Stephanie Holland - FUEL LINES

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

5 Ways Social Media Marketing Makes New Business Easier

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.

… Continue reading

Small Ad Agency Generates National Attention Through Social Media

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.

… Continue reading

Ad Agency Generates Inbound New Business Leads Through Social Media

Social media can greatly help with your agency’s positioning. It can also create appeal and generate inbound leads, but you’ll need to start by answering two questions:

Who is our best target audience?
What is our agency’s most appealing point of differentiation?

Holland + Holland, a small advertising agency in Birmingham, AL, provides an excellent example of how a small agency can create an appeal to a specific target audience using social media.

Their point of differentiation: Stephanie Holland, agency president and creative director is one of only 3% of female creative directors in the US, 97% of creative directors are men.

Expand Your Agency By Narrowing Your Focus

Most ad agencies have an unfocused new business strategy. They try to be everything to everybody. Tim Williams, in a recent article titled, “Focus to Grow”, says,

“In turbulent times … The natural response is to “try a little bit of everything”; to expand your services, broaden your capabilities, and try to appeal to more clients. It seems like common sense, but it’s exactly the wrong response. The best growth strategy — in good economies or bad — is to decide what not to do.”

Tim sites these five benefits for the agencies that are willing to expand by narrowing their focus:

The greatest earning power.

Ad Agency Creates YouTube Video to Generate Appeal for their Niche

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.… Continue reading

How I typically start my day using social media tools for new business

Without some established habits the internet can become a black hole where you waste a ton of time and accomplish little. I have client responsibilities plus things that must be done for my own company so I try to have a strategic, disciplined approach for the start of my day that works well for me.

I’m often asked to describe my typical morning using social media tools for new business.

The first thing I do every morning is check for messages.… Continue reading

Fuel for Thought: Focus Needed for Agency New Business

“As a general rule ad agencies try to be all things to all clients for fear of losing potential business. We were no different. But narrowing our focus on a particular target audience gives us a much better focus for new business and has led to more opportunities than we could have imagined.”

Stephanie Holland, President/Creative Director Holland + Holland Advertising, author of the blog She-conomy, A Guys Guide to Marketing to Women

She-conomy in the news: ‘She-conomy’ teaches marketers how to capture the biggest consumer demographic: Women

The First of Five Ways to Promote Your Ad Agency Using Social Media

1. Learn to Use Social Media

Eric Kintz, a Hewlett-Packard marketing exec and blogger said: “I think they [agencies] are somewhat helping. But they need to show how social media has helped them further their own agenda. So if an ad agency comes to me, I’d ask if they have their own page on a social network site? Are they posting videos on YouTube? Do they have their own blog? And how has it helped them in their own business?”

Ad agencies have alot of non-traditional marketing tools now available to promote their agency.… Continue reading