20 Top Inbound Marketing Resources for the Paradigm Shift in Ad Agency New Business

top 20 inbound marketing

Advertising agencies, PR firms and digital shops should reverse their new business efforts from “Outbound Marketing” techniques to “Inbound Marketing.”

There is a dramatic paradigm shift for acquiring new business opportunities for advertising agencies, digital shops and PR firms. Agencies need to rethink their approach to new business and intensify their focus on inbound tactics, such as creating magnetic content that will attract prospective clients, rather than relying on the traditional interruption model which consumers are responding to less and less.

MarketingSherpa reported in a CMO Study, 80 percent of decision makers said they FOUND their vendors (not the other way around). Inbound Marketing is marketing focused on getting found by customers.

Most agencies are spending the majority of their new business efforts on “Outbound Marketing” tactics such as direct mail, cold calling, email blasts and other efforts that push their message out to a wide, diverse prospective client audience.  Their prospects are already inundated with over 2000 interruptions per day.  They are becoming experts at blocking out those unsolicited outbound tactics.

It is much more effective and efficient to follow the paradigm shift to “Inbound Marketing” techniques where 100% of your potential clients will begin an agency search by using Google.  The internet, coupled with social media marketing and inbound marketing techniques, takes the ability to network and gain referral business to a whole new level. It allows agencies to maintain a top of mind awareness without using interruption tactics and helps to build relationships quickly.

If an agency has been 90% focused on outbound marketing tactics and only 10% on inbound marketing, I recommend that they do just the opposite. 

To make this shift effective, the most successful Inbound Marketing programs will have three key parts:

  1. Content – Content is the fuel for this new business engine. It is what attracts potential clients to your site.
  2. Search Engine Optimization – 90% of new business begins with online search.
  3. Social Media – This will amplify the impact of your content.

Those agencies that adapt to this new business paradigm shift from “outbound marketing” methods to “inbound marketing” will have a distinct advantage over their competition.  Some are already seeing results.

In a recent 2011 HubSpot ROI Study,  69% of businesses surveyed said that inbound marketing attributed to their lead generation success. 

With help from American Business Media and the Business Marketing AssociationJunta42 and MarketingProfs surveyed over 1,100 North American B2B marketers from diverse industries and a wide range of company sizes. The survey revealed that inbound marketing was a key lead generation source for 63% of the respondents:

  • Brand Awareness – 78%
  • Customer Attention/Loyalty – 69%
  • Lead Generation – 63%
  • Website Traffic – 55%
  • Thought Leadership – 52%
  • Sales – 51%
  • Lead Nurturing – 37%

The internet and the rise of social media has changed the nature of ad agency new business and subsequently changed the shape of the sales funnel. That initial client conversation today is much different from the one a decade ago because the prospect often knows as much about your agency as the new business director does and the prospect is already much more “qualified.”

Here are 20 of Fuel Lines’s most popular resources for helping agencies make the shift from outbound marketing to inbound marketing for new business: 

  1. Ten Toughest Content Marketing Challenges for Ad Agency New Business
  2. The 2011 State of Inbound Marketing for Ad Agency New Business
  3. Report: Inbound Marketing Channels More Cost-Effective for Ad Agency New Business
  4. 10 Idea Starters to Keep Fresh Content Churning
  5. 2011 Trends: Content Marketing Is Critical to Ad Agency New Business
  6. 10 Ways to Create An Ad Agency Blog That is Reader-Centric
  7. 6 Simple Steps for Using Content Marketing to Attract Ad Agency New Business
  8. 6 Writing Tips to Make Your Ad Agency’s Blog Effective for New Business
  9. 21 Blog Post Writing Tips for Ad Agency New Business
  10. The Four Great Laws of Copywriting for Ad Agency New Business
  11. New Roper Study: 9 in 10 CMOs See Value in Content Marketing
  12. How to launch a blog for ad agency for new business — fast!
  13. 8 SEO Writing Tips to Help Prospects Find Your Ad Agency
  14. 40 Ways to Take Your Ad Agency’s Blog to the Next Level
  15. 50 Blog Post Ideas to Fuel Your Ad Agency’s Blog
  16. How to Write Your Ad Agency’s Blog
  17. A 70 Point Checklist for Jump-Starting or Tuning-Up Your Blog for New Business
  18. Study: 69% of Businesses Increased New Business Leads Through Blogging
  19. 10 Prime Time Benefits of Blogging for New Business
  20. Ernest Hemingway’s Top 5 Tips For Writing Well

photo credit: Leo Reynolds via photo pin cc

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.

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