Insights

My Book’s Video On Ad Agency Pitching

Peter · February 11, 2017 · Leave a Comment

My Book On Ad Agency Pitching – And, The Use Of Video To Sell It

A good and smart advertising friend is in the process of marketing his new book, “Rise Up: How To build A Socially Conscious Business”. Writing books is a good thing. He asked for some ideas on book marketing since I’ve published four books – two non-fiction and two photo books – with another on its way.

Here is one big book marketing idea… Create an informational sales video for your book and get it up on your book’s Amazon page and… your book’s sales landing page. I put my video below to give you an example. However, here are a few more points.

Write a book to help sell your agency. Pick a subject that deals with your target market’s ‘pain points.’ My pain point, targeted at YOU, is how to win more new business pitches.
Your book will make you look like an expert and isn’t that what your future client is looing for?
The book does not have to be looooooong. Just, super smart and helpful. Look at how short many of Seth Godin’s books are
Use smart interviews with industry leaders and influencers to create content and make friends. About one-third of book is loaded with highly useful interviews.
Market the book in your inbound and outbound marketing programs. You know how to do this.
Repurpose and leverage the book’s content on your Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, blog pages.
Guest post on big industry websites to gain broad awareness and message reach.
Get your friends, like me, to help promote your book.
Use the book to get invited to speak at conferences. I am in April in L.A. speaking at Hannapin Marketing’s Hero Conference. It is the world’s largest PPC conference. My session is directed to digital marketing agencies: “Is PPC The Smartest Way To Sell Your Agency’s Services? Um, No.”
OK, one more link. here is my HubSpot presentation on why you should write a book …

My ad agency dedicated book, Buy This Book. Win More Pitches. (see above to purchase) just had its best sales month in January. I think that is because agency folks just like you thought hard over the holidays about how to grow your agency. As a FYI, in addition to books sales, I also get a large number of qualified leads for my consulting business at the start of the year. Looks like you guys have some pent up sales needs. Give ma a shout, I can help you get this whole process right.

OK, My Video

I asked Rebecca Armstrong, Managing director of Portland’s North agency to interview me. Easy!

Minimalist Advertising Agency Websites

Peter · February 1, 2017 · Leave a Comment

Minimalist (Advertising Agency) Websites

Say this out loud:

“Your advertising, digital or design agency has only about 8 seconds to get the attention, interest and then drive an action from a website visitor.”

That is what 8 seconds in the land of website lead gen looks like.

I have been studying the design and sales savvy of advertising agency websites since the mid-1990’s. Over time the advertising world has seen the gamut of design directions. Super static to (over-used) FLASH to today’s (over-used) WordPress themes with their ubiquitous vertical scrolling. After looking at hundreds of websites, I’ve concluded that minimalist websites that deliver easy to digest interest win.

Sameness.

While every agency wants to have a truly kick-ass website, many, if not most, look alike – or, at least, share a small range of key elements. There are many reasons for this. Agencies love the latest shiny design object (back to scrolling and carousels); agencies essentially say the same thing (note the similarity of brand positions and sales propositions) and many website designers are looking at competitor sites for inspiration. They also scour the website awards sites including:

Awwwards.

CSS Design Awards.

CSS Winner.

FWA.

The Webby Awards.

Communication Arts.

Wow, that should keep you busy.

It’s Sales Stupid.

Design sameness aside. Regardless of what design direction an advertising agency is using – the agency website must first and foremost act as an effective sales tool. You’d think this would go without saying. But…

As I have pointed out, your agency website might get no more than a 8 second ‘hard’ look by a prospect. Because of this, I have come to the conclusion that the most effective approach is for an advertising agency to design with one thought in mind: K.I.S.S., Keep It Simple Stupid. I will highlight a few lean and mean websites below. But first, here is my one-note advertising agency website design wish list.

Simple (and fast) is good. I am a fan of simple, fast read design. If all you have is a few seconds, you better use that brief time to your advantage. While there is no ‘perfect’ home page, I suggest that this is when you better tell your story. Just to point to one website that gets this need for simplicity, I point you to M&C Saatchi’s website. This agency simply wants you to know that they are important.

Deliver Your Sales Message. Virtually every agency I work with points to Droga5 as being a favorite. OK, we know that they are good at what they do. But, as of today, one thing they do do is to tell a website visitor that they win awards. I don’t care how sophisticated a client is. They love agencies that win third-party awards. Proof of success. Full stop.

Chemistry wins. I made a big point in my book on presenting and pitching that interpersonal chemistry is often the deciding factor in agency selection. Why is this? Well, again, most agencies are kinda alike and when pitching they share very similar attributes based on the client’s initial selection criteria. And, let’s face it, pixels aside,… people buy people. Being liked is nice. So, why not use your website to introduce your interpersonal chemicals. London Advertising does this.

A Minimal Minimalist Website List.

I am not going to re-belabor the minimalist point. Here are just a few that work for me. This isn’t an extensive list. I am just providing a look at UBER minimal to show that less can be more. Sorry, I had to say that.

(By the way, sorry for the spacing below. WordPress is failing me — funny in a post about website design.)

Humanaut – A ‘cool” agency.

Anonimo – ~~Possibly~~ Mexico’s leading creative agency. They, um, do not need to overpopulate their website.

Cropmark – Yes, a European design agency.

HDF.LA – A fashionable L.A. based lifestyle agency.

Bolden – Impossible to ignore.

Digital In 2017

Peter · January 31, 2017 · Leave a Comment

107 Slides On What Is Coming In Digital in 2017

Good stuff and some sweet facts. Read on. Share the best tidbits with your clients.

This report is from Simon Kemp. If you want the whole enchilada, go right here. His words…

If you’re looking for more in-depth numbers, the following 19 presentations are probably what you’re looking for.

To make the 3,000+ slides that make up this year’s study more manageable, we’ve clustered individual countries into the various sub-regions used by the United Nations; each presentation has an ‘index’ on the third slide detailing which countries that report contains, with links to all the other reports on the next slide (#4).

Digital in 2017 Global Overview from We Are Social Singapore

Will Marijuana Get Advertising Agencies High?

Peter · January 17, 2017 · 1 Comment

Will Marijuana Get Advertising Agencies High?

This is an update to a post I wrote in July, 2015. I must admit that I was right then that marijuana will get advertising agencies high. High as in offering a brand new multi-billion dollar product category that needs agency services. All of them – product design, PR, PPC, SEM, website design, social media, print advertising and on and on. The reason for this update is the Newsweek article, “Here are the businesses taking marijuana products into the mainstream”. Here is a bit from the article. I suggest that your savvy agency will figure out how to get on board this fast moving train.

“With roughly 22 million Americans consuming marijuana on a monthly basis in 2015 and nearly 37 million people admitting to using pot at least once a year, marijuana brands and companies are increasingly looking to reach new consumers with upscale products that go beyond weed’s reputation as an easy high for people who like to wear tie-dye shirts and listen to mellow music. The push is aimed at offering a greater variety of ways for people to consume cannabis, whether they are first-time users or people who may have smoked grass back in the day and are looking to ease back into the drug now that it is legal.

“If you look at what traditionally people think of when they think of a pot shop, they’re thinking of a place with Bob Marley posters in it. There’s nothing mainstream about that. That’s not how you sell anything, but for some reason, that’s how people think you sell pot. That’s got to evolve,” Adam Bierman, CEO and co-creator of MedMen, a California-based marijuana management firm, said during a phone interview.

The marijuana industry is now a $6.7 billion business, according to Forbes. Figures this high aren’t easily achieved, especially not with down-market products sold in cramped stores covered in marijuana symbols, Bierman said.”

FYI, the photo of the Bob Marley product above is from Portland’s Bridge City Collective, a two-shop business that I invested in two years ago. I saw the marijuana train coming down the track and got on board very early. I am including the photo because it is an excellent example of where marijuana industry branding is heading.

—

So, Will Marijuana Get Advertising Agencies High?

Yes.

But, do not take my word for it. 502DATA is a website that reports on Washington State’s marijuana industry. Take a look at the sales numbers and… you tell me? Will marijuana get advertising agencies high? Um, drive advertising agency revenues higher? Seems logical.

Here are sales numbers for Washington’s producers, processors and retailers in today’s early-stage market. Then imagine that this is a national business that will inevitably experience consolidation.

But, for now just be amazed at the growth of a brand-new product and service category. A big one. Total 2015 Washington marijuana sales could go beyond $400,000,000 in 2015. [Read more…] about Will Marijuana Get Advertising Agencies High?

Death Of The Brand?

Peter · January 5, 2017 · Leave a Comment

Death Of The Brand… What Does This Mean For Your Advertising Agency?

Watch this L2 video on 2017 predictions. What does it mean for your advertising / digital / design / PR / experiential agency?

I know…. these predictions are both an opportunity and a big problem. I’d grab the opportunity (I love pain points) and I think it is huge. You?

https://www.l2inc.com/video/scott-galloway-and-maureen-mullen-predictions-for-2017