Peter Levitan & Co.

The New Business of Advertising

Smart Agencies

Advertising Agency Process and Profitability

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Get This Right – Your Advertising Agency Process

advertising agency processWarning: While not as sexy as a new TikTok marketing plan, this in-depth 3,500-word post is all about creating and running a killer advertising agency process that will help your agency make, here it comes, more money. Process, as in managing and controlling your time, costs, and being efficient will deliver greater profits — and much happier clients and staff.

Process, having a process, is one of the key elements of my business development and client management consultancy. I get into the weeds on this every day with my clients. You cannot be efficient and a money-making machine if you do not have a clear path – a plan that you repeat for each client and every element of your agency sales plan.

By the way, if this post is too long for your online perusal, I’ll send you a PDF version. Just email me at peter@peterlevitan.com 

Process = Big $$$$

A bit of background. When I worked at Saatchi & Saatchi one of the accounts I ran was Northwest Airlines. At that time, a time when airlines spent big bucks, their media budget was $60 million per year. At the standard 15% commission, we generated $9 million in agency revenues. $9 million! Ah, the good old days. Days when an agency minted bucks even if some of our processes were a bit wanky.

This isn’t the case anymore.

Today, process: the art and science of managing client relations, agency staff, expenditures, and time, is critical to profitability.

A Wonderful Advertising Agency Process Plan = $$$$$

I have a Texas advertising agency client that isn’t anywhere near as profitable as it should be. Their problem isn’t having the right clients or clients that want great work, or clients that spend money. Their problem is not having the right workflow process to ensure that these clients are profitable.

And, worse, because the agency appears to be always overworked, they don’t have the time or energy to run a smart and consistent new business program. A 24/7 program.

I built this client process plan for them and thought, why not share it? To protect the innocent, this full-service ad agency has been renamed… Wonderful Advertising. I think that these general principles and actions can be applied to any communications agency type.

The Wonderful Agency: Background

Wonderful is an integrated marketing communications agency based in Dallas. Wonderful describes itself as (from Wonderful’s Twitter profile):

“A full-service advertising and marketing agency blending traditional and non-traditional media with digital services, graphic design, and social media.”

A bit boring, but at least they’ve made a statement.

Wonderful: Management Issues

Wonderful is entering a next-stage business phase where it would like to add larger national clients to its roster. In order to do so, it would like to set up client management systems to improve its workflow efficiency and improve and manage its client relationships, and most importantly… increase agency profitability. The agency must also build a business development system that will help them entice and land the type of clients that they need for agency growth. [Read more…] about Advertising Agency Process and Profitability

Advertising Agency PR 1.0

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How To Drive Advertising Agency PR – As In Getting More Fame

advertising agency prImagine that your advertising agency is so unique, so well positioned, so good at messaging, so unignorable that it stands so far out from the vast pack of other agencies that your agency gets press and praise from Advertising Age, ADWEEK, The Drum, Marketing Week, Fast Company, and Forbes. And the trade press that your future clients read.

Do it and you’ve hit the advertising agency PR jackpot. A jackpot that gets attention. This is way cool since, in New York alone, WINMO says that there are over 1,500 advertising agency options. And your agency is just one of them and needs to be found – not easy. PR helps getting found. I know, I know you know this. But… are you getting found?

Now imagine the New York wine market where the New York Daily News estimates that wine buyers have themselves over 1,500 wine store options to choose from. A similar marketing and advertising clutter problem to the agency world.

How Orange Wine Kicks It

I was in New York’s lower east side this month and stumbled upon the wine shop Orange Glou. A shop that is so unique, so well positioned, so unignorable that it stands out from the vast pack of other wine shops. In fact, so special that they have received praise from The New York Times, Saveur, Food & Wine, Punch, Money, and Fortune. Even local New York TV (see the video below.)

From The New York Times:

In November 2019, Doreen Winkler started selling orange wines by subscription. Its success led her to open a wine shop specializing in the wines, which are white wines given enough skin contact to add a ruddy blush to the color. Orange Glou, the shop, is opening Friday with 100 different wines from many regions priced from $19 to $99. She points out that these “exciting” orange wines tend to be low in alcohol and great with food. Her inventory also includes some pet-nat bubbles. She said her audience tends to skew younger, under 50, and she’s pleased that chefs are among her fans.

Why Wine And Advertising Agency PR?

Why point out the success of Doreen and Orange Glou? Because Doreen has accomplished what many advertising agencies seek. She has a specialized passion; is a recognized expert; knows how to market her product; gets national attention and is clearly an expert at knowing how to drive PR.

Orange Glou’s press page has some, understatement, cool publications that help drive Orange Glou awareness.

What Can An Advertising Agency Do To Drive Awareness?

Here is a quick list of actions that you could take to get that “free” PR action. No this isn’t easy. But if you try sometimes you will get what you need. [Read more…] about Advertising Agency PR 1.0

Advertising Agency Sales Prospecting

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The Art & Science of Advertising Agency Sales Prospecting – A Smart ‘KISS’ Approach

advertising agency sales prospectingYou know what advertising agency sales prospecting is. Yup. But… let’s start with a couple of definitions to get us on the same page.

From Shopify: Prospecting is the first step in the sales process, which consists of identifying potential customers, aka prospects. The goal of prospecting is to develop a database of likely customers and then systematically communicate with them in the hopes of converting them from potential customer to current customer.

From Peter Levitan: Sales prospecting is efficiently going after and getting the new clients for your advertising agency that y’all deserve.

A ramble: All advertising agencies, digital marketing expert agencies, PR, well you get the idea, need to grow. If you have been reading me for a long time, I’ve told you that you start to lose that new client the minute they become a client. So, knowing that your clients will eventually leave by the back door means that you better be working hard at bringing them in the front.

NOTE: The following is NOT a definitive prospecting plan. I am just toplining the core elements that you have to do. Sales prospecting is both science and art. I help agencies every day get this particular act together.

Sales Prospecting

I am going to assume that you have a referral strategy so you have taken care of that critical business development tactic. But, you cannot rely on referrals and WOM alone for growth. Can’t, shouldn’t. Way too many agencies do this. need a referral plan? Here you go.

Your Brand Positioning Comes First

To be a great prospector, you need to offer the market, your specific market, a compelling brand proposition that will get their attention  —  one that resonates. You can do all of the prospecting you want but if you do not sound like you will meet a potential client’s needs then ‘fuhgettaboutit‘… you will be wasting your time and money. Need to rethink your positioning? Go here – How To Position An Advertising Agency. [Read more…] about Advertising Agency Sales Prospecting

Deliver An Advertising Agency Newspaper

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Really? An Advertising Agency Newspaper. Peter, You Must Be Joking.

advertising agency newspaperWebsites are ephemeral. Social media is like the wind. Email. well email, just fades away. Same for LinkedIn messages. But paper, well paper sticks around. So, here is a suggestion. Consider having an advertising agency newspaper. Whoa… A newspaper? In 2021 or beyond. Yup.

Just to get the conversation going… that’s one of my photography series newspapers over there from my Mexico LaGente photo series.

I Am A Photographer. I Use Newspapers To Give Back.

I photograph communities (and dozens of people) around the world. I have created ‘newspapers’ as a follow-up for photo series I’ve done in San Miguel de Allende Mexico and Selma Alabama. It is a way that I give back to the community. People dig it. I’ve even gotten hugs in Mexico when I’ve given a newspaper to a person that has their photo in it. Hugs. Doesn’t your ad agency want a hug? See some pics of ‘hugs’ below.

Yo, Be Unignorable = Get attention = Creat An Advertising Agency Newspaper Or Zine

Ok, getting past that ephemeral digital problem. Go newspaper, or if you prefer a more modern approach – call it a zine.

Smart words get attention. Groovy imagery gets attention. Smart insights get mucho – repeat – attention. So, if you are going to the trouble of doing all this outreach work to get attention… why not try to really get attention. Go 1990’s and put it in ink. Let people touch your brilliance.

I Use The Newspaper Club

Go to the UK’s Newspaper Club for inspiration and, hey, why not use them to produce your groovy print work.

OK. One More.

Minneapolis’s video production company Current Resident also uses print / zines / newspapers…. whatever you want to call it.

Issues? Sure.

Yes, it is paper. Go green and make it eco-friendly paper.

Need addresses? Now that many businesses are back at the office – at least some of the time – mail is getting delivered to the right person. Or, you know what… ask people for their home address. I often send one of my The Levitan Pitch. books to people. They gladly supply their real address. These days, getting anything in the mail is like Christmas.

Paper in action. Hugs from my neighborhood. A FB post from a community leader.

advertising agency newspaper