A special note to the small-to midsize ad agencies: This post has helpful intel that will relate to your clients but I want to stress, keep in mind, that this information relates just as well to your agency. This is a prime time for agency new business. According to Forrester consumers now spend nearly as much time online as they do watching TV. Just think of the possibilities of reaching your best prospective clients online.
Razorfish “Digital Brand Experience Survey” shows that even though consumers are more empowered than ever before, they still desire a relationship with a brand, and a brand has a major say in that relationship. It’s just that brands need to shift their thinking from one-way advertising to two-way consumer experiences if they want to take advantage of the attributes of the digital world.
I’m grateful to my good friend David Deal who passed on this Razorfish research and his key takeaways:
Consumers are not shutting out brands – they’re interacting with them. 77% of consumers surveyed have watched a commercial or video advertisement on YouTube with some frequency; 69% have provided feedback to a brand, either through a website or a third-party service like GetSatisfaction.com; 65% have played a branded browser-based game. Moreover, 70% have participated in a brand-sponsored contest or sweepstakes.
Digital experiences create customers. The overwhelming majority of consumers who actively engage with a brand in digital fashion are much more inclined to purchase products and recommend the brand to others.
Digital can make or break a brand. 65% of consumers say that a digital experience, either positive or negative, changed their opinion of a brand. Of those, 97% said that their experience influenced whether they eventually purchased from the brand.
This is the year of the brand fan. According to this study, 40% of consumers have friended a Facebook brand page, and 26 % have followed a brand on Twitter.
Analytics is a crucial component to successfully generating traffic to your agency’s blog and Website and inbound new business leads. But for many agencies, best practices for using analytics is little understood.
A good resource is the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). Their IAB SmartBrief is one of the daily e-mail newsletters that I receive. It always has helpful information “what you need to know” about analytic practices, trends and research pertinent to your agency and your clients. It has been a great help to me and part of my daily online reading.
Here’s a sampling of some of the latest articles from IAB Smart Brief newsletter:
The “coming revolution” in analytics, are you ready? Analytics consultant Eric T. Peterson says, “From where I sit we have seen more changes in the last 24 months than we had in the entire 12 years previous (my tenure in the sector) combined.”
Next-gen marketers need digital skills. Young people may seem like social media mavens, and employers may expect them to be, but students need to learn how to exploit digital tools.
It is imperative for agencies to stay on top of new communication devices and their impact upon our industry and clients. That said, you can simply follow Apple. They’ve set the standard and everyone else is playing catchup.
Apple has transformed the way we listen to (and purchase) music with the iPod and iTunes. It also changed the way we use our cellphones with the iPhone. Will it also transform how we read newspapers, magazines and books?
The New York Times’ executive editor, Bill Keller, may have inadvertently confirmed the existence of the oft-rumored Apple Tablet in a private speech earlier this month. During the speech, Keller made a reference to the Times’ strategy for mobile devices. “We need to figure out the right journalistic product to deliver to mobile platforms and devices,” Keller said. “I’m hoping we can get the newsroom more actively involved in the challenge of delivering our best journalism in the form of Times Reader, iPhone apps, WAP, or the impending Apple slate, or whatever comes after that.”
Amazon has recently announced that they are working on a Kindle app for Mac that will allow customers without a Kindle device to be able to purchase ebooks, magazine and newspaper subscriptions. The Apple Tablet could be the perfect match for the Kindle experience.
Below are some additional mockups of what the Apple Tablet might look like.
Email marketing is still an important tool to your ad agency new business program.
The rise in popularity of social media only enhances email. The two can work powerfully together. Two excellent articles, Chris Crums, writer for WebPro News, “10 Reasons Social Media isn’t Replacing Email“ and VerticalResponse CEO Janine Popick, “10 More Reasons Why Social Media Wont Replace Email. Chris always has great marketing insights. Janine also provides some insightful resources and practices what she preaches for both email marketing and social media. I recommend them both.
Here are their 20 reasons why social media wont replace email:
People still send hand-written letters.
Nearly all sites on the web that require registration require an email address.
Email notifies you of updates from all social networks.
We haven’t seen any evidence yet that Google Wave really will catch on on a large scale.
Email is universal, and social networks are not.
There are plenty who have no interest in joining social networks.
Email is still improving.
Even social networks themselves recognize the importance of email.
More social media use means more email use.
As far as marketing is concerned, email is doing pretty well.
Twitter and Facebook are fantastic products and companies; but that’s what they are, companies.
Your email recipients are still going to use business email for business purposes.
You can’t easily segment your friends and followers to do targeted marketing (through social media)
You can’t tell who clicked on a link with some social media outlets.
That said, you can’t tell who didn’t click on the link so you can follow up with them with a different message.
You cannot personalize your Facebook updates.
You cannot size your graphics or use more than one in Facebook.
You can’t track how many clicks you got on your links in Facebook.
You are limited to 140 characters in Twitter.
You almost have to have separate social media accounts for your business and your personal life.
Additional resourceful articles that may be of interest:
I’ve had opportunity to visit a lot of agency conference rooms over the past two years. I’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly. I’m glad to pass on to you examples from some of the better ones.
cs2 Advertising, Memphis, TN, has a great set-up for online conference room presentations. Agency principal Brian Sullivan was gracious enough to provide me with the details that I used to set-up in my home office. It is an easy set-up and the components are not very expensive. You’ll probably have some of them already.
Here’s the components and pricing for my home office set-up. Most of these I found and purchased on Ebay:
Macbook laptop ($1000)
Wireless keyboard ($55)
Mighty Mouse ($21)
Insignia 42″ Flat Screen TV ($598)
Poll<Audio Sound-Bar ($398)
Apple IR Remote ($6)
Apple Mini-VGA to TV Adapter ($9)
10 Ft HDMI Cable ($5)
Linksys Wireless Router ($35)
Since I already had the TV, sound system, laptop, and router my cost totaled less than a $100 dollars for the rest of the equipment.
It’s important to make the best first impression, especially for ad agency new business presentations at your office. Here are a few suggestions:
Make sure your conference room is clutter free, a nice clean look without equipment wires showing.
Double check all of your audio/video equipment and complete a couple of run-throughs prior to the presentation time.
Have a back-up plan in case of equipment failure.
Make sure the room temperature is comfortable for your guests. If you constantly have heating/cooling problems in your conference room, fix it! This is The Most Important Room in your agency.
Chairs that are also comfortable for your guests. Comfort trumps design … “the mind can only absorb as much as the seat can stand.”
Feel free to share other examples of set-ups for conference room set-ups and meeting tips:
Todd Knutson, CEO of The List, recently highlighted an agency that actually practiced what it preached, An Ad Agency that was advertising its services, even offering a discount during the recession. It worked!
Advertising Agency Advertises
When asked by a reporter from the National Post, Ron Telpner, chairman and CEO Brainstorm, a Toronto-based agency, (read interview here), Why did you choose to advertise your services? It’s not a move that many agencies would take — at least not so publicly.
The primary motivation was to “walk the talk”: to remove the inherent hypocrisy of an agency that would recommend advertising to its clients as a strategy while not having enough belief in the power of advertising to use it for themselves.
The recession provided a unique opportunity to make this point more poignantly. And as an agency that’s offered fully integrated services from inception, we also wanted to ensure that the market was aware of our full range of services, including digital.
It started with the development of our new website (www.brainstormgroup.com),which offers a more “shopper friendly” interface for potential clients, with less about the agency’s philosophy and more about the goods. One of the campaign objectives was to increase visits to the new site, and it attracted 1,600 new visitors the day the ad ran. (Click Here to read the entire interview, “We’re Walking the Talk”)
This is a guest post written by Don Beehler. Don is the author of the blog, The Art of Telling Your Agency’s Story. He provides public relations consulting services to small- and medium-sized advertising agencies and businesses.
At one time or another, just about every agency principal has toyed with the idea of writing a book. In fact, as any publisher can attest, there are all kinds of people in all kinds of professions who believe they have a book or two in them. So, why aren’t there a lot more good books around?
English economist and journalist Walter Bagehot had a theory: “The reason why so few good books are written is that so few people who can write know anything.”
Ad agency principals know a lot and have plenty of valuable insights worth sharing.
Those who dislike writing should not let that discourage them from pursuing a book, because there are some very talented ghost writers around to help.
When I was in graduate school, one of my writing professors made the point that sometimes a person doesn’t realize what he or she really believes about a topic until that person begins writing about it.
Writing a book allows you to clarify your thoughts, get to the core of your message and discover the best way to convey important information.
A good ghost writer will ask probing questions, serve as an objective sounding board and distill the essence of your thinking into clear, lively copy that keeps readers engaged.
Here are a few other benefits of having a published book:
It positions you as an expert.
It gives you an advantage over your competitors.
It increases your visibility.
It helps market you and your agency.
It can open new doors for speaking engagements and media interviews.
It can be a passive source of income.
It gives you material to use for your agency’s blog posts, EzineArticles and E-newsletters.
It can help with business. For example, after making a new business presentation, think how impressive it would be to give prospects a signed copy of your book.
It enables you to leave a legacy for future generations.
A few examples:
Steve McKee, president of McKee Wallwork Cleveland a full service ad agency in Albuquerque, NM. Steve has gained national attention for his agency through the ADBOWL, his columns for BusinessWeek.com and other articles published in the New York Times, USA Today, Advertising Age, Business Daily, just to name a few. He’s the author of the new book, When Growth Stalls. Steve generated pre-sales of his book using Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter as well as through his blog. I’m sure the book will provide additional promotion for his agency and greater positioning as an industry leader.
Bob Hoffman, ceo of Hoffman/Lewis advertising in San Francisco and St. Louis, wrote the book “The Ad Contrarian, which is now being offered as a eBook to help generate traffic to his blog and build awareness. 20,000 downloads in the first week it was offered. You can get a copy here at no cost: The Ad Contrarian
Linda Kaplan Thayer, the CEO of Kaplan Thayler Group, wrote a book, The Power of Nice, that put her agency, on the map. Linda has been featured on The Martha Stewart Show, Nightline, The Today Show, Inside Edition and Fox News to name just a few. There is also the Power of Nice website and Nice Blog.
Please feel free to email your questions on writing a book, best practices, costs, etc.: don@abcdcommunications.com
There is a growing roster of ad agency new business blogs that provide a platform for thought-leaders to exchange ideas, learn from each other and their audience.
From these I have I’ve created a repository of 75 ad agency new business articles, posts, white papers, reports and surveys discovered as part of my daily reading:
One of the most effective forms of communications for ad agencies is a public relations strategy. The right PR strategy can properly position your agency in the minds of your prospective audience.
Don Beehler, writes a blog specifically for small-to mid-size ad agencies, Telling Your Agency’s Story, tips on how to use PR for ad agency new business. He recently wrote an article regarding the need for a consistent PR effort.
Don writes,
“Sporadic PR is a lot like sporadic exercise – it’s better than none at all, but not nearly as effective as when there’s a consistent effort. And, as is the case with having a disciplined exercise program, the results are noticeable.
One of the most galling things for agency principals is to watch from the sidelines as competitors are quoted and featured in the news media. Even worse, agencies that were not part of the story often have more experience and expertise than the agency that got the exposure.
Of course, the impression people get is that the folks quoted are the cream of the crop in their profession, which may or may not be true. But you can be sure it’s no accident that some agencies get more ink and air time than others. It’s because they have an intentional, ongoing effort to get their names in the marketplace, and they have made PR a priority.”
BOHAN Advertising|Marketing, Nashville, TN, receives consistent press coverage because they outsource their agency’s self promotional PR efforts. They do this even though they have respected internal PR capabilities led by vice president, director of communications, Tom Adkinson.
John Sharpe, agency partner and CMO realized some time ago that when their agency gets busy, the first thing that usually is neglected is their own promotional effort.
Outsourcing PR allows the BOHAN agency to maintain consistent press that positions them as one of the hottest ad agencies in town.
Not only is the agency constantly in the press, their CEO, David Bohan, has a column,‘Marketing Matters,’ that appears twice a month in the business section of the state paper, The Tennessean. Speaking opportunities for agency president Kerry Graham and chief planning officer, Jamie Dunham, are secured for additional opportunities to be in front of their prospective audiences in a position of expertise.
Public Relations is one of the best returns on investment your agency can make. You wont be able to buy the kind of advertising a good PR firm can generate on your agency’s behalf.
The U.S. has experienced nine recessions since World War II, which means we’ve lived in recessionary times one year out of every six.
A recessionary period is actually a great time to promote your agency an increase your market share and profits.
In a recession, clients usually significantly cut their marketing budgets, even though it is the most important tool a business has during this difficult time. Ad agencies tend to do the same, having a hunker down and wait mentality.
We are in a severe recessionary period with no end in sight. This leaves many businesses and ad agencies wondering where they can cut costs. Studies and experience prove marketing should be last on their list.
A series of six studies conducted by the research firm of Meldrum & Fewsmith showed conclusively that advertising aggressively during recessions not only increases sales but increases profits and market share.
This fact has held true for all post-World War II recessions studied by American Business Press starting in 1949.
Kraft salad dressings and Jiff peanut butter both raised marketing budgets during the last recession and increase sales by 70% and 57%, respectively.
Pizza Hut increased their marketing budget and increased sales by 61%.
Taco Bell increased sales by 40% by increasing their advertising expenditures.
Wal-Mart smothered competitors with Every Day Low Prices during the 2000-2001 post-bubble slowdown.
During the 1989-91 recessionary period, most of the beer industry cut budgets, but Coors Light and Bud Light increased theirs and saw sales jump 15% and 16% respectively.
Agencies know that advertising in an economic downturn is not a drain on their clients profits but can actually significantly contribute to and increase in profits and market share.
McGraw-Hill Research in a study of U.S. recessions showed that business-to-business firms that maintained or increased their advertising expenditures during the 1981-1982 recession averaged significantly higher sales growth, both during the recession and for the following three years, than those that eliminated or decreased advertising. By 1985, sales of companies that were aggressive recession advertisers had risen 256% over those that didn’t keep up their advertising.
RMR & Associates provides this list of brands that creatively changed their messaging to reflect the new customer mindset and counter a recession:
A-1 Steak Sauce’s message that “A-1 Steak Sauce isn’t just for sirloin anymore.” Indeed, its ability to enhance flavor applied equally to hamburger.
Dow, maker of Ziploc food bags, shifted funds from Glass Plus cleaner to help introduce a new line of Ziploc freezer bags that protect the freshness of leftovers.
Quaker Oats capitalized on two successful recession messages. First it reversed a long-term decline in sales by increasing spending for the message that its grain products are inexpensive sources of protein. Then it stressed value as actor Wilfred Brimley promised, “A bowl costs you one nickel and four pennies.” That message worked so well that Quaker allotted half its budget to it. Result? Powerful sales.
Lipton successfully promoted its Cup-a-Soup line as not only conventional but inexpensive.
Wendy’s met the recession with a head-on message: “Look, I know you have less to spend these days, but that doesn’t mean you have to eat less.”
Ikea had a similar idea: “What recession? Sure the country’s going through a recession. That doesn’t mean you have to.” It worked.
The information above is the kind of data that agencies use to demonstrate to their clients, the importance of advertising in a down market. But this “do as I say, not as I do” mentality raises suspicion.
If agencies are hunkered down during a recessionary period, if they aren’t promoting themselves, if they aren’t using the tools they recommend to clients, then why should anyone else.
One major advertiser summed it up best.
“When times are good, you should advertise. When times are bad, you must advertise.”
A recessionary period is a great time to promote your agency an increase your market share and profits. Do the opposite of what your competition is doing. Develop a simple agency promotional plan that you can consistently implement using a combination of traditional and social media. Treat your agency as if it was your most important client.
As important as it was to have an agency website it is now equally important to have an agency blog.
But … having a blog isn’t something you check off your list of social media “to do list.” To have credibility your agency blog must be developed the right way. The following fourteen articles are compiled to provide your agency with blogging resources related specifically for new business.
Discovering how to generate inbound leads and create an agency new business program through social media.
This is a more personal post than I have written in awhile. I hope that some of the discoveries and insights that I have had through my pilgrimage into social media will be of help to you and your agency’s new business efforts.
If you don’t know me, I am a new business consultant primarily to small and midsize advertising agencies across the country.
My point of differentiation from other agency new business consultants is “fueling ad agency new business through social media.”
Social media is the central to my recommended new business program for ad agencies. That doesn’t exclude traditional methods but I’ve found that social media provides the central hub for agency new business program that can consistently generate qualified, targeted inbound leads.
My epiphany for utilizing social media for ad agency new business came when I discovered this stat from a CMO study,
“80% of decision makers say they found the vendor, not the other way around.”
There was a definate paradigm shift taking place in the way new business was being acquired. Social media and a down economy accelerated the shift. Instead of pursuing prospects it was now more important to strategically increase an agency’s online footprint with an appealing, differentiating position to be found by a specific target audience.
“Having directed new business for most of my advertising career, when I started my own new business consultancy I was determined to use the tools that I recommend my clients use. In my first year of business social media was rapidly becoming mainstream. I had a passionate curiosity to learn how social media could be used for ad agency new business by using it to build my consultancy.”
I quickly discovered a major obstacle that would be a primary deterant for agencies. Participation in social media was very time intensive. It took a lot of late nights, early mornings and weekends to get up to speed and a lot of time and energy to stay ahead of the curve. But I also learned a to have a disciplined approach to social media that allowed me to become better at time management online.I discovered many tools and techniques that enhanced, simplified and even automated my efforts.
My next discovery was best practices for increasing an agency’s online footprint. The best central social media platform, at least for now, is a blog. As important as it was in the past to have an agency website it was now equally important, to have a blog. The agency website was being relegated to the position of an online brochure, the blog was to become the “gateway” to the agency.
The more I participated in social media I discovered another rich nugget … social media actually taught agencies to do new business the way they should have been doing it all along. Social media compels you to choose a target audience, you can no longer be everything to everybody and generate any significant traffic.
Here are some additional lessons gained through using social media for ad agency new business:
It’s hard for people to socialize with an entity such as an ad agency. The agency needs a face, people must be involved and it needs to begin with the agency’s principal(s). People have a natural tendency to want to work with people that they know, like and trust. Social media greatly accelerates and expands networking opportunities.
For the agencies that find themselves in a perpetual state of re-branding, social media simplifies the process. Social media has become the best agency brand/positioning tool I have ever used.
If agency principals are willing to do only two things they can provide their new business director with what they need to build a consistent new business pipeline that can easily be maintained by junior level staff or even interns, even when the agency is covered up with work. All they need to do is basically read and write. The content they provide pays back their time and energy a dozen times over and has a long life, repurposed through multiple social media channels such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, email newsletters and SEO.
Social media compels agencies to lead prospective client conversations with benefits instead of agency capabilities.
Instead of agency speak, such as “our proprietary process,” they learn to speak with words that resonate with their target audience.
Agencies can affordably build awareness among their best target audience well beyond their geographical location.
Social media provides engagement and feedback from an agency’s best target audience to determine what is or isn’t appealing and greatly improve upon an agency’s appeal.
Agencies can continue to obtain new business through traditional methods. “You don’t have to throw the baby out with the bath water.” Social media provides additional opportunities.
It is a powerful presentation when an agency can demonstrate how they have used social media to promote their agency. They are practicing what they preach and using the tools they are recommending to their clients and prospective clients.
I’ve witnessed a recent change in agencies attitudes toward social media. Most have stopped debating the value of social media and are now willing to jump in. Here’s my advice to those agencies willing to participate:
Choose a target audience and a point of differentiation for your agency. Think narrow and deep rather than broad and shallow.
Find the online resources that provide enlightenment to you and will be a helpful resource to your audience. Use Google Reader to organize your online reading.
Create an agency blog, center it around people, not your agency. Allow it to live apart from your agency’s branding. Keep in mind, relationships first.
Set a goal to reach your first fifty post in a short window of time, such as 30 to 60 days. The first five post are the hardest. It will become progressively easier as you continue to write. Remember, you don’t know what you know until you write it down. Read and write your mind clear and you will accelerate your learning curve in social media.Fifty posts will also provide credibility to your blog (provided its content of value to your audience) and the content that can be repurposed through other channels.
There are many additional resources within my blog that will be of help. If you have questions, please feel free to email them to me.
Your readers can tell you a lot in regards to what is of interest and what isn’t. They act as a judge and jury over your content. Pay attention and follow their interests by consistently reviewing your blogs analytics to learn which posts generate the best traffic.
If you have any additional ad agency new business resources, new business articles or posts to share please add their links through the comment section below.
There are several blogs that will be of help to your agencies new business efforts that I want to introduce. Each of these blog authors has a great amount of experience working with advertising agencies of all sizes for new business and each of them also has a unique perspective. I highly recommend that you include them in your online reading as resources for your agency’s new business.
“Driving profitable growth within an agency requires much more than just new business! Most agency principals tend to rely on new business development as the key driver to profitable growth within their agency. All their aspirations, dreams, energy and resources are focused in this area while not realizing that new business development is in fact only one pillar of the five pillar strategy required to be successful.” Clive Maclean, Clive Maclean Consulting
“Unless you’re consistently implementing new business campaigns to drive new revenue in-line with organizational objectives, (be that through social media or traditional DM strategy), it’s highly likely that you’ll fall short this year.” Dave Currie, President of Catapult New Business
“New Business Intel provides a way for me to share my experience and help advertising agencies, media companies and other marketing solutions companies drive business growth by developing the right ongoing sales processes.
I’m convinced that a blog makes me a better communicator, helps me to stay ahead of trends, and provides leadership to our clients.” Todd Knutson, CEO of The List
I’ve the good fortune to know each of these authors personally and count them as friends and colleagues. They are all passionate about agency new business. I hope you find them as refreshing as I have regarding their unique perspectives for agency new business.
Ad Agencies, Select Your Audience, Find Your Niche, Promote Your Agency
An ad agency used YouTube to create a strong appeal around their niche, which is marketing to women. Their audience is male advertisers who should be marketing to women.
It’s been just over a year since the principals at Holland + Holland Advertising put their stake in the ground declaring who their target audience was and what was their point of differentiation. This small agency located in Birmingham, Alabama, had been accustom to competing for local work but narrowing their focus has brought about regional and even some national attention.
Their president, Stephanie Holland, also serves as the agency’s creative director. The epiphany came when she realized that …
97% of all creative directors are men and 85% of all brand purchases are made by women.
To test and grow this point of differentiation was done through the creation of an agency blog, that would live apart from their agency’s website. This would give it room to breath, grow and put a face to the agency through Stephanie. She-conomy, A Guy’s Guide to Marketing to Women was developed.
Their niche has provided the agency with discipline, focus and a clearer direction than ever before. It is a very strong point of differentiation.
A challenge to senior agency executives: Create your own digital apprenticeship program.
Tim Williams, author of Take A Stand For Your Brand, encourages agency execs to assure their personal relevance in the marketing communications industry. He writes,
“Increasingly clients are turning to agencies not only for help but for thought leadership in digital marketing, and only the most progressive agencies are in a position to deliver it. Agency principals recognize the urgency and importance of the shift to digital, but are personally unprepared for the change.”
Tim suggests a solution to the problem: Create a self-study program that provides a fast track understanding of digital marketing and adapting your agency to the new digital landscape.
He says, “Think about the digitally-talented people you know and you’ll realize most of them are self-taught. They took an interest in digital and learned it on their own. You can do the same, especially because everything you need to know about digital is online, and most of it is free at sites ranging from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) to ClickZ.”
Key learning outcomes that could be achieved:
Have a sound understanding of the general principles of digital advertising
Be conversant with relevant technologies, devices and opportunities for digital communication campaigns
Understand how to integrate digital into the overall marketing mix
Have insight into the operational and logistical challenges that face both the agency and clients in adding digital to the marketing offering
Have increased confidence and inspiration to recommend digital solutions to your clients and prospective clients
If you are a advertising agency principal and just getting immersed in social media, try this two step approach that will accelerate your learning curve.
I’m in Chicago this week conducting a couple of social media/new business workshops for ad agencies. I’m working almost exclusively with agency CEOs to help them get their head around social media and understanding why it’s such a great tool for:
Professional Enrichment
Research
Agency Branding
Agency New Business
Social media can be a bit overwhelming at first. To help them to “get it” quickly I simplify the process by having them do only two things for the first 30 days: Read and Write.
First, I show them the importance of developing a discipline to their online reading, making it strategic and organized by using a RSS Reader (RSS = Real Simple Syndication). I prefer using Google Reader. I make it a habit by starting each day by opening my RSS Reader. I have feeds from blogs, news sources, research, weather, sports all coming to one place.
Instead of constantly searching for what I need I have taken the time to have it all come in conveniently to one place and organized in folders. I can quickly share some of the best material through a number of tools that I have added to my browser bar without having to leave my Reader.
When I first started using a RSS Reader it was a bit awkward at first but I realized the potential to save time so I persevered. It has been a tremendous help.
Secondly, I coach them through the first 30 days writing for a blog. I’ll share more about agency blogging in a separate post and include more details of my philosophy and practical tips. Here I just want to stress the importance of writing.
I truly believe that you don’t know what you know until you write it down.
From my experience working for and with ad agencies through the years, most are terrible communicators. You are in an elevator going from the first to sixth floor with an agency principal and ask what their agency does. There aren’t many that can give you a clear concise answer.
I’ve found that writing regularly for your blog:
Helps you to become a better communicator
Guides you through the maze of social media
Accelerates your learning curve
Gives you the ability to confidently communicate it to your staff and to your clients
The only way you are going to “get social” is to do it. It has to be experienced first hand.
The vast number of agency principals aren’t leading in social. They are playing catch up. These two things, reading and writing, are the best ways to get you to where you need to be, in a position of leadership for your staff and clients.
A recent survey reveals that only 34 of advertising agencies and 57% of all other marketing services companies understand how to implement a proactive new business program. A key to any new business program is prospective client database.
This is a guest post written by Todd Knutson, CEO of The List,a leading provider of prospecting information on corporate marketing, advertising decision makers and a sponsor of FUEL LINES. Todd has extensive experience in new business development, particularly for ad agencies.
Many ad agencies and marketing services companies expect their new business director to build their own marketing and sales database. Is this a smart business decision?
I remember speaking with, Jeff, a twenty-something new business guy. Jeff was a new employee at a well-known regional ad agency. His management team had given him a group of industry categories that they wanted him to pursue, and had charged him with identifying likely companies and people he should talk to.
So, he called my company, The List about purchasing a customized database of corporate marketers that fit their criteria. Jeff determined that he could purchase exactly what his agency needed for only about $3,500 and have it in 24 hours. He said he’d call back with his president’s approval.
A few days later, I called Jeff and learned that his president told him it was his job to build the database. I told him I’d call back in 6 months to hear how he was doing.
Right on schedule, I called Jeff 6 months later. Not surprisingly, he had just been fired for not generating any new business. Why? Because he’d spent the entire time building the database (at the request of his president).
Let’s do some simple math: Assume Jeff was paid $50,000 a year. Add in benefits and his total annual cost was probably close to $60,000. So, over 6 months this regional agency spent $30,000 building a new business database they never used.
Think of the losers in this equation: Jeff is out of a job; the agency lost 6 months of potential revenue; and, the management team is disheartened about the “failure” of their new business effort.
This is a common mistake made by ad agencies and other marketing services companies that illustrates the fallacy and drawbacks of building instead of buying. I encourage readers to do the math to avoid making the same mistake.
Ask these 5 questions to help determine the quality and applicability of your new business database:
How frequently do you call and verify the accuracy of each contact in your database? If you hear 6 or 12 months, given turnover in corporate America, you have to question the veracity of what you’re buying.
How many companies can I access that spend more than $____ (fill in your minimum) per year on marketing services? If how much your potential clients spend on marketing is important to you, be sure that the resource you buy provides a number that tells you approximately how much it is (no one knows a company’s marketing budget, so media spend is usually the surrogate).
How many (marketing) contacts do you have at the companies that matter to me? Too often, you purchase contacts that aren’t important to you. If you need marketing, brand, media, or C-level contacts, be sure your chosen resource has them in the quantity you require.
What contact information do you provide? Do you need mailing address, direct dials, main phone numbers, email addresses? Be sure they have what you need.
An excellent example of an ad agency’s website designed for new business with their audience in mind.
I really believe that a lot of advertising agencies are designing their promotional materials and websites with other agencies in mind rather than designing it for their prospective audience. I could possibly be wrong but that is my perception.
For instance, even though we know that most of our audience dislikes a flash intro and the majority will skip it, agencies are still intent on including it as part of their website design. I don’t get it.
I review dozens of ad agency websites weekly. I recently came across an agency’s redesigned website that greatly impressed me. It was clear to me that it was designed for their audience without fear of another agency’s critique.
Why do I like this agency website design so much? My answers are strictly from a new business perspective:
It’s very clean, easy to read
It’s interactive and provides are reason to come back more often
Agency information is very easy to find
It includes a call to action for continual engagement with their audience through their email newsletter
It demonstrates experience with social media and provides easy links to make connections and build relationships with their audience
This site does a better job than most leading with benefits instead of capabilities
Their list of agency services is very succinct. They weren’t trying to check “all” the boxes of agency experience
Ways to contact the agency was easy to locate. You’d be amazed at how hard it is to find this info on other agency sites
The ‘contact’ tab at the top requesting more info was thoughtful. I even filled it out. I wasn’t surprised that they were monitoring it well and I received a personalized contact back shortly after sending it
The Off Madison Ave is an early adopter of both digital and social media. I’m told that they are generating at least five new inbound new business leads daily through their web presence and through social.
My wife set up a Twitter account over the weekend. She wanted to see what all the buzz was about. Her first question to me was, “How do I shop on Twitter?” I’m not sure that Twitter will make someone a better shopper, but it will make you a better writer.
Twitter is not only a great tool to generate traffic to your ad agency’s blog/website and for networking, it can seriously make you a better writer and communicator.
Jennifer Blanchard, is a creative and effective copywriter. Her blog, Procrastinating Writers, offers writing advice, motivation and inspiration for writers who procrastinate. She recently published a post for Copyblogger, and lists three ways that Twitter makes you a better writer:
Twitter forces you to be concise. You have to know exactly what you want to say, and say it in as few words as possible.
Twitter forces you to exercise your vocabulary. Twitter forces you to use words that are shorter, words that are more descriptive, and words that get the job done in 140 characters or less.
Twitter forces you to improve your editing skills. Twitter also forces you to write a 140-character message and still get your point across in a way that inspires your followers to take action, to click on your link or to “retweet” your post.
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MICHAEL GASS
Welcome to my blog, FUEL LINES: The best business development tips, tactics, practices and trends to help ad agencies, PR firms and digital shops create a more clearly defined focus and differentiating business strategy.
Click here to listen to my experience using social media from an ad agency new business perspective, BlogTalkRadio interview conducted by Trey Pennington
Posted by Michael Gass 
There is a growing roster of ad agency new business blogs that provide a platform for thought-leaders to exchange ideas, learn from each other and their audience. 
This is a guest post written by Todd Knutson, CEO of 
