Agency new business is a very tough job. There's often a lot of rejection associated with the position of business development. It's difficult to stay optimistic. One thing that helps to inspire me are quotes that I pick up from my reading and from conferences and seminars. They condense wisdom into bite-sized memorable sentences that provide needed inspiration and motivation. Benjamin Disraeli, a British politician and writer, said it well, “The wisdom of the wise, and the experience of … [Read more...]
Ad Agencies: How to Seduce Prospects Without Giving Your Work Away for Free
How to create a predictable pipeline of leads through inbound marketing. You want to attract new clients from outside of your current sphere of influence, spend less time on unqualified prospects, avoid client reviews, and build a predictable pipeline of targeted accounts. And you can accomplish everything on this wish list with blogging. But there’s one problem: Writing quality content and connecting this with lead generation isn’t easy. It’s time-consuming. It takes takes time to show … [Read more...]
Marketing Your Ad Agency Should Be A Priority for New Business
Prospective clients shouldn't hire a marketing agency that can't market themselves. I wanted to share some excerpts of an interview conducted by Jami Oetting, content strategist for Agency Post, an online publication for agency professionals. The subject of the interview is Douglas Burdett, former artillery officer, Madison Avenue ad man, stand-up comedian and the principal of Artillery, a small agency in Norfolk, Virginia. Douglas provides a good example of how agency promotion has evolved. … [Read more...]
Ad Agencies: How to Stop Chasing New Business
The Barkley agency has created a number of thought leadership platforms that drive new business. In this session of the Fuel Lines New Business Conference, Jeff Fromm, Executive VP at Barkley, shares how his agency has created a number of thought leadership platforms that drive new business. One of the most successful has been built around Millennial Marketing. Jeff states, "In 2010, after losing the Sonic account, I went looking for a niche for new business that was consistent within … [Read more...]
Inbound Marketing For Ad Agency New Business
In recent studies, agencies have expressed that new business is more difficult than ever before, but it doesn’t have to be. Don't get me wrong, new business has historically been a problem for agencies. Most small to midsize agencies have no positioning and no point of differentiation. They look and sound the same. They are often treated as vendors because they lack a positioning of expertise. Most don’t have a target audience thus, no focus for business development … [Read more...]
The Indispensable Ad Agency
How Marketing Talent, Technology and Strategy Gaps Present Invaluable Opportunities for Agency Growth “The marketing services industry is in a state of flux. As CMOs navigate the marketing talent gap, they are increasingly seeking performance-driven agency partners that are immersed in marketing technology and staffed with digital-savvy professionals. SMBs need partners that can deliver fully integrated solutions and in essence function as outsourced inbound marketing teams. Large enterprises … [Read more...]
The Preeminent Thought Leader on How to Win Ad Agency Pitches
Win more ad agency new business pitches. It’s easier than you think. Peter Levitan has been described as a serial new business pitcher. He has delivered global, regional, and very local new business pitches for over 30 years. He has a Hall Of Fame pitch batting average. Peter ran business development and marketing at Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising Worldwide in New York and London, and bought and sold three of his own agencies (including Portland’s Citrus). Peter is the author of, … [Read more...]
The Most Provocative Man in Advertising
Bob Hoffman is one of the most sought-after speakers on advertising and marketing. He has spoken all over the U.S. and has been invited to speak at conferences throughout Europe. Bob’s “Spotlight Lecture” at Advertising Week Europe has drawn almost 50,000 views on YouTube. Bob was one of the keynote speakers at our inaugural Fuel Lines New Business Conference in Nashville, TN. He presented a refreshing take on the marketing industry in his presentation, Marketers Are From Mars, Consumers … [Read more...]
A Perfect Platform for Ad Agency New Business
For over eight years I’ve prescribed creating a niche blog for agency new business and have helped create over 200 personal blogs for agency principals. A personal blog can provide small to midsize agency owners with a perfect platform to create positioning of expertise and appeal to a very specific target audience. It’s like a fishing expedition. You fish for a specific fish with a particular bait, you fish away from the boat (the agency’s website) so you don’t scare off the fish. Recently, … [Read more...]
What’s the Most Dangerous Job in Advertising?
ADWEEK said the most dangerous job in advertising is new business chiefs. According to a recent Agency-Marketer Business Report from RSW/US, the tenure of a new business director is now 2 years or less. Only 26% of new business directors were viewed as successful. They are under a lot of stress and their position tends to have a short shelf life. Why the poor performance? New business has historically been a problem for agencies. Most small to midsize agencies have no positioning … [Read more...]