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...]
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...]
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...]
10 Benefits of Inbound Marketing for Ad Agency New Business
There is a new model for new business that makes the existing model obsolete. It may come as a bit of a surprise but, prospects aren't anxiously awaiting your sales pitch. They've heard it a hundred times before from agencies that look, sound and act just like yours. New business doesn't have to be so hard. There is a better way that makes it EASIER. Implementing an inbound marketing program will get prospects reaching out to you without having to use the interruptive type tactics … [Read more...]
This is My Personal Story In Leading Ad Agency New Business
Business development has dramatically changed and rainmakers of the past have struggled with the changes. I wanted to publically thank my good friend, Ken Henley, who is a Nashville artist that created my new caricature. Ken and I have known each other for years. We've seen a lot of changes within the advertising industry, but none as great as what has occurred over the past seven years. I've been in business development almost my entire advertising career. I was an account … [Read more...]
How to Use Hashtags for Ad Agency New Business
The use of hashtags within social media creates a great opportunity it improve awareness and reach prospective clients. Hashtags are words preceded by the hash symbol(#). Twitter users were the first to use hashtags back in 2007 and are still the primary users, but hashtags are now used a lot on other social media platforms such as Facebook, Google +, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr and Vine. Using hashtags is an easy way to make your content searchable. Prospects can click on a word with a … [Read more...]
Personal Brand Development Benefits Ad Agency New Business
Growing your personal brand can greatly boost your agency's new business opportunities. It makes sense for the principal to be the face of the agency. Not only are they the least likely to leave, but usually small to midsize agencies are built upon the vision, values and the type of culture that best suites their owners. And, agency owners are critical to new business. There are many situations where your personal brand is as essential, or even more so, than your agency’s brand. Take a … [Read more...]
Writer’s Block Can Derail Ad Agency New Business
Consistently creating content is the fuel for an inbound new business program. With the rise of content marketing, writing has become an important component to new business as the battle for business has moved online. Content has become the magnet that draws in prospective clients and provides a positioning of expertise. I've been writing about business development for eight years. On occasion I suffer from writer's block. It becomes extremely difficult to produce new articles. I feel … [Read more...]
The Invisible Sale for Ad Agency New Business
A step-by-step guide to create a painless prospecting system. Many agencies have historically struggled with prospecting for clients. Their struggles have been intensified due to the rise of social media, content and inbound marketing. Today’s prospects are more in control of the agency selection process than ever before. Instead of chasing new business, it's now more important to be found. Tom Martin has written a helpful guide-book on social selling, it's called The Invisible Sale: How to … [Read more...]
People You May Know for Ad Agency New Business
LinkedIn's People You May Know feature helps build a targeted network of prospective clients fast. LinkedIn is an important new business tool, thanks to its' People You May Know feature. It has been rated as the second most helpful LinkedIn feature, enabling users to easily build new relationships with potential clients. People You May Know provides you with a list of people to connect with using LinkedIn's secret algorithm. From my personal experience, it seems to factor in your personal … [Read more...]