March 29, 2010
I received a call today from a Fuel Lines reader who was excited to hear a Marketplace radio interview with ad agency president, Stephanie Holland, the program entitled, “No advertising love for single women”. The radio program Marketplace, is heard by an audience of more than 9.1 million unique listeners in the course of a week, on 486 public radio stations nationwide.
An increasing number of women are single — getting married later, not at all, or single later in life. So why aren’t more advertisements directed their way? Ashley Milne-Tyte reports
The interview further positions Stephanie as a “thought leader” for marketing to women. For the first time in their 25 year history,Holland + Holland has been invited to participate in two national pitches in 2009. Their president is now frequently called upon to speak across the country and author guest columns and posts. Her blog, She-conomy, has been mentioned in the Wall Street Journal and she was recently named to Forbes Thirty Women Entrepreneurs To Follow on Twitter.
This was your typical small, full service advertising agency that used the same agency speak to describe how they were unique …
Excellent creative that is strategically based with a staff that has great chemistry and is fun to work with.
Sound familiar? Then Stephanie and her agency created a more narrow and unique positioning created through as part of their social media strategy for new business. The results have been revolutionary.
Stephanie also serves the agency as creative director. Not knowing of any other creative directors in their market, she conducted some research and discovered that 97 percent of all creative directors in the country are male, only 3 percent are female.
The real jewel that was unearthed was to learn that 85 percent of all brand purchases are made by women. Women had bought more product from Home Depot and Lowes than did men, more consumer electronics, more NFL and NBA apparel than men, they even purchased more hamburgers than did men! Women have become the purchasing agent for the family.
Social media allows this agency to hang their hat on a unique and appealing position that has in turn created a national interest for this small ad agency.
Social media has also allowed Stephanie and her agency to compete in a much larger arena without geographical limitations. Their agency’s positioning gives companies a reason to seek them out.
Check out Stephanie’s blog: She-conomy: A Guy’s Guide to Marketing to Women
Additional articles that may be of interests:
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3 Comments | 
Agency Blogs, Agency Leadership, Promotion | Tagged: ad agency promotion, Holland + Holland, marketing to women, Marketplace, public radio, Stephanie Holland | 
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Posted by Michael Gass
September 14, 2009
Ad Agencies are battling the recession with aggressive new business tactics.
I’ve written a number of times about Jaci Russo and The Russo Group, Lafayette, LA. This full service agency has been fortunate enough to win 14 new clients this year through awareness generated through social media. Their business is up 118% over 2008.
RUSSO HELPS COMPANIES BATTLE RECESSION WITH BRANDING INITIATIVE
The agency has a new campaign to help companies through the recession by allocating $1 million dollars in branding services for qualifying companies. Interested companies are asked to fill out an online application at www.therussogroup.com/brandaid.pdf. Five companies will be chosen and each will have their branding efforts funded with a 50% match up to $200,000 per recipient.
I’m sure that this campaign is a legitimate help to the companies that will be chosen, but it is also helps build good PR and awareness for The Russo Group. Read The Russo Group’s Press Release
Even with the great growth this agency has had over the year, they are not resting on their laurels. They realize that they have an open window to gain market share that is unlikely to be repeated during their lifetime. The Russo Group intends to make the most of it by being aggressive and continuing to press new business initiatives even when the agency is at its busiest.
Additional ad agency promotional articles that may be of interest:
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6 Comments | New Business Tips, Promotion | Tagged: ad agency promotion, Blogs I Recommend, Brand Aid Campaign, Jaci Russo, LA, Lafayette, Michael Gass, The Russo Group | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass
July 16, 2009
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.
Additional articles of interest:
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28 Comments | New Business Tools, New Business Trends, Recession | Tagged: ad agency advertising, ad agency promotion, advertising in a recession, agency new business consultant, Blogs I Recommend, Coopers & Lybrand, McGraw-Hill, meldrum & Fewsmith, Michael Gass, midsize ad agencies, Penton Research Services, small ad agencies | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass
March 5, 2009
Social media is still relatively new, especially to ad agencies, but I want to make a prediction:
The small-to midsize ad agencies that make social media central to their business model will find success and thrive in spite of the recession.
You’ll soon know who they are because they’ll be the ones hiring.
I recently posted an interview with Jaci Russo, principal of The Russo Group, a full service ad agency in Layfayette, LA, Ad agency having explosive new business growth by leading with social media. The podcast has generated lots of interest, traffic, emails and phone calls from agencies across the country. I was sure that it would because small-to midsize ad agencies have been anxiously searching for news of other agencies that have figured out what to do with social media, how it can generate income and how it changes their business model.
The Russo Group is a great example. A full service agency of 19 in a town of about 180,000 people that previously obtained most of its business within its own market. They’re having a breakout year with 8 new accounts since the beginning of the year, profits up 104% over this time last year, 94% of the new clients located well outside their market. Their new clients are located in California, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington, Washington D.C. They even have a new account in London.
How did The Russo Group do it?
- They were convinced that social media was going to dramatically and permanently impact their agency along with the entire advertising industry.
- They developed an understanding of social media first by listening, then experienced if first hand as participants.
- They promoted their agency through social media and they did it the right way. Social media forces your agency to do new business the way it should have been done before social. It’s all about your audience, not about your agency. It compels you to lead with benefits and value to your audience and the moment you start to “sell your agency” you will lose them.
- They used the tools they recommend their clients use. What a novel idea. It’s also a powerful demonstration to prospective clients when an agency practices what it preaches.
- They stopped being everything to everybody. Their agency would not appeal to everyone but to those it did would have a very strong appeal. Strong enough for the prospective clients to initiate the call. That is in line with Forrester’s research of CMOs, where 80% found their vendor, not the other way around.
- They led initial prospective client discussions with the benefits of social media and how it provides a smaller investment of financial resources, greater ROI and measurable results (the benefits to the agency is that it is time intensive, you bill for your agency’s time and it has very little hard costs).
- They understood that prospective clients want to work with people they know, like and trust. Social media provides efficient and effective networking. They are able to create awareness nationally with prospective clients that are the best fit for their agency. They are no longer dependent upon local business, personal local networks and referrals, though that business will still be there for them.
By the way, if you know of someone looking for a job, The Russo Group is hiring!
Social media helps agencies create a more clearly defined focus and differentiating business strategy that will give them a competitive advantage for new business, a higher-profile reputation, and an improved ability to attract and win the clients they really want.
Additional articles that may be of interest:
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17 Comments | Social Media | Tagged: ad agency promotion, Jaci Russo, midsize ad agency, new business, small ad agency, Social Media, The Russo Group | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass
January 26, 2009
A little creativity to build awareness for your agency can be easily done online for very little cost.
These are a few of the ad agency promotional ideas that have been submitted to FUEL LINES. These agencies have been able to generate buzz and build awareness for their agencies that has led to new business opportunities.
- “Mindsalt – Magic ‘09 Ball” Used to Promote Ad Agency
- Ad Agency Creates Online Film Festival on YouTube
- Social Media Marketing Map Used For Ad Agency’s New Business
- Promote Your Ad Agency with Social Media Tools – SlideShare
- Using Video to Promote Your Ad Agency
- ADBOWL: Ad Agencies Should be “Creative” Promoting Themselves
If you have an additional example please share in the comments section below.
Additional ad agency promotional articles that may be of interest:
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1 Comment | New Business Tips, New Business Tools, New Business Trends, Promotion, Social Media | Tagged: ad agency promotion, AdBowl, Film Festival, Michael Gass, slideshare, Video | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass
January 8, 2009
One of my daily reads through my RSS feed reader is Jason Fall’s, Social Media Explorer. Jason is the director of social media for the agency Doe-Anderson. This morning Jason put me onto a another cleaver ad agency promotion created by Mindsalt, a branding and PR firm located in Louisville, KY.
Hopefully ideas such as this will spur you to challenge your agency to create some unique promotional efforts that can become inexpensive viral promotions for your agency.
Click to access the “Mindsalt – Magic ’09 Ball”
The full list of predictions can be found on their blog, Pinch of Salt.
If you have a creative agency promotion you would like to share please add it through the comments section of this post.
If You Read This, Tweet This to your Followers
“Mindsalt – Magic ’09 Ball” Used to Promote Ad Agency http://tinyurl.com/8344k9
For the latest agency new business updates subscribe to FUEL LINES by Email
Michael Gass, agency new business consultant, primarily to small-to midsize advertising agencies, utilizing both traditional and new media tools.
13 Comments | New Business Tips, New Business Tools, New Business Trends, Promotion, Social Media | Tagged: ad agency blog, ad agency promotion, Doe Anderson, Jason Falls, Michael Gass, Mindsalt, Mindsalt Magic '09 Ball, Social Media, Social Media Explorer | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass
January 5, 2009
Jason Falls, director of social media for Doe Anderson, alerted me to a comprehensive list of internet marketing resources. This is a great resource list as you enlarge your agencies online footprint through online marketing and social media tools.
Tamar Weinberg, a social media enthusiast with a passion for all things tech, has put painstakingly put together a collection of posts that started in January 2008 and been collected for the past 12 months. This collection deserves to be bookmarked. The list will provide a great resource for your agency’s online promotional efforts.
Best Internet Marketing Posts of 2008
The list categories include:
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Social Media Strategy
- Twitter
- Sphinn
- LinkedIn
- Digg
- Wikipedia
- StumbleUpon
- Fark
- Facebook
- delicious
- Flickr
- FriendFeed
- Blogging
- Viral Marketing
- Link Building
- Reputation Management
- Analytics
- Branding
- Local Search
- Content Development
- Web Development
- Affiliate Marketing
- Domains and Domaining
- AdWords/PPC
- Internet Marketing
- General Marketing
Two of Tamar’s most popular post for 2008:
For the latest agency new business updates subscribe to FUEL LINES by Email
Michael Gass, agency new business consultant, primarily to small and mid-size advertising agencies, utilizing both traditional and new media tools.
7 Comments | New Business Tools, New Business Trends, Promotion, Social Media | Tagged: ad agency promotion, Blogs I Recommend, Doe Anderson, Internet marketing, Jason Falls, Michael Gass, resources, Social Media, Tamar Weinberg | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass
November 24, 2008
4. Blogs are one of the most notable social media tools.
Marketing methods have changed significantly. Many of the tools and tactics accompanying the rise of social media are inexpensive and highly effective, regardless of an ad agency’s size.
It was once said that,
“Every business needs a Web site.” Today it’s, “every business needs a blog.”
No matter what your industry, your prospects have come to expect a blog from your business. This is particularly true of ad agencies, but most are slow to get on board.
I’m telling you that a blog is becoming the “gateway” for ad agencies.
Blogs are also necessary tool for agency new business. With other agencies lagging behind, it is an excellent opportunity for your agency to gain a significant advantage over your competition by getting on board now.
And if you study some of the more popular blogs, it’s easy to see why:
- Blog content is more naturally conversational; conversational content is viewed as educational and not sales oriented.
- Blog content changes often, giving your customers fresh reasons to return.
- Blog readers can contribute directly to content by adding comments and participating in dialogue.
- Blogs must be written to the benefit of the target audience. It isn’t a platform to brag and boast about your agency.
There are other practical reasons for having an agency blog:
Posting content frequently makes you a better communicator and allows you to gain expert status. You don’t know what you know until you write it down.
Branding your agency is a difficult exercise. Most agencies struggle to differentiate themselves. I’ve found that blogging helps agencies better articulate what they do, how they do it and why they are different from their competitors.
One of the most practical reasons to start and promote a blog is that it increases search engines optimization and is much better than for youragency’s website. SEO marketing is a necessity for any company and important to your agency.
“Instead of finding your prospects, the “new” new business paradigm for social media is to help your prospective clients find your agency.”
Just having a blog and posting content allows your agency to gain much better exposure from search engines.
Creating an effective blog can feel like a lot of work, but the benefits will add up over time and give your agency a significant competitive advantage.You’ll be able to demonstrate to prospective clients how you have used social media to grow your agency.
“No single thing in the last fifteen years, professionally, has been more important to my life than blogging. It has changed my life, it has changed my perspective, it has changed my intellectual outlook, it’s changed my emotional outlook (and it’s the best damn marketing tool by an order of magnitude that I’ve ever had.)” Business Guru, Tom Peters
A strong point of differentiation from your agency’s competitors, when you are sitting across from a prospect and can demonstrate that you“practice what you preach” and that your agency uses the very tools you recommend to your clients.
Related Resources:
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11 Comments | New Business Tactics, New Business Trends, Social Media | Tagged: ad agency blog, ad agency positioning, ad agency promotion, agency new business consultant, agency new business tactics, Agency New Business Trends, Michael Gass, midsize ad agencies, small ad agencies, Tom Peters | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass
November 21, 2008
3. Create a social media marketing plan.
In ‘Alice in Wonderland’, Lewis Carroll wrote,
“If you don’t know where you want to be, it hardly matters which direction you take.”
Usually, you start with a plan but I think it’s important that you have first hand “experience” with the social media tools that are available. Get a feel for where your target audience “hangs out” online, what’s their interests, their challenges, what information are they searching for and what are the best channels of communication to reach them, etc.
Once you’ve had a taste of the tools and a feel for how they can be used to promote your agency, the next step is to develop a “simple” plan of action.
At the core of every good team there’s a good plan. Along with the plan, having a person who pulls everything together. Building a Social Media Marketing plan and determine what the objective of the campaign is and therefore what tools should be utilized and how.
It is useful to step back and think strategically about where and how you’re going to commit your marketing resources online. Tap into the creativity of your staff to create a simple social media marketing plan.
POST is one of the most effective acronyms since the four P’s of marketing. It’s a four-step approach that helps marketers define a social media marketing plan for their business and/or clients.
The POST method is the heart and soul of the book, Groundswell, written by Forrestter Research analysts, Charlene Li and Josh Bernoffand. It is highlighted in Josh Bernoff’s Groundswell blog post, The POST Method: A systematic approach to social strategy. The POST Method serves as a guide to help you determine the right strategy for the right audience.
Your purpose should dictate strategy and the tactics used for reaching desired goals. A few common outcomes for your social media marketing efforts should include:
- Gain insight into your target audience - You can use all the qualitative data you want, but some of the most interesting and helpful market research can be found within the social communities where your prospective clients interact, share information and make recommendations.
- Link building for traffic and SEO - According to Marketing Sherpa, 80-90% of business to business transactions begin with a search on the web. Creating linkbait and promoting it to social media news and bookmarking sites can attract a slew of links from bloggers that read them. Creating value for the community is not the only rule, creating value and behaving according to formal and unwritten rules is what sustains social media sourced link building.
- Build brand visibility and authority- You’ve heard it before, “Conversations are happening online about your agency’s brand, with or without you.” You might as well participate and do so in a way that pays close attention to the interests and needs of your prospective clients – providing them with information and interactions that further support your agency’s brand.
Related Resources:
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11 Comments | New Business Tactics, New Business Tips, New Business Trends, Social Media | Tagged: ad agency promotion, marketing 2.0 plan, Michael Gass, midsize ad agency, small ad agency, Social Media | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass
November 20, 2008
2. Participate! Join the conversation.
I’ve heard agency principals say that they have better things to do than write blog posts and update their status on Facebook. In the little picture of daily demands, this may be true, but in the bigger picture of using these tools to truly understand an emerging medium they don’t.
You can attend conferences and training sessions regarding social media all day long, but the only way to truly learn it is to experience it for yourself, and learn along with everyone else trying to stay ahead of the communication’s technology curve.
Again, I believe the best way to learn social media is to use it to promote your own agency. It is a different means of communication and it must be done correctly for it to be effective.
Blogs and forums allow agencies to take off their professional mask and get comfortable with their potential clients. It provides a comfortable, informal voice for your agency.
Social media allows prospective clients to check under your hood, kick the tires, examine the interior and when they are ready, they will engage you.
Discover where your target audiences are online and join them there. Instead of waiting for our audiences to come to your Web site or blog, join the conversation wherever it is—on users’ blogs, Web forums, FaceBook, MySpace or wikis. You’ll build relationships and trust.
Prospective clients want to work with people they know and people they trust.
Additional article of interest:
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10 Comments | New Business Tactics, New Business Trends | Tagged: ad agency blog, ad agency promotion, marketing 2.0, Michael Gass, midsize ad agencies, Sergio Zyman, small ad agencies | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass
October 13, 2008
You can actually promote your ad agency using social media. Agencies such as Off Madison Ave are generating inbound new business leads on a daily basis. Social media is affordable and allows you to test your messages and positioning with your key target audiences. You need to learn how to use these tools and allow your marketing mind to “kick-in” so that you can use them for your clients but also to understand how they can be used to market and promote your agency.
Twitter is a social media tool that I wouldn’t have thought had much application for marketing but I’m now a believer. It is a great marketing tool. I’ve put together a few resources that I thought would be helpful as you explore this tool and learn how it can be used to promote your agency.
This is a great list of Twitter Tools that can enhance your Twitter experience:
140+ Twitter Tools
One of my favorite tools is Tweeter Later. You can keep your Twitter supplied with new tweets even when your not in front of your computer. You have the potential to connect with over 2,000 persons instantly making your blog post, survey, industry or agency news viral. Just keep providing rich content and you will build your following and a great network.
Another tool that has been helpful is Tweet Scan. This tool also provides nice features such as Auto Follow and Auto Reply. Use Twitter Search to find others to connect with. Try typing in “CEO” to see how you can use this tool to build a network of potential clients.
Get others telling your story and recommending your agency.
These are actual Twitters:
Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/michaelgass
Additional ways to promote your ad agency:
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18 Comments | New Business Tools, New Business Trends, Social Media, Twitter | Tagged: ad agency promotion, Blogs I Recommend, Jason Falls, Michael Gass, off madison ave, Tweet Scan, Twitter, Twitter Search, Twitter Webinar | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass
October 11, 2008
Locomotion Creative, Nashville, TN recently conducted an online survey. Their survey explored awareness and usage of social media — including social networking, Wikis, podcasts, e-mail and blogs — was sent to Locomotion Creative’s opt-in e-mail distribution list.
“While not a scientific study per se, the survey gives us a reasonable and reliable snapshot of attitudes held by business executives about the growing importance of social media,” said S.A. Habib, founder of Locomotion Creative, a marketing firm. “It reinforces the fact that companies must continue to give increasing emphasis to social media as part of their marketing plans.”
Survey respondents acknowledged the growing importance of social media and how it impacts the way companies do business and generate sales.
The survey helps position Locomotion as being an expert and a leader in social media marketing to their key target audience. They engaged their target audience through participation in the survey and emailing the results to them. Locomotion was also able to gain publicity by launching a press release of the survey results through PRWeb which allowed for distribution:
- On industry-specific Web sites and blogs
- Premium placement for enhanced search results
- Social bookmark links for increased Web 2.0 distribution
- Downloadable PDF
- PR trackbacks
- Five industry categories
- Three MSAs
Check out Locomotion’s press release and download a copy of their survey results
For the latest agency new business updates subscribe to FUEL LINES by Email
Michael Gass, agency new business consultant, primarily to small and mid-size advertising agencies, utilizing both traditional and new media tools.
1 Comment | New Business Trends, Social Media | Tagged: ad agency promotion, advertising survey, Blogs I Recommend, Locomotion Creative, Michael Gass, Social Media | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass
August 27, 2008
An email newsletter is one of the two most important sources for information and advice for small and medium businesses, according to a study entitled, “Optimizing Email Newsletters for Small/Medium Businesses” released byBredin Business Information, Inc. (BBI).
According to the study of over 300 executives …
email newsletters rank highly as sources of information, beating out websites and blogs, and matching print media for importance.
Although the study specifically focused on small to medium (less than 500 person) businesses, it would be safe to extract that out to small to midsize ad agencies. Email newsletters are becoming more important than newsletters.
Some highlights from this study:
- 83% of respondents indicated that email newsletters were either very important or important sources
- “How to” information (40%) was the preferred form of content
- 65% of respondents said they read some issues thoroughly and skim others
- The most important in deciding whether or not to read a vendor’s email newsletter, 64% said it was who the newsletter was from
- The top reasons for stopping an email newsletter? Irrelevant content (63%)
- The vast majority of small business executives want to receive their email newsletters weekly (45%) or monthly (34%)
- Monday was the preferred day to receive an email newsletter
Ad agencies should be using this information to redesign their email newsletters to get the best possible response. And agencies that have been to busy with client work to develop an eNewsletter for themselves should reconsider investing the time. The effort is worth it. Just remember to keep it simple. Consistency is more important than perfection.
Check out the complete survey results “Optimizing Email Newsletters for Small/Medium Businesses”
A great, super simple idea starter from VerticalResponse to help build your agency’s email newsletter list using business cards.
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3 Comments | New Business Tactics, New Business Tips, New Business Tools, Social Media | Tagged: ad agency email newsletter, ad agency promotion, agency enewsletters, Blogs I Recommend | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass
July 19, 2008
The answer to this question will dramatically affect your agency’s ability to attract future new business.
Traditional advertising agencies face significant technical challenges. Consumers have turned away from media channels that built the agency industry and have moved toward emerging internet media. Ad agencies must build new interactive competencies quickly in order to survive.
Jeremiah Owyang, former Forrester Sr Analyst: Social Computing and current Web Strategist, states emphatically that the agency of the future is a connected one.
Owyang says,
“I can’t imagine ever advising a client to deal with an advertising, PR, or interactive team that doesn’t get social media. Of course, I’m biased as I’m sitting right smack in the middle of the social media space. But with the power shifting to the participants, agencies must demonstrate they can participate before they can ever help clients with it.
Sadly, most agencies still don’t get the new space, or if they do, they lightly gloss it over by saying “Oh yeah, we’ve a blog” and when I look, it’s a bunch of self-serving posts written by a variety of different folks with little strategy and few comments.”
Learning is doing. The best way to learn social marketing is to experience it first hand.
A beneficial way to experience and learn how to use these new tools is to use them to attract new business for your agency. To do this right takes work. For these tools to work these tools must be used correctly. But the effort is worth it. You’ll gain experience as track and tweak your agency’s promotional campaign and learn first hand how these tools can benefit your clients. Once your agency is connected, you will find that these new tools actually make your new business effort easier and consistent.
Combining Web 2.0 & ad agency new business, provides a powerful, inexpensive and highly effective combination for your agency’s self promotional efforts.
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3 Comments | New Business Tools, New Business Trends, Social Media | Tagged: ad agency promotion, Blogs I Recommend, jeremiah owyang, Michael Gass, Social Media | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass
July 19, 2008
Brand agency, Neutron, has developed a creative way to build their online community of prospective clients by offering “Steal This Idea.”
“We regularly develop brand concepts and thinking tools that will help you zag, design, and innovate your way to the next business frontier. Sign up for Steal This Idea, and get a new tool every month.”
Neutron’s viral program draws executives and managers directly into their brand-building process. It gives these prospective clients an opportunity to learn how the agency thinks. Neutron also demonstrates a powerful unique market position for themselves as well as how they go about assisting their clients, building brands from the inside out.
Do the same for your agency by challenging your creative staff to develop unique ways to promote your agency online.
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2 Comments | New Business Tactics, New Business Tips, New Business Trends | Tagged: ad agency promotion, agency brand positioning, Michael Gass, midsize ad agencies, Neutron, small ad agencies, Steal this idea | Permalink
Posted by Michael Gass
