Social Media | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

A Much Needed Redesign For Fuel Lines

February 20, 2012

Continuing to create helpful content for ad agency new business.

It is more than past due for a redesign of my blog. But, I must say that the old site has served me well and allowed me to create almost 700 blog posts and generate upwards to 50,000 page views per month and a total of generate 1,000,460 total page views before retiring it.

The redesign is being done by the Littlefield Brand Development agency in Tulsa, Oklahoma. David Littlefield, President/CEO, is a good friend and he has Mike Smith, Interactive Manager and Katy Kite, Graphic Designer working on this project. The newly designed blog will be live within a couple of weeks.

There’s been a lot of research and behind the scenes work to have everything in place for the newly designed site. I have finished the migration of almost five years worth of content from the current blog to a site that is hosted by Bluehost. I chose Bluehost because of their close ties with WordPress. Both WordPress and Bluehost have supplied great technical support throughout this process.

I’ve purchased the Minimum Theme plus the Genesis framework through Studiopress for the new blog design. The Minimum themed template is a very clean, easy to navigate template that I think is “Reader-Centric”. Genesis is the framework used by fellow bloggers Jay Baer, Chris Brogen, CopyBlogger, Darren Rowse – ProBlogger and Brian Clark – Copy Blogger plus it is highly recommended by Matt Mullenweg, founder of WordPress.

Studiopress provides great support and updates. They also understand that my needs are to continue to focus and create helpful content, not become or be too reliant upon a programmer.

I’m looking forward to a blog design that I think my readers will appreciate and enjoy. My only regret is not having tackled this sooner. I’ve had to put in the time at the expense of creating content but it will be worth it once the process is finished.

Once the new design is up, I look forward to your feedback to make it an even better experience for all my readers.

Additional updates:

I’m conducting a couple of new business training events for the 4A’s: A Formula for Fueling Ad Agency New Business Seminar, March 14, at Draftfcb Chicago and a 4A’s Webinar, How to Jump Start Agency New Business Through Social Media
I’m also speaking the 2012 New Business Conference, May 1-3, in New York and BOLO 2012, Oct 7-9 in Scottsdale, AZ.

2 Comments | Agency Blogs, Content Marketing | Tagged: ad agency new business, blog redesign, Bluehost, Genesis, Genesis framework, Littlefield Brand Development, Michael Gass, Studiopress, WordPress | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

Ad Agencies Need More Content for New Business

February 7, 2012

All ad agencies need more content as part of their promotional strategy to create and keep a relevant and positive engagement with their best prospects 24/7.

Coca Cola has always been at the forefront of innovation. The company recently announced they were committing to a different marketing strategy that no longer relied on traditional advertising to build their business. Coke will be the first major brand to place a major emphasis on content marketing.

In the videos below, Jonathan Mildenhall, Vice-President, Global Advertising Strategy and Creative Excellence at The Coca-Cola Company is the person leading the global strategy for the Company’s portfolio of global brands. In these two videos called Content 2020, he explains Coke’s new content marketing strategy.

I would urge you to take the time to not only watch these two videos but digest them. Many advertising agencies and companies have yet realized the power of content marketing for their own business. I hope these videos will help give you a better understanding of the importance and potential to drive new business opportunities for ad agencies, PR firms and digital shops.

Chapter 7 describes Coca-Cola’s 70/20/10 plan for content distribution and creation which I think you will find helpful:

70% of content – low risk “bread & butter” content . 50% of time investment. Low risk content will require less time resources to create.
20% of content – innovate off what works to a more specific audience.
10% of content – high risk content, brand new ideas

Here’s the outline for Coca Cola Content 2020:

Chapter 1: How does content excellence approach “liquid and linked content development”?

Chapter 2: The Case for Change – On demand culture

Chapter 3: The Evolution of Storytelling

Chapter 4: Baking Live Positively Into Our Storytelling Plans – a huge creative opportunity

Chapter 5: From Insights To Provocations, The Big Fat Fertile Creative Brief

Chapter 6: Developing Liquid Content – the creation of stories that are expressed through every possible connection. Different processes but the same principles

Chapter 7: Applying the 70/20/10 Investment Principles for Liquid Content

My Story

Since 2007, my new business consultancy for small to midsize ad agencies was built through content marketing

I worked in new business development almost my entire advertising career, but only at agencies in either Birmingham, Alabama or Nashville, Tennessee. There were very few agencies outside of these two states that even knew who I was. But through creating helpful content for my blog, Fuel Lines, I was able to quickly build awareness for my services from my home base in Alabaster, Alabama. One of my first agency clients was 2,058 miles away on the West Coast, in Costa Mesa, CA.

I’ve now worked with over 100 agencies in almost all 50 states, as well as agencies in Canada and the UK. Plus I’ve been able to do generate these new business opportunities without having to rely on distributive outbound marketing tactics such as direct mail and cold calling.

What has worked for me will also work for your agency’s new business.

Additional Content Marketing Resources:

1 Comment | Content Marketing | Tagged: ad agency new business, business development, content marketing, inbound marketing, Jonathan Mildenhall, Michael Gass, outbound marketing, The Coca Cola Company | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

Bob Hoffman’s 101 Contrarian Ideas About Advertising

January 24, 2012

An ad agency principal who is an example on how to use content marketing and social media to build awareness and new business opportunities for your agency.

I am a Bob Hoffman fan. I have read everything he has written, from his book The Ad Contrarian, to every ADWEEK and blog post article and now his new book, 101 Contrarian Ideas About Advertising.

Bob is the CEO of Hoffman/Lewis advertising located in San Francisco and St. Louis. He has created marketing strategies and advertising for some of the world’s most successful companies: McDonald’s, Toyota, Shell, NBC, Pepsico, Bank of America, Nestle, AT&T, Chevrolet, Dole, Blue Cross, Seagrams, Fairmont Hotels, Pebble Beach and others.

I was first introduced to Bob Hoffman through a cbsnews.com article, “Hoffman/Lewis CEO Can’t Stop Cursing and Swearing on His Blog”

Hoffman/Lewis in San Francisco and St. Louis promises on its website to “get beyond the fleeting trends, false goals, and dreadful jargon of contemporary advertising.” But a look at the blog of its CEO, Bob Hoffman(pictured), shows that ‘getting beyond the jargon’ seems to mean dropping the F-bomb as much as possible. The blog is titled “The Ad Contrarian; Cranky opinions and advice from the CEO of a pretty big ad agency.”

Hoffman has a created a large online following as one fan recently wrote, “Your no b.s., take-no-prisoners approach to our business is entertaining, informative, and spot-on…”

Bob’s blog puts a face to the Hoffman/Lewis agency. He comes across as being transparent and blatantly honest. He’s not going to appeal to everyone but those who find him appealing they become ardent fans. They know that Bob will tell it like it is and cut through all the agency B.S. He’s not afraid to tell his readers what he really thinks.

Even though Hoffman often berates social media, he has wisely used it to build awareness for his agency. He has experimented again with a self-published book, 101 Contrarian Ideas About Advertising: The strange world of advertising in 101 delicious bite-size pieces. This is a collection of some of his best blog post articles that have been repurposed in a convenient Kindle eBook.

This was very smart of Bob. With a little bit of work, he gets an even greater return on the time he originally invested in writing these blog post articles. His new book is already a best seller within its category.

The Kindle version is a great buy. Only $2.99, You will also find it to be an excellent, entertaining read.

Hoffman’s take on the advertising industry is refreshing, insightful, amusing and discerning. With the advertising industry in such a state of flux and upheaval, he will keep you grounded. I highly recommend it.

Here’s some additional reviews:

“Bob Hoffman’s perspective is terrific because he continually digs into various heaping piles of advertising hype to discover nuggets of truth. And if he doesn’t find any, he’s not afraid to say how bad it stinks.”

“I just love the way Bob thinks and writes about our crazy business and even more crazy world. This is take no prisoners kind of stuff that is just superbly written always.”

“Bob is one of the smartest guys in the business. His thoughts are not obscured by fads, what’s au courant or quotidian bs. He is a straight-shooter. Honest, to the point and fact-based. Qualities sorely missing in the world today.”

“This book is an insightful, hilarious look at what’s wrong with advertising agencies, with marketing in general, and maybe even the world overall. But it isn’t just for people who work in ad agencies. It’s for anybody who ever saw an ad that sucked and wondered how it got that way. It’s for anybody who works in any kind of job involving generation of new ideas. And yes, it’s for anybody who enjoys “Mad Men.” Bob Hoffman is smarter than Don Draper. He’s funnier than Don Draper. And he’s better looking than… Okay, like I said, Bob Hoffman is definitely smarter and funnier than Don Draper.”

“A funny, enlightening, clear-eyed look at advertising and marketing. Pleasantly didactic and cheerfully challenging of the fables and fantasies that pass for advertising principles.”

Bob shares some insights on the process of writing and promoting his book that I think you will find helpful:

Click Here to review on Amazon.

Leave a Comment » | Agency Leadership, Content Marketing, Promotion, Social Media | Tagged: Ad Agencies, Advertising, agency principals, Bob Hoffman, eBook, Michael Gass, Social Media | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

19 Tips for Building an SEO Strategy for Ad Agency New Business

January 4, 2012

SEO, ad agency blogs, agency new business

Photo credit: marciookabe

Having a search engine optimization strategy, or SEO, is important to support lead generation for ad agency new business.

Most agency business development directors have a marketing strategy and are becoming competent with an inbound lead generation strategy that has as its centerpiece – content marketing. Understanding search engines is an important part to content marketing and blogging. Therefore, it is important for business development directors to become familiar with how search engines work and keep up with what is going on.

Recent changes to Google’s search engine ranking algorithms are already having an impact. Google’s own site, www.blogger.com, has seen a 20% drop in search traffic.

How do you become more knowledgeable, reduce the impact of these inevitable changes and create an SEO strategy for new business?

1. By understanding Google’s bottom line. It is important that you be natural and authentic so you will be less likely affected by Google’s ongoing improvements to its algorithms.

Over 90 % of all Internet users are using search engines and they are the main sources of online traffic. The primary search engine is Google. Google’s goal is, they want their users to find specifically what they are looking for because if they don’t, they will be looking for alternatives.

“The perfect search engine would understand exactly what you mean and give back exactly what you want,” Google’s cofounder and CEO, Larry Page

2. You can also decrease the impact of these inevitable changes, as Google strives to get better, by focusing your content marketing efforts on the basic elements of SEO. These are the key elements of SEO that also will be less likely affected by Google’s changes.

Here are some basic blog SEO tips to help get you started:

Start with a benchmark. Know what your current page rank is and continue to monitor it with tools like Alexa and the Google toolbar.
Your blog’s theme/template can help or hurt your SEO, so review and choose carefully. Most designers are more concerned with good design and less concerned about SEO. The navigation structure of your blog’s template plays a critical role in how it is indexed and crawled by the search engines. Use a navigation structure that enables every page reached within three clicks.
Check your blog’s referer log regularly to track where your visitors are coming from and the search terms they are using to find your site.
Find your ‘niche’ key words. Choosing the most popular search terms will make it nearly impossible to get to the top spot in search. Instead use niche key words that are relevant to your target audience. Place these keywords throughout your blog site: your titles, content, URLs, and image names. Note: the title tag and page header are the two most important spots to put keywords. You can use Google keyword tool to find keywords relevant to your blog. Just be sure not to overdo by stuffing key words, a Black Hat SEO technique that search engines do not approve and will get your site penalized.
You should make it standard to build internal links back to your archives when creating new content. I invite readers to check other articles that might be of interest, at the bottom of almost every post article that I write. Also remember to always link back to sources cited in your post articles as it is bad etiquette not to do so. You will build quality ‘back-links’ by creating link-worthy content.
Choose a meaningful title and add a descriptor statement that is included in the metadata and under the description title. Mine is “Fueling ad agency new business through social media.”
Pick the right domain name. Try to pick a domain name that says something about your blog site’s content.
The single most important thing you can do is to consistently provide high-quality content on your blog. Google has become good at weeding out poor quality web pages.
Add URL to Google. Improve your site’s visibility in Google search results. It’s free. To get started, simply add and verify your site and you’ll start to see information right away.
Be sure and send a Sitemap using Google Webmaster Tools. A site map is a page listing and linking to all the other major pages on your site and makes it easier for spiders to search your site.
Make your URLs more search-engine friendly by naming them with clear keywords.
Be sure to include the alternative text descriptions for all photos, images and videos. Spiders can only search text, not text in your images. Start with your image names: adding an “ALT” tag allows you to include a keyword-rich description for every image on your site.
Take the time to include blog post tags. Tags are one or two words that briefly describe what your article is all about. I also include any person, entity or publication mentioned in a post. Search engines use tags to index and find your posts faster.
SEO and social media marketing have become intrinsically intertwined so be sure you are utilizing social media. You should grow your social media community and using social media platforms and tools to ‘push-out’ new content and pull-in website traffic.
Your content should be fresh. Updating your content regularly and often is crucial for increasing traffic. The more recent Google update, dubbed the “Freshness” update, designed to rank newer content higher in search results.
Google has started adding Google+ brand pages in search results and some predict that Google will make it harder to do SEO without Google + . I would recommend that you get started by setting up your Google + account and take part.

It would be helpful for you to know how Google finds web pages matching a search query and determines the order of the results.

How does Google find web pages matching your query, and decides the order of search results? Check out this helpful summary of Google Basics. Another helpful resource is Google’s Webmaster Guidelines to help Google find, index, and rank your site. Here’s also a handy, downloadable Search Engine Optimization Startet Guide. Look up unfamiliar SEO terms using the Search Engine Marketing Glossary

This is an excellent guide for WordPress bloggers: Must See SEO Guide for All WordPress Bloggers

Additional articles that might be of interest:

Photo credit: marclookabe

6 Comments | Content Marketing, New Business Tips, SEO, Social Media | Tagged: Ad Agencies, business development, CEO Larry Page, content marketing, Google, Michael Gass, new business, Search Engine Optimization, SEO, SEO Strategy | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

Content Marketing is Hard Work: 4 Tips to Make it Easier

December 15, 2011

Content marketing is the wave of the future for ad agency new business, but to have success you will need to make advance preparations to consistently deliver quality content.

I’ve recently written my 650th blog post article. I have a sense of jubilation mainly because I had been battling one of the most serious bouts of “writers block” since starting my blog. I had dealt with this dreaded writers malady in the past but I have never had this much trouble overcoming it.

Writer’s block is a condition, primarily associated with writing as a profession, in which an author loses the ability to produce new work. The condition varies widely in intensity. It can be trivial, a temporary difficulty in dealing with the task at hand. At the other extreme, some “blocked” writers have been unable to work for years on end, and some have even abandoned their careers. Wikepedia

If you are discovering just how difficult it is to write and create quality content, you aren’t alone. Here’s a collection of notable quotes on the challenges of writing:

“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” Red Smith
“I’m writing a book. I’ve got the page numbers done.” Steven Wright
“Writing is easy: All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.” Gene Fowler
“I’m not a very good writer, but I’m an excellent rewriter.” James Michener
“Every writer I know has trouble writing.” Joseph Heller
“When something can be read without effort, great effort has gone into its writing.” Enrique Jardiel Poncela
“I do not like to write – I like to have written.” Gloria Steinem
“Writing is the flip side of sex – it’s good only when it’s over.” Hunter S. Thompson
“Being a good writer is 3% talent, 97% not being distracted by the Internet.” Anonymous
“Easy reading is damn hard writing.” Nathaniel Hawthorne

There is nothing mystical about writing, it is simply hard work. It begins with deciding on the purpose of your writing and who you are writing for. What is the benefit to your readers? What is the benefit to you? It’s also about making a serious time commitment and then grunting the work out until you get it done.

Here are some tips that I would suggest to make content creation easier:

Know your audience: One of the first things you MUST do is to identify who your audience is. Then you must focus your content toward their marketing challenges and needs. Use your analytics for instant feed back to know what content is appealing and what isn’t. Your audience will become the guide for your writing.
Keep your objective top-of-mind: You are writing with a purpose. Use content marketing to generate new business opportunities for the agency by building awareness, lead generation, referrals and positioning as a thought leader. If you don’t have a clear objective you will be wasting your time.
Commit to create original content: Many agencies are trying to take the easy way out by only curating the content of others. There is a place for curating content, but note that original content is in great demand. You will get the best return of your time investment if you are the one that is creating the content that others are curating. That’s where the gold is.
Develop a process for delivering content consistently: Small to midsize agencies should develop a content marketing team, but be sure to name the team leader. If everyone is responsible then no one is. A designated person should be responsible for setting up and managing the editorial calendar and edits as well as managing the content delivery process. I’m hearing from many agencies that have recently created a position of Content Director who oversees the creation of content on behalf of the agency as well as agency clients. I think this is a smart move. Agencies can also hire a freelancer to oversee and manage the process remotely.

Here are some additional articles to help with your agency’s content creation:

7 Comments | Content Marketing, Creating Content, New Business Trends | Tagged: Ad Agencies, business development, content curation, content marketing, Gloria Steinem, Michael Gass, new business, Red Smith | 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

A 70 Point Checklist for Jump-Starting or Tuning-Up Your Blog for New Business

September 29, 2011

You should evaluate your agency’s blog to optimize its potential as a tool for lead generation, referrals and networking.

There is a dramatic paradigm shift for acquiring new business opportunities for small to midsize ad agencies. Agencies need to rethink their approach to new business and intensify their focus for creating magnetic content that will attract prospective clients, rather than relying primarily on the interruption model of cold calls and unsolicited direct mail, which consumers are responding to less and less.

Creating new business opportunities through social media is growing. In a recent Ad Agency New Business Survey that I conducted, 64% of the 430 responding ad agencies said they now have a blog. Unfortunately, a number of these blogs are not optimized for new business.

I’ve compiled the following 70 point check-list to help “jump-start” or “tune-up”agency blogs for new business:

Identify your audience. This will help to make your writing easier and more focused.
State the purpose of your blog. Create a descriptor statement in the blog’s Header. A one sentence summation of the purpose for your blog. Expand upon the descriptor statement in a “Welcome” section in your blog’s sidebar.
Make sure that your blog’s benefit to your visitors is crystal clear.
Reading fuels your writing. You need a good strategic reading program with a clear focus that is centered upon your audience’s interest and needs.
Have calls-to-action that are clear. What do you want your audience to do? They can subscribe to your newsletter, inquire about your services, download a white-paper or eBook, email you their questions, etc.
Create each post title with the keywords you want to dominate through search (i.e. “ad agency new business”). It is also helpful to flag a targeted audience through Twitter and let them know the content is specific to their needs.
The first sentence of your post should be the “takeaway or benefit statement”. Just simply answer the question, what will be my takeaway or benefit if I commit to read this post? Lead with the conclusion.
Have a distinct point-of-differentiation.
Remember that online readers prefer writing that is concise, easy to scan, and objective (rather than promotional) in style.
Focus on providing quality information over the quantity of posts being generated.
Build relationships with your readers by integrating your blog with Facebook, Google +, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Your blog should become a repository of valued information for your audience. This means that it’s not all original content. I recommend writing 1 original post for every 4 or 5 resource posts.
Use bulleted or numbered lists often. Readers love them.
Highlighted keywords (hypertext links serve as one form of highlighting; typeface variations and color are others).
Publish on a regular schedule. Be consistent in delivering at least 3 to 5 posts per week. This will keep your readers coming back for more. Also, frequently updated content makes search engines happy.
Build credibility and authority for your niche.
Highlight your successes through a featured page such as Press, Awards or your Profile page.
Write headlines that are benefit driven.
Evaluate and improve your writing so that it stands out among the crowd.
Make your posts easy to find and your blog simple to navigate.
Highlight popular posts.
Provide links to additional resources. I almost always provide “Additional articles that may be of interest” at the end of most of my post, linking to similar content from my blog and other sources. It also will keep your visitors on your site longer and improve their experience.
Half the word count (or less) than conventional writing. Usually 350 to 450 words.
Demonstrate how you stand out in your niche. Provide testimonials, comments, featured articles, endorsements, and statistics—in text, audio, and video format through additional linked blog pages or specialty pages.
Provide one call-to-action with clear instructions above the fold.
Avoid jargon and agency speak.
Provide headlines and sub headlines that make it easy for readers to skim your piece before reading the entire article.
Don’t use white writing on black or colored background that makes it hard for people to read.
Create or choose a blog layout that isn’t cluttered or confusing.
Provide captions (where appropriate) on photos that are keyword rich and benefit-driven.
Don’t use too many fonts, colors, and sizes.
Check to see that your blog is quick to load.
Have a clean, simple, banner at the top of your blog that creates the right feeling on your site. A personal rather than corporate feel.
Break-up long text with sub-headings, bullet points, italics, indention, photos and graphics.
Your opt-in should be above the fold.
Provide an incentive for visitors to give you their name and email.
Only ask for opt-in information that you intend to utilize.
Don’t adhere to the belief that if you “build it and they will come”.
Test, monitor and fine tune your blog regularly.
Use offline-to-online marketing to further promote your blog.
Collect blog stats on results weekly, or per campaign.
In the early phase of promoting your blog, consider paid traffic, Facebook PPC and banner ads.
Build or buy email lists as you build your opt-in list for your niche. A good resource would be The List out of Atlanta, GA.
Write guest articles for other blogs in your niche and even other niches.
Submit your blog post to online directories.
Facilitate referral opportunities through your blog.
Interact regularly through social media—Facebook, Google +, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Run competitions. I’ve generated a lot of traffic to my blog through an “Agency Blog of the Month” contest that culminated into an “Agency Blog of the Year”.
Conduct online surveys and polls through your blog at least quarterly and share results in a post article, PRWeb or PR Newswire.
Create partnering and promotional opportunities with online thought leaders in your niche.
Find ways, through your blog, to help your readers engage with one another.
Write with an “evergreen” style that allows your blog posts to have a long shelf-life and provide a greater return on your time investment.
Write for fast comprehension.
Be sure to include a photo or graphic for each post to add some additional flavor. Use only images that you have rights to or Creative Commons-licensed content that you can find through photo sharing service such as Flicker.com.
Repurpose content. Someone that finds one of your blog post through search might click-through to another post because you have repurposed it through an email newsletter, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or Google +.
Carefully think through your blog’s heading. A “heading” is a stand-alone phrase that describes your blogs content that appear below it. I usually advise clients to create a blog descriptor statement for the header that lets a reader and search engines know the purpose and intent of the content such as “Fueling Ad Agency New Business Through Social Media.”
Write consistently: This is important to creating regular readership. Write at least 3 to 5 posts per week.
Make sure that your blog’s content stays focused and relevant to your target audience. Especially when developing curated content. Curation is essentially the organizing and sharing (some might even say “repackaging”) of content in ways that are meaningful to a specific target audience. There is a lot of great information you can glean from online that is not related to your readership, but you can easily make them relevant.
Be sure you own your domain name. A person that still has “wordpress or blogspot” in their domain won’t be able to change blogging platforms without losing traffic. This is a huge mistake.
Be sure your site is indexed with Google. If your pages are not indexed, then Google is not crawling them.
Build quality inbound links.There are many online business directories where you can just submit your URL, agency’s name and a description of your services.
Make sure your content can be easily shared on Facebook, Twitter, Linked, as well as social bookmarking sites such as Digg, dell.icio.us and StumbleUpon with Share buttons.
Jump-start traffic by repurposing your blog’s content through an email newsletter that is sent every-other-week. Don’t assume that because you’ve written a post, everyone has read it. You should always assume just the opposite.
Build a sizable Twitter following that is targeted using TweetAdder and repurpose your blog content to your Twitter account using a program such as Social Oomph. Twitter can become your blog’s number one tool for generating targeted traffic.
Invite others to guest post for your blog but be selective.
Be proactive in facilitating speaking opportunities by creating a “Speakers Page” for your blog, list the topics and titles that you can speak to.
Place your RSS Subscription Feed button above the fold, near the top of you blog’s homepage.
Also place a subscription for your email newsletter within your blog’s sidebar to create Opt-Ins from site visitors.
Review your blog site’s analytics daily to see what posts are generating the most traffic, what search terms are being used, where traffic is coming from, who is linking to you, links readers clicked on, page views, etc.
Create a first-step call-to-action for your readers to know how to initially engage with your services. This could be a market or brand audit, or a workshop. Whatever it is, make it something simple and of good value . Price it low so that it doesn’t require a lot of time to consider. It will at least pay for your time in front of a prospect and lead to more new business opportunities. A call-to-action will also help separate your qualified prospects from those that just want to pick your brain for free.

Some additional agency blogging resources:

7 Comments | Agency Blogs, Content Marketing, Creating Content, New Business Trends, Social Media | Tagged: advertising agencies, blogs, business development, content curation, content marketing, lead generation, Michael Gass, networking, referrals, Social Media | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

5 Ways Social Media Marketing Makes New Business Easier

September 23, 2011

Photo Credit NCinDC

For agency new business, you need to look at social media as a saviour not a nemesis; an asset rather than a liability; a time saver rather than a time killer.

Having spent most of my advertising career in new business development I can tell you that social media marketing is the most efficient new business tool that I have ever used.

Here are 5 ways social media marketing makes agency new business easier:

1. Social media marketing allows agencies to easily define and adopt a differentiating new business strategy

The FOUNDATION of an ad agency’s new business program is its positioning.

When you have the right positioning, it’s like fishing for a specific fish, using a particular bait. You know where the fish are, what bait is most appealing to them, the right equipment to use and you have developed the expertise to catch the real trophies.

Small to midsize agencies have been reluctant to name what they stand for. Social media marketing allows agencies to adopt a narrower niche and a more differentiating strategy than they would be comfortable in doing through their website.

“We just landed a significant project with Coca-Cola purely through our sustainable marketing niche. The best compliment we could receive was when they said our price was waaay more than the next bid, but given our background in green marketing and sustainability, that it was worth the extra investment. Finally, a value over price purchase. Love it” – Park Howell, president of Park & CO

“Just thought I would let you know. We are participating in a pitch tomorrow for another national account. This opportunity is 100% related to our agency’s new positioning through our blog, She-conomy: A guy’s guide to marketing to women” – Stephanie Holland, president, Holland + Holland Advertising

Holland + Holland advertising, through their blog, She-conomy, has now been invited to 3 national pitches as a result of their differentiating positioning. Nothing like this had ever happened before in their 25 year history. They even had trouble with local press coverage of their anniversary. But through social media, they have been recognized by Forbes, The Wall Street Journal and NPR radio.

Stephanie had never been comfortable stepping out with this positioning prior to social media. She was like other agency principals who felt that they would be missing opportunities.

Here are a couple of other examples:

The Littlefield ad agency, Tulsa, OK, is carving out a niche through their The One Thing blog: The casino marketers guide to understanding gamers, written by the agency’s new business director, Kelly Fiddner.
MAX Advertising, Atlanta, GA, has created The Matte Pad, Marketing know how for the legal profession, written by its CEO, Tom Matte.

The way these agencies are using social media as a differentiating tool doesn’t impact the way the have obtained new business in the past. It doesn’t impede the networking and referral business that is generated offline. MAX advertising will still obtain new business outside of legal marketing and even though Littlefield is focused on casino marketers, it doesn’t impact winning a sizable local bank as a new client.

Why would a prospective client, outside of your market, want to work with your agency? Why would they pass over hundreds of other agencies to work with yours? Through a differentiating social media marketing strategy you can give them a reason.

2. Social media marketing provides an easy system to create intellectual capital and share your area of expertise

Social media marketing is effectively driven by content development and curation. This in turn provides a customized continuing education program for your professional enrichment, keeping you ahead of the learning curve and positioning as a thought leader.

An added plus, social media marketing pays for you to go back to school! What you do for professional enrichment will also provide your FUEL for new business.

3. Social media marketing lessens dependency upon new business tactics that rely on interruption tactics

I’m a cold caller from way back and have had much success with it in the past. But times are changing rapidly. Cold calling isn’t what it use to be and it isn’t an efficient or effective method for agency new business. You make dozens of calls to find the right prospect and the right time but you still have to go through the “dating process”.

Social media marketing has the potential for building prospective client relationships much faster than cold calling.

Can you imagine a prospective client picking up the phone and initiating a call for the first meeting with your agency? It doesn’t happen very often. That’s not the norm. The vast majority of the time, small to midsize agencies, PR firms and digital shops are chasing after new business opportunities.

Having steadily grown my consultancy over the past 4 years, I have yet to make an initial call for any new business. I strategically built awareness and appeal through my social media networks.

Prospective clients call and those initial conversations are much further down-the-road. They talk to me as if they know me, because they do know me. I’ve built a relationship with them online through the use of social media and when they make that call, they are usually ready to do business. You skip the dating process and move straight to the altar.

Why? People want to work with other people that they KNOW, TRUST and LIKE. Social media is an efficient and effective communication channel that allows relationships to be built much faster than they could be offline.

For instance, to have a physical, initial meeting here in my home town of Birmingham, Alabama would take much longer and is less efficient than the way I generate new business opportunities online through my social media networks.

I can be building a relationship with an agency in Costa Mesa, California while simultaneously I’m doing the same with an agency in Portland, Maine and Miami, Florida. I am doing this while I’m networking internationally through a network of agencies in South Africa and a couple of agencies in London.

All of this networking is taking place from my home office located above my garage in Alabaster, Alabama or from where ever I happen to be.

4. Social media marketing allows agencies to broaden their market

Small to midsize ad agencies can affordably build a national awareness.

Prior to using social media for new business, The Russo Group in Lafayette, LA, 94% of their new business came from within their market. Since implementing social media, 94% of their new business has been generated outside their market and has extended their business in over 9 different states.

The growth clients well outside of their market of Lafayette had never happened before. Social media marketing made the difference.

Not long ago I received this message from a midsize agency located outside of Cleveland, Ohio:

“Kudos to all! Our social program is generating leads and business from around the world. Earlier this year got a client out of Australia and currently talking to a company in Japan that follows me on twitter” – John Sonnhalter, CEO, SONNHALTER

This agency has a very narrow niche, manufacturers who target professional tradesmen, plumbers, electricians, contractors. They’ve been able to play to their strengths because social media marketing broadens their business opportunities.

5. Social media marketing helps create consistent new business practices

You can keep your prospective pipeline full even when your agency is at its busiest. Once you develop your social media marketing strategy and get it in place, it will take little effort to keep it working on your behalf.

We previously owned a houseboat that was docked at a marina in Nashville, TN. I often would make the 250 mile drive to spend time on the boat. I absolutely loved the atmosphere and the culture around the docks at Black Jack Cove Marina. My new business pipeline didn’t suffer when I spent weeks there. Often I would be sitting on the back of the boat watching the sun set while cranking out another blog post and engaging with new business prospects hundreds of miles away.

I can easily create, maintain and grow new prospective client relations through my social media network. It is similar to how I would network offline but much more efficient. It is like networking on steroids.

Additional articles that may be of interest:

4 Comments | Agency Blogs, Content Marketing, New Business Trends, Social Media | Tagged: ad agency new business, content marketing, Michael Gass, she-conomy, social media marketing, SONNHALTER, Stephanie Holland, The Russo Group | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

Ten Toughest Content Marketing Challenges for Ad Agency New Business

August 28, 2011

Original content is by far the most difficult and important tactic to fuel ad agency new business through social media.

Speakers for Content Marketing World 2011, recently shared some of their biggest content marketing challenges in a pre conference Q&A orchestrated by Content Development Director of the Content Marketing Institute. I’ve pulled some of the best challenges and insights from among these speakers.

Here are the top 10 to help with your content marketing challenges:

1. Quality Content

‘The very act of staying focused on quality is one of the most important things you can do if you’re serious about your craft.” Susan Blue, @susangrayblue.

Lots of agencies soon become lazy in content creation. If you can’t see the value and won’t commit the time you won’t have success with content marketing for new business.

2. Understanding Your Audience

Understanding your customers well enough to develop content that is useful and relevant for them. Allison Bolen, @alisonbolen.

One of the first things you MUST do is to identify who your audience is. Most agencies are generalists. They want to appeal to EVERYBODY. If you try appealing to everyone you won’t appeal to anyone. No appeal, no online traffic = no new business leads.

3. Keeping Your Objective Top of Mind

It is critical to always keep your business objectives top of mind and use them to guide your content strategy. Cam Brown, @CamBrown1.

If you want to greatly boost agency network and referral business, social media is key and the cornerstone for your social media initiatives should be in content development. If not, social media can be a great waste of time.

4. Empowering the Time and Resources

Being allowed by their superiors to take the time, energy, and resources to do it right. CC Chapman, @cc_chapman.

Agency principals must first be convinced of the value of content creation for agency new business, then be willing to commit the right person(s), time and resources toward it.

5. Resources and Focus

Unless a marketing organization has the resources and focus to get content created, it will always be difficult to accomplish content marketing goals. Pawan Deshpande, @TweetsFromPawan.

The tighter your niche, the easier content creation will become. Less time, a better focus and a greater return on the time invested.

6. Creating an Internal Process

With content, and the evolving forms of content for customer engagement, it’s critical that there’s a process internally that enables successful creation and delivery. Barbara Gago, @BarbraGago.

Content creation will require a system for your agency to have success. Create and implement a plan of action: One person who is responsible, realistic goals and objectives set, resources gathered and organized, plan your work and work your plan.

7. Having an Initial Base of Content

It’s incredibly difficult to develop interesting and relevant campaigns if you’ve not built a library of content that you can pull from throughout the fiscal year. Nate Riggs, @nateriggs.

When I consult with agencies, creating a new business program fueled through social media, the first thing I have them do is create 60 blog posts in 60 days. It then gives us our library of content that we can repurpose through many other channels and have a base that fresh content is consistently being added. Also, when you create this initial library of content within a short time frame, helps to work out the bugs of your internal processes.

8. Writing Content that Will Relate

Learning to write and communicate in a way that is completely and utterly on the level of their audience, not the level of the industry professional.Marcus Sheridan, @TheSalesLion.

Agency’s are bad about using agency speak, when talking and presenting to prospects. Agency speak doesn’t resonate with prospects and isn’t very appealing. They tend to carry over this habit when creating online content. They will need to learn to write in a manner that is reflective of the audience you are trying to reach.

9. Just Doing It

Most people seem to know what they should be doing; the trouble is actually getting it done. Consistency counts for everything.Todd Wheatland, @ToddWheatland.

If you can’t be consistent, your efforts are going to be in vain. As you create a program for content creation you should think in terms of “what is sustainable when our agency is at its busiest”. So begin this process with an action plan, using the K.I.S.S. principle. A plan is just a plan until its executed, so set dates and get started.

Consistency is much more important than perfection. It will be much easier to make changes if you get the process moving.

10. Presenting the Right Content, to the Right Audience in the Right Ways

Consistently coming up with new, timely, interesting ways to present the right content to the right audiences. Arnie Kuenn, @ArnieK

Currently an agency blog is one of the best platforms for delivering content to your prospective client audience. This will evolve and change over time. Other ways that you can disseminate content landing pages, email newsletters, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google +, etc.

For additional information and helps, click on the following link to read Michele Linn’s article, Content Marketers Reveal Their Toughest Challenges, written for the Content Marketing Institute. I would also encourage you to explore the Content Marketing, a great resource for how-to of content marketing.

Additional articles to help with your agency’s content creation:

Image credit: Hubspot

9 Comments | Best Practices, Content Marketing, SEO, Social Media | Tagged: ad agency, Content Marketing Institute, Content Marketing World, Michael Gass, Michele Linn, new business | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

Social Media: 10 Idea Starters to Keep Fresh Content Churning

August 9, 2011

Content creation is an important part of social media success for ad agency new business, but it is also difficult to maintain without a little help.

I’m going on my 5th year of creating content for my blog. I’ve found that my reading always seems to help fuel my writing and inspire ideas.

So first and foremost, establish a focused reading program that is centered around a specific target audience. When you do, finding resources and developing content becomes mush easier because it is focused.

Here are 10 additional idea starters, along with examples, to help keep you going:

Take non-relevant content and make it relevant to your audience. This is one of the most important tips that I can share with you. There is so much great information online. Most of it won’t be related to your readership but you can easily make it relevant as I did in this post, “When it comes to new business Ad Agencies are ADHD.” I was reading about multitasking and ADHD from a number of online resources, and knew this type of information would be very helpful for agency new business, particularly given the working environment and culture typical of most agencies.
Become a reporter at events you attend by conducting on site interviews, take photos and video. Compile a top 10 highlights’ post of the event. You probably will come away with enough material for several blog posts. I was able to interact with attendees of Ad Age’s first Small Agency Conference. From my social media interactions I wrote this article: 50 of the Best Insights from Ad Age’s First Ever Small Agency Conference. The amazing thing – I wasn’t there!
Create a bulleted list of things to avoid. I’m currently working on a list of “Top 10 Non-productive Office Traps and Solutions for Avoiding Them.”
Use a celebrity to enhance a top 10 list. One post that generates the most traffic to my site, “Steve Jobs 10 Presentation Tactics for Ad Agency New Business.” Be sure and connect the benefits to your particular readership. Make it specific to them and their needs.
Provide resources. Share resources that are specific to your readership’s industry. Here are a couple of examples of resources that I’ve shared: “10 Reading Resources for Ad Agency New Business” and “The Top 14 List of Advertising Agency Networks for New Business.” I wrote a post about agency networks because so many agencies were asking about them and I found very few online sources. I researched and grouped this information conveniently together for my readers. This also helped put me on the radar of many of these agency networks.
If you’ve been writing for a while, revise an older post and beef-it-up with current information, stats, etc. A lot of the information for this article, “3 Quick Tips for Developing a Consistent Program for Ad Agency New Business”, was gleaned from a post that I had written in 2008. I took some of the more important elements to highlight and expand upon in this post. It isn’t copying a pasting, having mirrored content. This takes some work but much easier and quicker than developing a post from scratch while still creating content that is of good value to your readers.
Conduct an industry survey. You can generate some great PR by conducting your own primary research and propagating the results through your social media network, online tools such as PRNewswire and PRWeb. You can generate a number of post as you expand upon pieces of the survey in various posts. Here’s an article that was written on a survey that I conducted, “Ad Agency Survey Finds Traditional New Business Methods Aren’t Working.” The survey became a magnet for a significant amount of web traffic to my site as other bloggers and columnist wrote articles based on my research.
A quick turn around of research and a post can come from conducting a simple online poll. I wrote this post on an ongoing poll being conducted by Mirren Business Development, “The number one reason ad agencies new business plans fail.”
Develop your own online contest. A great jump-starter for my blog’s traffic occurred when I conducted an Ad Agency Blog of the Month contest. Agencies submitted their blogs, readers would review them in a post I created and they would cast their vote of their favorite. A follow-up post announced and highlighted the winner from each month. At the end of the year, a blog synopsis of the 12 Agency Blog of the Month winners was created and vote taken for the Ad Agency Blog of the Year. Here’s a sample article from 2010, “Vote for Fuel Lines’s Ad Agency Blog of the Year.”
Set up an editorial calendar for guest posts. Solicit industry experts who are glad to contribute if you give them enough lead time. Guest posts’ can be a huge help and provide some relief during summer breaks and holidays and keep good, helpful content churning out for your audience. Here’s a guest post, written specifically for my audience, by Jay Baer, “Ad Agencies: Don’t Turn Your Back on Digital”

The content that you create will propel your positioning as an expert so it’s worth the price of your time investment.

Here’s a good example: Kelly Fiddner, Business Development Director for Littlefield Brand Development, Tulsa, OK, writes the agency’s blog, “The One Thing: The casino marketer’s guide to understanding gamers.” Within just a few months, Kelly is being recognized for her thought leadership.

Kelly was recently featured in a gaming industry publication iNTERGAMING in this New Technology Interview, because of her content development that is specific to the advertising/marketing needs of the gaming industry.

Additional content marketing articles that may be of interest:

14 Comments | Content Marketing, New Business Tips, New Business Tools, New Business Trends, Social Media | Tagged: Ad Agencies, ad agency new business, blogs, content curation, content development, Jay Baer, Kelly Fiddner, Littlefield Brand Development, Michael Gass, PRNewswire, PRWeb, twtpoll | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

New Roper Study: 9 in 10 CMOs See Value in Content Marketing

April 20, 2011

To create new business opportunities for your agency through social media, content is critical.

“… marketers will need to rethink their approach to advertising and marketing and intensify their focus on creating magnetic content that will naturally attract consumers, rather than relying solely on the interruption model of advertising, which consumers are responding to less and less. Think pull vs. push.” Geoff Ramsey, CEO, Co-Founder of eMarketer.

New research from Roper GFK and presented by the Custom Content Council highlights the point that content should be a significant part of a marketer’s mix.

In a survey of more than 100 CMOs, respondents were measurably more accepting of custom-content solutions. Among the survey highlights:

More than 8 in 10 (83%) say they are receptive toward using custom content in their marketing plans, representing a 16 point increase since the last study.
Almost 9 in 10 CMOs say they see value in the service provided by custom content, representing a 15 point increase from 2006.
More than 9 in 10 CMOs believe that custom content has a positive effect on audience attitudes, strengthening the bond with consumers.
9 in 10 say that they believe a majority of consumers find useful information in custom media and 85% believe that consumers who receive custom content will be more likely to buy from the sponsoring company again.
A majority of CMOs believe that custom media will capture a larger proportion of marketing budgets over the next couple of years. 59% percent report having shifted marketing funds away from traditional advertising in the last year toward custom content, representing an 18 point increase from 2006.
Close to half (47%) strongly agree, and 91% strongly/somewhat agree that custom content should be an integral part of the marketing mix for any business. 84% strongly/somewhat agree that custom content represents the future of marketing.

“While print remains the choice du jour for most custom media programs, new media channels are providing more growth opportunities for the custom content industry,” said Lori Rosen, Executive Director, Custom Content Council, “Content has become the mantra for today’s savvy marketers”

Click on the following link for additional resources from the Custom Content Council and the article: What CMOS Think About When They Think About Custom Content

10 Comments | Agency Leadership, Content Marketing, New Business Trends, Social Media | Tagged: ad agency new business, Custom Content Council, Geoff Ramsey, Lori Rosen, Michael Gass | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

10 Tips for Writing for the Web for Ad Agency New Business

March 3, 2011

To fuel ad agency new business through social media, creating content is critical.

According to a social media study by King Fish Media, HubSpot and Junta42, original content, both branded and expert, is by far the most employed tactic for social media.

And … “businesses (agencies) that blog, get 55% more website traffic than those that don’t.”

Creating valuable content increases website traffic that will equate into new business leads. But writing for web can be daunting, even for experienced copywriters. They are often the ones that struggle the most with making the transition from print to web.

“Content marketing is a commitment, not a campaign.” – Jon Buscall

It doesn’t matter how great you write if no one finds your content and if they do find it, there’s no benefit to you unless they read it.

You need to think carefully about structuring and formatting your online content to ensure your readers find it and read it. Here are my 10 tips to help you write better for the Web:

Provide a Reader’s Digest or Executive Summary version. Readers love bullet pointed and numbered lists. That’s why so many readers are attracted to post titles that offer 10 tips or 25 ideas, etc.The work you do on behalf of your readers to simplify will be greatly appreciated and keep them coming back for more.
Key words in every post titles. Write for SEO. It doesn’t matter how great your article is if no one can find it. A simple tip to help boost your rankings in Google search is to identify and use certain key words in every post title. 90% of my posts will contain ‘ad agency new business’ in the title. It helps not only for search but will also help drive ‘targeted traffic’ as your posts are repurposed through Twitter. With only 140 characters that you can use for Twitter, that’s not much more than your title and a shortened URL.
Lead with the conclusion. I advise that you begin each post by starting with the conclusion, a take-away or benefits statement. Just answer this question, ‘what is my benefit if I commit to read this post?’
Break up long paragraphs. A reader’s attention span online is much less than for print. Readers tend to scan instead of reading word-for-word. Keep paragraphs concise and short.
Be sure and provide hyper links to your sources. Don’t be afraid that you will lose your audience if they go to another source. Your blog should become a repository of helpful resources for your readers.
Make your content scannable to the eye. Use bold, italics, quotation marks, indention, etc. to make copy pop. A person should be able to quickly scan through your article and get the most important parts.
Write in an Inverted Pyramid style. Similar to the way a newspaper reported would write, the most important copy should be at the top of your post.
Use common language. This is an opportunity to do away with industry jargon and agency speak and write content that resonates with your intended audience.
Get to the point, quickly. Online readers are extremely impatient. If you wade into a story and it takes 3 or 4 paragraphs to make show how it relates, you will have lost your audience before you’ve made your point.
Make your post visually pleasing. I always include a nice photo or graphic to further drive home the main purpose of a post. Using them will create interest and help draw in a reader.

Here are some additional agency blogging resources that may be a help to get you started:

6 Comments | Agency Blogs, Content Marketing | Tagged: Ad Agencies, ad agency new business, content marketing, Hubspot, Michael Gass, Social Media, writing for web | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

2011 Trends: Content Marketing Is Critical to Ad Agency New Business

January 14, 2011

Content is the most important asset in using social media for ad agency new business.

In the 2011 RSW/US New Year Outlook Report, 77% of Agency Principals indicate that they plan on getting more aggressive on the agency new business front in 2011. ”Networking” and “Social Media” are the top two ways agency principals state they’re going to “get aggressive.”

It’s great to know that agencies are planning to be more aggressive with their social media efforts. But please note that even more than technology, original content is the key to success.

According to a social media study by King Fish Media, HubSpot and Junta42, original content, both branded and expert, is by far the most employed tactic for social media.

“Next year [2011], marketers will need to rethink their approach to advertising and marketing and intensify their focus on creating magnetic content that will naturally attract consumers, rather than relying solely on the interruption model of advertising, which consumers are responding to less and less. Think pull vs. push.” Geoff Ramsey, CEO, Co-Founder of eMarketer

Here are 10 Content Marketing resources that will provide you with some best content creation practices along with unique insights, practical advice and tips:

Some additional content resources that you might find helpful: Ad Agencies: 97 Articles on How To Write Effectively for the Social Web

Click on the following link for a downloadable copy of the 2011 RSW/US New Year Outlook Report! or the study by King Fish Media, HubSpot and Junta42, 2010 Social Media Usage, Attitudes and Measurability : What Do Marketers Think?

12 Comments | Best Practices, Content Marketing, Fuel for Thought, New Business Trends | Tagged: ad agency new business, content marketing, eMarketer, Geoff Ramsey, Hubspot, Junta42, King Fish Media, Michael Gass, RSW/US, Social Media | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

6 Simple Steps for Using Content Marketing to Attract Ad Agency New Business

August 4, 2010

Relevant and valuable content will attract a clearly defined and understood target audience.

Content marketing is an overarching term that involves the creation and sharing of content for the purpose of engaging your prospective clients. Educating your potential clients results in building your agency’s brand awareness and recognition as a thought leader and industry expert. The primary objective is lead generation for new business opportunities.

Here are 6 steps for using content marketing to attract prospective clients:

First, define your target audience
Second, determine what are their marketing and advertising challenges, “what keeps them up at night”
Third, create a blog as your central communication platform that becomes a repository of information, “a one stop shop” that provides consistent solutions, rich helpful content
Fourth, continually measure how well you’re doing and adjust as you go
Fifth, “Jump start” your blog’s traffic, accelerate its growth by repurposing content through other social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn using third party tools to that help to make the process easy to manage and time efficient.
Sixth, now, what you’ve done for yourself, do for your clients

Additional articles that may be of interest:

11 Comments | Agency Blogs, Agency Leadership, Best Practices, Content Marketing, Fuel for Thought, New Business Tips, New Business Trends, Social Media | Tagged: blogs, Blogs I Recommend, content marketing, lead generation, Michael Gass | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

8 SEO Writing Tips to Help Prospects Find Your Ad Agency

August 15, 2009

Positioning your agency to be found is an important component to generating new business.

I’ve previously shared a number of times that we are experiencing a new paradigm shift for how agency new business is acquired. It’s now even more important for prospects to be able to find your agency than it is to chase it. Creating an appealing online footprint, for your best prospects to be drawn to your agency and its services.

That makes SEO among vitally important as a new business component to your agency.

An element in SEO is optimizing copy for such things as your agency blog and online articles. If you want your content to be become a magnet for new business, it must be searchable. You need to understand what your target audience is interested in, what they are searching for and relate the content you offer to them.

Mequoda Daily, which offers consulting services for publishers on content marketing, published a sensible article with a checklist of eight SEO writing tips for search engine optimizing your agency’s blog post and or/online articles.

Put primary keywords in the title.
Don’t leave your meta title blank
Put secondary keywords in the subhead
Use your subhead as your meta description
Include keywords in your URL
Optimize your tags and meta keywords
Only use keywords 10% of the time
Use titles or keywords in every hyperlink

Use this simple list to optimize every new blog post or online article you write. Click on the following link to read the entire article by Amanda MacArthur, SEO Writing for Blogs and Online Articles .

2 Comments | Agency Blogs, Best Practices, Content Marketing, Digital, Metrics, New Business Trends | Tagged: ad agency new business, Metrics, Michael Gass, SEO | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass

10 Blogging Tips for Ad Agency CEOs

February 27, 2009

The tips below are going to differ considerably from other recommendations in the blogosphere. But please be reminded that they are intended primarily for agency principals of small-to midsize ad agencies and given entirely from a new business perspective. Agency principals have to “get” social media. You can only “get” it by being a participant.

A personal blog will provide you with a direction, focus and professional enrichment unlike anything you have ever experienced before. Your personal networks skyrocket giving you the opportunity to generate the right kinds of new business leads that are a better match for you agency. Plus, you wont have to be constantly chasing after new business, your new business pipeline will always remain full.

As important as a website was for your ad agency a blog is now as equally important if not more so. It should become the gateway to your agency.

So with those things being said, here are my 10 tips for the development of an agency blog for new business:

1. Before you start to write learn to listen.

Identify and read other online resources that would important to your target audience. Read blogs of competitors. Subscribe to blog RSS feeds through Google Reader or the feed reader of your choice. Using a feed reader will greatly help you to strategize and organize your online reading. Get a feel for how blogs are written. Writing a blog post is much different than writing for print. People tend to scan for information online rather than reading word-for-word. You’ll gain lots of ideas for your own posts from your online reading.

2. Do not incorporate your blog into your agency’s website.

You will need to allow your agency blog room to breathe and evolve apart from your current branding. As you interact with your target audience, your online focus group, they will become the decision makers as to what information resonates, what messages are appealing, what their marketing challenges and obstacles really are. You may think you know what they want but you will continually be surprised as you receive their input, reflect upon your blog’s analytics. What you gain from this experience will help you discover an “appealing” position and proper branding for your agency from your prospective clients perspective.

3. Blog posts should written by the agency’s principals.

Social media is personal and you are the face of your agency. We are in a relationship oriented business and clients want to work with someone that they know, like and trust. Therefore agency principals should lead the way.

Another reason I advocate that the blog post be written by the agency principals, is that they are the least likely to leave the agency. Therefore equity isn’t lost if a staff member chooses to leave for another agency.

4. Keep the design simple.

Limit your creative and interactive staff’s involvement in the design process unless you want to greatly slow the process down. The design of your blog should be nice and clean, not the place showcase your agency’s creative capabilities. Here content is king. I personally recommend using either WordPress.org or WordPress.com as your blog platform. These are simple blog platforms that are relatively easy to use and provide just the right bells and whistles.

5. Own your domain name.

I have seen a number of agency blogs with a wordpress.com or blogspot.com in their URL. Be sure to own your domain name. That way, if you ever change blog platforms, you wont lose traffic to your site. I

6. Create a simple written plan for your blog.

From my perspective, the objective for your blog is to generate leads and new business for your agency. To reach this objective you will need to identify your target audience, who you are writing to. What are their advertising/marketing/communication challenges? In what ways can you become an invaluable resource and help? You’ll need a name for the blog. An appropriate tag line that states what this site is about. Park Howell’s tag line, “Creating a deeper shade of green marketing” says a lot. Mine, “Fueling ad agency new business.” Identify the categories that you will be writing to. I would suggest limiting the categories to 10 or less. Mine are new business, tips, tactics, tools talents and trends.

As you begin your blog remember, you cannot be everything to everybody and the more general your blog is the less traffic you can expect. Within 10 months time I’m generating 16,000 page views to a very specific target audience, small-to midsize ad agencies.

7. Keep a list of blog post ideas.

I’m often asked “don’t you run out of ideas when you are primarily writing about new business for ad agencies?” The answer is no. Every morning I start the day by opening my Google Reader. I have RSS feeds from about 16 of my favorite blogs. I scan quickly through the list of post titles, when one catches my attention I open it up and read it. It often sparks ideas for my own posts or is information that I can site and link for my readers. I use a browser bar tool called “Press This” that allows me to post a draft of that article in my blog. I have some 270+ posts that are published and over 45 drafts. I often peruse through my drafts for a post to flesh out. I also keep a list of post ideas on my DeskTop. I never find myself lacking for something to write about that wont be of some help to my audience.

8. Set a goal for the number of posts to write per week.

I saw a dramatic change in my blog traffic and audience interaction after I reached the first 50 posts. That seems to be a magical number not only for me but for clients as well. I actually put principals on a schedule and help coach them to write their first 50 post within thirty days. By the end of the thirty day period they have developed some helpful habits, understand how to write for web and find their own style. I have a goal of posting five times a week. The feedback that I gain is what motivates and excites me. My readers are very loyal and I don’t want to disappoint them by not having fresh content.

9. Repurpose your blog content.

With over 270 posts I have lots of material to utilize through other new media tools. Your blog posts can actually be turned into a book, that was one of my earlier goals and I am close to the content needed. You can also create your own ebook, white papers, EzineArticles, informational press releases from your content. I can use my blog post content for an email newsletter that is sent every other week. It takes literally minutes to create the newsletter which in turn generates a lot of traffic to my blog. I use a tool called Tweetlater, to automate posting on Twitter which is now the leading traffic generator for FUEL LINES. You will find all the effort you’ve put forth in your writing for your blog can be repurposed in lots of different ways through a number of different online channels and will have a long, long shelf life.

10. Learn how to generate blog traffic.

The current communication revolution makes it critical that you know this stuff so that can provide better direction for your agency and for your clients. Park Howell, president of Park & CO, an ad agency in Phoenix, AZ, created a Film Festival contest among his staff with the winning team receiving $1000. Each team had to create a video, upload it to YouTube and create an online campaign to drive traffic to it. He was helping his staff learn by doing. That is what having your own blog can do for you. Learning how to generate traffic to your blog is an eye opening experience. You will better understand SEO, web analytics, RSS feeds, email campaigns, HTML, etc. Plus you will know the importance of and learn how to use tools like FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Delicious, Technorati, Digg and StumbleUpon just to name a few.

Understanding social media is not for a specialized department or group within the agency. Every staff member needs to understand it. How will your agency be able to integrate social media into the marketing mix for your clients if you and your staff really don’t understand it. What better way to learn than to use these tools than to generate new business for your agency through social media.

Social media is permanently revolutionizing our industry. It isn’t an option to not participate. If your agency is to survive you’ve got to “get it.” Only as a participant will you genuinely come to understand what a valuable tool it is for your agency and for your clients.

18 Comments | Agency Blogs, Content Marketing, New Business Trends, Social Media | Tagged: ad agency, agency blog, agency ceos, agency principals, new business, park howell, park&co, SEO, Social Media | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass