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Insights
When is The Best Time To Post, Pin and Tweet?
I use this blog, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook (a recent addition), Pinterest (via my agency directory) and Google+ to promote my business. I stare at my stats to analyze what posts, subject categories, headlines and to determine when is the best time to post, pin and tweet.
Here is a sweet chart from SurePayroll on the best times to post. As you might imagine, there is devil in the details and your milage will vary based on your target market’s interests and behavior and how interesting your posts are.
Unacceptable Advertising Agency Website
Months ago I wrote about agencies that use an “Under Construction” message on their website’s front page. I see no excuse for this. None, zero, zip.
I just read an Adage article about Acme Idea Co. resigning the Duracell account. I haven’t see what Acme has been doing for awhile so I went to their website. This is what I found.
Unacceptable for a few reasons.
Why stop marketing?
Why not find a slightly more creative way to transition (I assume they are.)
Why look lame?
A piece of advice: Never, ever go Under Construction or Coming Soon. Its a bad idea.
Agency Search Consultant Trends
The scary Barbie and Ken slide on the left is a visual from the webinar “Agency Search Consultant Trends, Predictions and Recommendations for Agencies” hosted by Dave Currie, CMO of The List Inc. with Russel Wholwerth and Gerry Preece of The External View Consulting Group.
The image acts as a visualization of the high number of advertising agency options that clients are confronted with when they search for an ad agency. Breaking out from the thousands of other agencies is critical to your agency’s growth. Watch this webinar if you want to break out from the pack.
The webinar covers the search process in great detail and I can guarantee that every agency executive from large to small agencies will learn how to improve their agency’s new business batting average.
I recently interviewed Russel and Gerry for my book on pitching and can find no better, highly practical expert insights on the agency search process and how agencies can run smarter pitches. Many thanks to The List Inc. for posting this webinar. I highly recommend The List Inc.’s database and information services for agency new business. I used it when I owned my agency and now recommend it to all of my agency clients.
A quick piece of advice: make sure that your agency is listed in The List Inc. and External View databases. Invisible, wall-flower agencies don’t get asked to the dance.
You can see a full set of the slides on this page of The List Inc. website.
Is Your Advertising Agency Positioning “Normcore?”
The June ’14 issue of WIRED reports that “normcore” is a jargon word to watch. Normcore is so vanilla that it reminds me of at least 50% of the advertising agencies. That’s all agencies. Here is WIRED’s definition.
Averageness as a personal style. The apotheosis of anti-fashion, being normcore entails blending in – wearing a baseball cap to the ballpark and a velvet suit to the disco – and always acting like you’re totally into whatever you happen to be doing.
Yo, Is Your Agency Normcore?
How are agencies normcore?
They sound alike. See my long post on advertising agency positioning.
They say the same things: consumer conversations; media agnostic (yes, some still say this); full-service; we are problem solvers; we are creative; we are nimble; we came from large agencies… and on.
They even like to have photos of their reception area on their website.
They serve beer from real-life kegs on Fridays.
I’ll help you free your agency from being normcore. I do it every day for agencies that know that the only way they will succeeded is to be abnormal-core.