Nobody Reads Ad Agency Blogs

Why most agencies may be ready to ditch their blog and why they shouldn’t. 

Jack Marshall, a staff writer for Digiday wrote an article that is creating lots of buzz entitled, “Agencies Ditch Blogs.” He points to a study conducted by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, that reveals that only 37% of Fortune 500 companies now maintain a blog. That is down from 50% that was reported in 2010.

Jack makes an assumption that this is  that this is probably true of advertising agencies:

“It seems there’s a similar trend among agencies.

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12 LinkedIn Improvements for Ad Agency New Business

LinkedIn 277% More Effective for Lead Generation Than Facebook and Twitter.

In a study conducted by Hubspot, LinkedIn generated the highest visitor-to-lead conversion rate at 2.74%, almost 3 times higher (277%) than both Twitter (.69%) and Facebook (.77%).

200 million leads were generated on LinkedIn last year, according to their Advertising Chief, Jim Lister.

LinkedIn is an important social media platform for agency new business that helps you to:

  • Re-establish older connections with past colleagues and clients.

    • … Continue reading

Mark Schaefer Addresses the Controversial Subject of Scoring Social Media Influence

Klout score has become a new way of matching relevant influencers to relevant brands by providing a social media score.

Social media measurement is a topic of importance and warrants the attention and participation of the advertising industry.

I conducted the following interview of Mark Schaefer, an internationally known business author, marketing consultant and college professor. Mark is the author of the best-selling book, “The Return On Influence: The revolutionary power of Klout, social scoring and influence marketing.”

Here is my review of this book:

Mark Schaefer is to be commended.… Continue reading

Validation for the World’s First Creative Ad Agency Built on Crowdsourcing Principles

A new business model for ad agencies that combines the best of what a creative agency can do and the best of what crowdsourcing can offer.

Havas, a leading advertising holding group, sees enormous potential in a new model for advertising agencies. They have announced acquisition of Victors & Spoils, the world’s first creative advertising agency built upon crowdsourcing principles.

“When an industry goes through a revolution, you can either sit and watch it happen or embrace the exciting new business models at the forefront of that revolution.

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Green Marketing and Social Media Creates New Business for Phoenix Ad Agency

It’s always helpful to hear how agencies have used social media to create new business opportunities, a point of differentiation and a positioning of expertise.

Park&Co is a full-service advertising agency in Phoenix, Arizona. They were your typical small to mid-size agency and no real difference from most of their competitors. There was no perception among their prospective client audience of having any expertise. But, their use of social media, over the past three years has rapidly changed their business and has impacted new business.… Continue reading

Ad Agencies: 6 Social Media Steps That Changed Client Perception

It is hard for agencies to change the perceptions of their clients but social media can make it easier.

Stacy Carter is the creative director/partner for a small agency in downtown Charlotte, ABZ Design Group. Her agency’s primary focus is community hospitals. A couple of years ago, with the help of her staff, Stacy launched a blog called “CreativeTriage.” The site is generating an impressive amount of traffic for this very narrow niche.

“Social media solved one of ABZ Design Group’s greatest challenges – changing current clients’ perception of our business.

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Reading Will Fuel Your Writing for Ad Agency New Business

Google Reader will save time and allow you to consistently share and create appealing content that will be of primary interest to your target audience.

Social media is a great tool for ad agency new business, but it is the creation and curation of content that will provide success. Creating content is difficult. If you are going to write effectively, you must read and your reading will fuel your writing.

Constantly using search engines to find your resources is not only a huge waste of time, but you can easily get distracted.… Continue reading

Ad Agency New Business Success Through Positioning

Small to midsize agencies can create a position for new business through content marketing and social media.

Stephanie Holland is President and Executive Creative Director for Holland + Holland Advertising,Birmingham, Alabama. Working in an industry that is dominated by men. She is one of only 3% of the female creative directors in the country. That’s an astounding statistic given that 85% of all brand purchases are made by women.

Stephanie has found success by creating a position of expertise on marketing to women.… Continue reading

Infographic: Social Media Demographics for Ad Agency New Business

You must choose and know your audience if you are to have success using social media for new business.

Most small to midsize agencies refuse to name who their target is because of the fear of missing a new business opportunity that won’t be reflective of their target audience. They lack the will power to publicly state it.

“By appealing to everyone, brands (agencies) end up appealing to no one.  Standing for everything is the same as standing for nothing.” Tim Williams, author of, Positioning for Professionals

Knowing your target is a prerequisite to any new business program.… Continue reading

Bob Hoffman's 101 Contrarian Ideas About Advertising

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.… Continue reading