Fueling Ad Agency New Business
Content marketing provides a system to better understand and engage your prospects. I can intimately attest how difficult a consistent writing program can be. But, the reason that I’m such an advocate are the many benefits content marketing provides. It makes new business more focused and much easier than the interruptive type tactics of the past, […]
How to humanize your agency, build a positioning of expertise and make a personal connection with your best prospects. This is a guest article written by Jeff Fromm. Jeff is an Executive Vice President at Barkley, which is among the largest independent advertising agencies in the U.S. and the largest employee-owned agency. He is the founder […]
If you can’t create online traffic, you won’t generate leads for new business. Your ad agency’s blog should be a central component of your social media strategy for new business. It personalizes your agency and can become an appealing magnet to quickly build a sizable targeted pipeline of prospects. But, you can’t just “build it […]
For agency’s, this is a great example on how to identify a niche and build a positioning of expertise. Agencies are historically bad at new business. Most do not have an identifiable target audience Many do not have a written plan to market themselves Inconsistent new business practices No positioning beyond constantly stating that, “we […]
The use of the AIDA Formula can simplify your content marketing. The 1992 movie, Glengarry, Glen Ross, was about a group of desperate and struggling real estate agents. Alec Baldwin plays the role of their sales motivator. He shares with the group the AIDA formula and then informs them that they must compete in a sales contest […]
A niche blog allows agencies to focus on a specific target audience, to create a stronger point of differentiation and a positioning of expertise. According to a recent agency survey, 86.2% of the respondents believe that content marketing is now an important part of an agency’s new business efforts. The study also indicates that few have […]
Even though there are big rewards from content marketing for new business, it is also a huge challenge. Content marketing is proving to be beneficial for gaining a positioning of expertise and thought leadership. It also is the magnet for generating leads and creating new business opportunities without having to pitch for them. It can […]
Don’t wait for a catastrophic loss of data to start properly backing-up and protecting your content marketing investment. I’ve been writing for my agency new business blog for 5 years now. It is my passion and livelihood. But it took an event of lost data to make me as passionate about securing my investment. I […]
For ad agencies that even have a new business plan, the majority fall short in its implementation.
How many annual planning meetings has your agency gone through to create a strategic marketing plan, only to have it fail in its implementation? Maybe this year, instead of focusing so much attention on the plan, use annual planning to create a dynamic process for execution.
Experience has taught me that successfully executing a new business strategy requires a system.… Continue reading
Most agencies have no plan for new business. They can’t express what they are selling or who they are selling it to.
For you to state that you want to “take your agency to the next level” is not a strategy, it’s a goal. A strategy is not your agency’s mission statement. Your marketing strategy is a plan of execution.
Goals, objectives and mission statements are all fine.… Continue reading
As part of my consulting work, I’m asked to review a lot of agency websites from a new business perspective. Recently, I had a request to review the website of a large ad agency in New York. I wasn’t surprised that I didn’t find a single testimonial from a happy client. A good number of agencies neglect to add this important component to their marketing mix.… Continue reading
The battle for new business has moved online.
You want to enlarge your agency’s online footprint to generate more leads.
These are some proven platforms:
It’s natural. We’re at the top and insulated. Our world consists of our employees, clients, vendors and the small, finite amount of time we get to spend with our friends and families.
Sure, it can be fun, exciting and rewarding. Hell, we wouldn’t do it otherwise. These are the highs.
But on the other hand, there are lows. And they get well, really low. In some cases, it seems you don’t have anyone to turn to.
Since 2007, I’ve preached that there was a new model for new business that made the existing model obsolete. Agencies needed a new approach to new business.
During the past decade, technology and the rise of social media changed how people communicated. This dramatically impacted business development. Prospects became self-sufficent. Any business information they wanted about a product or service became easily available online.… Continue reading
The atmosphere is often chaotic at most agencies. There are numerous interruptions and urgent requests throughout each day. It’s an environment that’s in a perpetual state of distraction. Working in this kind of climate is stressful. You’re constantly shifting from one task to the next.
In addition to agency our agency life, we’re now having to process an extreme amount of information daily.… Continue reading
Agency business development programs are often sales focused. They’re built around outbound, interruptive sales tactics that are designed to start engagements with prospective clients. The prospects have little, if any, awareness of the agency or how they’re different from their competitors.
Success in “selling the agency” is proving to be extremely difficult. And when business development isn’t successful, they think the sensible thing to do is to step-up outbound sales.… Continue reading
As any agency business development executive knows, it’s crucial to track decision-maker shifts in order to beat competitors to the pitch. First-time CMOs are one of the top new business triggers for agency changes, media shifts, and new marketing technology investments, as new hires tend to make changes within 3-12 months following their appointment.
First-time CMO hires signal that a company is making moves to bolster their marketing efforts, and also indicates a probable increase in spend in order to support these initiatives.… Continue reading
Through my experience working with hundreds of advertising, digital, media and PR firms, I’ve discovered how important it is for the agency owner to be the face of their company. Given the rise of social media, their personal brand story is as essential, or even more so, than the agency’s brand.
… Continue readingBeing the “face” of an agency is an intimidating role, and as a result, many owners and founders avoid the spotlight.
Michael Gass, Business Development Consultant | Speaker | Author of Fuel Lines
Fuel Lines provides new business resources for Advertising, Digital, Media and PR Agencies.
It has been rated among the top 100 marketing blogs in the world, according to Ad Age’s Power 150.
Since 2007, Michael has helped pioneer the use of social media, inbound and content marketing strategies specifically for agency new business.
Read more about Michael
An essential component to your agency's new business program is a prospective client data base.
In my opinion one of the most accurate online database of marketing and advertising decision makers is Winmo. I highly recommend them.
I'm Michael Gass, I'm an author, speaker and a new business consultant to advertising, digital, media and PR agencies.
Since 2007, I have helped pioneer the use of social media, inbound and content marketing strategies specifically for agency new business.
Fuel Lines is my social media 'home-base. It has been ranked among the top 100 marketing blogs in the world, according to Advertising Age’s, The Power 150.
Learn more about me
10 WordPress Plugins for Ad Agency New Business
Using WordPress plugins enhances your reader’s experience, allows for easy customization and maintenance of your blog. I began writing Fuel Lines back in 2007 on the blogging platform Blogger. It wasn’t long before I graduated from Blogger to WordPress. Wordpress is by far the most popular blogging platform on more than 60 million websites. It has […]