Four Things Your Ad Agency Should Know Before Jumping Into Social Media

 

A lot of small-to midsize ad agencies have been resistive to social media. This is beginning to change. But before your agency takes the plunge, you need to know that it isn’t something that you check off your list, we have a blog, we’re on Twitter, our agency now has a Facebook page.

“If your goal in getting into social media is to get your feet wet, then the outcome is wet feet.” Katie Paine, president of KDPaine & Partners

I am a enthusiastic advocate of using social media to market your agency and generate new business leads.  But … before your agency jumps in, there are four things you need to know to have success:

1. Social Media is Affordable but Not Cheap

 There are so many social media tools available that are of little if any cost that it is almost overwhelming. For instance along with the microblogsite Twitter, there are over 100 free tools that enhance its use. Social media is affordable but it isn’t cheap because it is extremely time intensive. Especially the time needed for you and your staff to get up to speed.

“The cost of your social media education is going to be great but if you don’t invest in your education now it will be costlier later.” consistency

2. You Can’t Fake Knowledge and Experience in Social Media

Have you ever been guilty of telling a client or prospective client, “sure we can do that” when at the time you didn’t have a clue, but , you  knew you could figure it out. I want to tell you, to be successful in social media you wont be able to fake it. The best way to demonstrate expertise in social media is how you’ve used it for your own agency. If I were a prospective client of yours the first place I would check to see if you truly understood social would be to check out your agency’s blog. I would be able to determine quickly if you are walking the walk or just talking the talk.

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?”

3. Motive Matters 

Advertisers and their ad agencies are looking at social media, the first mass marketing media that isn’t supported by advertising and wondering, what is in it for me?

Radio, TV, your newspaper exists because of advertising. It exists to please the advertisers.

Seth Godin’s blog is ranked number one marketing blog by AdAge Power150. In a recent post he points out,

“The net wasn’t invented by business people and doesn’t exist to help your company (agency) make money. It is entirely possible it could be used that way but it doesn’t owe you anything. The question to ask isn’t how does this help me?”  The question to ask isn’t, “but how does this help me? The question to ask is, “how are people (the people I need to reach, interact with and tell stories to) going to use this new power and how can I help them achieve their goals?” 

4. Learn to Listen and Observe.

Social media is a two-way conversation and the best way to “get it” is to first listen and learn.  As you listen and observe you will notice such things like people read differently online than they do print. They tend to scan rather than read word-for-word. Something else that you notice, to begin a conversation you need to lead with “benefits” rather than your agency’s capabilities. There are many other things that you will only “get” as you become involved in this space but the effort is worth the return.

These are my four but I’m sure others have thoughts to contribute. Please add to the conversation in the comments below.


About Michael Gass

Consultant | Trainer | Author | Speaker

Since 2007, he has been pioneering the use of social media, inbound and content marketing strategies specifically for agency new business.

He is the founder of Fuel Lines Business Development, LLC, a firm which provides business development training and consulting services to advertising, digital, media and PR agencies.

Comments

  1. Michael
    you hit the nail hard when you say agencies should use social media for their own biz dev if they are a social media agency.
    It’s been a puzzle to me why PR agencies’ PR is so poor, advertising agencies don’t advertise. Surely this is the best ‘shop window’ for their services?

    I wrote about it here http://creativeagencysecrets.com/2009/01/22/online-marketers-still-dont-do-web-20-stuff-for-themselves/

  2. Thanks Rebecca. It is a powerful thing for an agency to be able to show a prospective client how they are using social media and the results they’ve been able to achieve. Demonstrating the right way to use social also helps an agency to do new business the right way. They focus on the needs of their audience rather than agency capabilities and they establish a relationship first. Prospective clients want to work with people they know, trust and like.

  3. jenharris says

    It’s funny how here in Boise, so many SMB’s that CAN’T afford the big agencies are turning to smaller non-traditional “agencies” that can truly help them increase their bottom line through SM.
    Yet, the ad agencies still don’t seem to see the light. Everything I have seen them engage in so far are sold as “tactics” based around a campaign that have no staying power.
    It is s shift in the mindset of the agency…speaking with the customer vs. AT the customer!

  4. Thanks Jen. I wholeheartedly agree!

  5. Your first point resonates in a market where a lot of agencies are pushing for social media as a medium for their client’s to continue to promote their brand, but for much lower expense. As with everything, it’s a trade-off. It’s an important point that is often overlooked, and in fact is part of the conversation of this week’s Media Hacks podcast – http://www.twistimage.com/blog/archives/spos-149-six-pixels-of-separation-the-twist-image-podcast-1-206-6666056-media-hacks-6/ – an excellent listen!

  6. Thanks for sharing the link. A recent study and from my own personal experience, I understand how time intensive social media is. Agencies will have to bill accordingly.

  7. Michael, It’s bad enough to see ad agencies touting their “social media expertise” when they clearly have none, but even more egregious when people who call themselves social media gurus have nothing but a few friends on Facebook, their profiles aren’t visible to the public, and they’ve been on Twitter all of one month. I don’t know if it’s desperation that drives these snake-oil salesmen (and women), pure hubris, or utter cluelessness.

    I wouldn’t recommend that anyone hire a social media consultant or agency unless that person/agency has demonstrated THOUSANDS of social media conversations. Because conversation is what it’s all about. If you haven’t had a bunch, you don’t have enough experience to make predictions about behavior– and predicting behavior is the lynchpin of marketing strategy.

    @CarriBugbee

  8. Michael, nice post. I’m starting my social media career with my company’s interests at heart, but I still have a long way to go. Rolling everything together while keeping my regular duties up to date is proving to be quite a chore (support for your high cost comment).

    FYI, Seth GODIN > not Seth Goggin

  9. Thanks. I understand how much of a chore social is but it will get easier with time and by utilizing the right tools.

  10. Carri those are great observations and I share those concerns and your conclusion is right on.

    Michael thanks for doing a great post which includes a blend of Social Media sources. This will serve to enlighten, challenge, and/or weaken the resolve of an agency. All of which can be good since if it weakens the resolve they need to do what they know.

    One thing that I noticed was that the instinct will be to “bill accordingly” which is apt, yet I’d suggest being just a little more conservative. Quite frankly a new rep from an agency won’t necessarily be worth the billable rate. That sounds caustic, but I believe it to be a reality.

    As a quiet observer and network at different levels, I’ve noticed blatant mistakes from some labeled as agencies and they are corporate. I’m not out to say a name or even suggest who it could be, but being in an agency doesn’t provide the mindset or the training for Social Media. 🙂 I say it respectfully and not flippantly. There are some things that have to be learned by doing. There are other things that even if the intellect is there the personality type could be wrong.

    It’s the naturally relational, authentically transparent, as well as conversational people would be the representatives the agencies need to train.
    Ideally they should have already had multiple Social accounts with conversations as well as a broader audience that shares their interest.

    I would suggest that the agencies stay away from the employees that will tell someone something to the face and then behind the back do the opposite. These exist in almost every company and since Social networking is on the front lines and when representing a company and their best interests there needs to be integrity. Otherwise there’s a possibility that the companies reputation and brand will be compromised.

    I love social networking and enjoy seeing the interactions and conversing. If the agencies pick the right people and keep this all in mind they’ll have a couple extra tips to create a great experience for everyone.

    Just my two cent!
    @JRStratford

  11. James, thanks for your input.

  12. We almost hired an agency last year for my wife’s business, but did not. Could not find anyone I did not have to teach first so I could delegate social media strategy with other strategy.
    The firm I came closest to engaging is a friend. His partner running social media was clearly new to the Internet. We could tell they made a decision that they HAD to get in the game as a full service agency. More than a year later, they still don’t know how to participate online and no brand strategy in sight. Unfortunately I find this to be the norm. Keep up the great work on this blog!

  13. Thanks for sharing David.

  14. cheers about your article. quite gud.

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