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11 Must Have Ad Agency Business Development Tools

Peter · June 8, 2019 · 1 Comment

11 Must-Have Ad Agency Business Development Tools (Updated From 2014).

NOTE: I first wrote this 11 Must-Have Ad Agency Business Development Tools blog post at the very end of 2014 and a few minutes ago the website checker app Checkbot pointed out that this post has a couple of dead links. (4.5 years later and it is interesting to see what tools have survivied). So, I thought that I’d repost and make things work. I suspect a reason for the broken links is that some of these tools are history. Here is what I found.

Back to 2014 – it is still worth the read… Blog post Consistency, actually the lack of it, is one of the most pressing issues that reduces the effectiveness of most advertising agency new business programs. So… Here are some ad agency business development tools that I recommend to keep your agency’s new business and content development program on track. (Tweet this.)

These tools (and there is a big world of tools out there these days) will help your efficiency and, more importantly, make you look like a subject matter expert because you are on that ball. Even better, as you use these tools for your own business development efforts, you will be gaining social media expertise that will dazzle your client prospects.

Clients (the ones you do not have yet) need your help according to this research from Ascend2.

Almost half of the clients surveyed have significant social media obstacles to overcome. You can help them by helping yourself.

This list of 11 tools is my first set of recommended online social media management tools. There will be more coming. [Read more…] about 11 Must Have Ad Agency Business Development Tools

The Art Of Personal Branding

Peter · March 22, 2017 · Leave a Comment

A How To – Personal Branding Is A Fine Art

Warning, it will take you close to 500 words to actually get to my main point about the art of personal branding and a great example of How To. So, if you want, skip ahead. However, if you need a bit of branding history, don’t scroll yet.

A Definition

Today, everyone (well, OK, not everyone, but it sure seems like everyone) from high school students developing their college resumes to job seekers to ad agency owners like you to consultants like me, use personal branding to create their very own brand. What is a personal brand? A definition from our friends at Wikipedia…

Personal branding is the practice of people marketing themselves and their careers as brands While previous self-help management techniques were about self-improvement, the personal-branding concept suggests instead that success comes from self-packaging. The term is thought to have been first used and discussed in a 1997 article by Tom Peters.

Do you know Tom Peters? I bet many of you don’t. Back in the 90’s Tom was a major marketing influencer and as you can see from this 1997 Fast Company article, “The Brand Called You. Big companies understand the importance of brands. Today, in the Age of the Individual, you have to be your own brand. Here’s what it takes to be the CEO of Me Inc.”, he laid it all out. FYI: 1997 was twenty years ago. Side note, I kinda laughed when I read how Tom boldly referred to himself at the close of the article…

“Tom Peters (TJPET@aol.com) is the world’s leading brand when it comes to writing, speaking, or thinking about the new economy. He has just released a CD-ROM, “Tom Peters’ Career Survival Guide.”

Tom states (Tom!)…. “Tom Peters (TJPET@aol.com) is the world’s leading brand…” Cool. You know, most people don’t really have time to figure you out so go ahead and tell them that you are the guru. It works. Here is what I say (I say!) on my (as in this) website: “I Am The Most Experienced Business Development Consultant.” It works (and it is true.) There…. I just personal branded. Back in the day, I studied Tom peters, read his books and watched his presentations. Look him up, you’ll see what I mean.

Oh, just in case you don’t remember 1997, note in the statment that Tom had an AOL email address and created CD-ROM’s.

Back To Personal Branding – Actually, The Art Of Personal Branding

I will not get too deep into the concept of how to do the nuts & bolts of personal branding because there is a very good chance that you do that and Google will return 11 million results on the subject. Plus, you probably already use one or more of the following tools to get your brand out there. Or, should.

A blog (if you know how to use keywords, have something to add to the conversation and write decent English)
LinkedIn (your profile, groups, and publishing)
Facebook (your profile and advertising)
Instagram (image marketing)
Twitter (yes, it still works)
Snapchat (people won’t remember your inanity)
Pinterest (amazing what people search on)
Medium (borrowed reach)
Slideshare (an underused platform)
Commenting (presence)
Guest posting (seriously borrowed reach)
Recommendations and referrals (ask for them)
Awards (third party endorsement)
Buffer (efficiency)
Buzzsumo (more efficiency)
Word of mouth (yup, that old thing works too)

Margo: The Art Of Her Branding Is In The Execution – Not Just The Tools

All of these tools are nice. But, as is always the case, the devil is in the details. Here are the details of a personal brand I found (actually it found me) yesterday.

I have some bad habits. Instead of waking up and immediately studying Spanish (I now live in Mexico), I turn on my iPad and read my business email. So there I am in my bed (too much info?) with my iPad and I see an email from Medium that points me to… “How The Best Marketers Read Minds. How to hear the unspoken stories your customers tell themselves.” I read it. It’s an excellent take on marketing and messaging. It is very current. You should read it.

I then go, “Huh, who wrote this?” I click on Margo Aaron’s byline, I see this: “I write about the dubious underbelly of marketing and other lighthearted topics at www.thatseemsimportant.com.” I like the name of the website. I like the idea of reading about the “dubious underbelly.” I like Margo’s attitude.

I then go to Margo’s That Seems Important website. I find the following:

She points out that she is a ginger and is cute (my interpretation.) Just to be clear, I would have also thought that if it had been a cute guy like Domhnall Gleeson.

She has a sense of humor: The top of the home page visual says, “They say if I have a photo here it will increase my conversion rates.” Take that SEO / SEM folks.

She asks me to join her email list via this, “Please join this list so it’s not just my mom.” More humor.

I go to the About page and read her bio. Nice track.

Then I take her up on this… “If you’d like to “pick my brain” you can do so here.” Of course, I go. “Pick my brain” kinda reminds me of my Corleone Offer.

I arrive at a Clarity page where I can buy her time for $4.17 / minute. I see a couple of reviews like this…

Margo is a rock star. I gained more insights from a one-hour conversation with her than I would have in weeks of fumbling around with the marketing for my coaching service.

She has a rare acumen for asking the right questions to understand you and your offer and then translating that into a captivating marketing strategy.

The value I received from the call far exceeds her rate. If she’s amenable to helping you, don’t hesitate to work with her.

I think, sure I’ll call her.

My Point? Margo Seriously Branded Herself.

How?

Marketing – Margo introduced me to her via a broad reach vehicle – Medium. Somehow she got Medium to get her into my email.

Persona – Her branding delivered a smart, funny persona. Not a me-to list of attributes. She is likeable.

Smart – She writes very well on subject that should be of interest to you.

Sales funnel – She funneled me to her bio.

Sold – She further funneled me to her advice site.

Margot did all of this in a way I call – Unignorable.

You?

You can do this too. This is particularly important if you run an ad agency. Here’s an example…

Gary Vaynerchuk. Gary has done a masterful job of self-branding. I am sure you know his story. From wine shop to YouTube star to building the fastest growing ad agency in the universe (Gary’s ~~words~~ thought.)

His secret… He used marketing; a unique compelling persona; he’s smart and makes damn sure you know it; he funnels you into his books and speeches and if you are a client, into his agency. He is not timid. He has sold you. His brand sold you.

Does your brand sell your agency?

How To Make More Money

Peter · August 25, 2016 · Leave a Comment

How To Make More Money. Or, The Most Valuable Lessons I learned While Running Internet Startups and Advertising Agencies

Ah, make more money. A quick story. I was once in a cooking class in Chang Mai Thailand. One of the very funny chefs told us that she could charge more for her stir fries if she cut the carrots into star shapes. This was a very smart strategic decision to easily add a little bit of chutzpah to a dish that could be had all over town. A simple addition that, in the end… “made more money.”

Allow me to state the obvious… Not all businesses are created equal and not all bother to make star shapes. Some have valuable products and services; some are run by charismatic leaders; some are uber creative in their approach; some have a fabulous culture; some are strategic; and some are local, even neighborhood, market leaders.

Regardless of each company’s strengths, to survive in a world of thousands of companies (i.e. consumer options), they all need to be:

Well-Managed.

These insights and strong personal opinions on how to run a profitable business come from my thirty years in global and local advertising agency management and ownership and CEO and founder of two internet companies.

I spent my first sixteen years in advertising as a senior account director, general manager and business development director at Dancer Fitzgerald Sample (New York’s largest ad agency) and in New York and London at Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising Worldwide (the world’s largest agency.) I must have been into large.

In left advertising in 1995 for seven years to be founder and CEO of two Internet publishing and technology startups. To put it mildly, it was great fun to learn how to build websites, invent ad units, grow large traffic and to monetize the first set of Internet advertising programs. Microsoft bought our natural language processing company ActiveBuddy (then called, I’m sorry to say, Colloquis). Millions of people knew Activebuddy for our snarky and smart SmaterChild chatbot.

After my digital sojourn, I moved to Oregon in 2002 to buy a regional advertising agency. In the ten years that I ran the agency, we bought the sports marketing agency Citrus; rebranded and repositioned the company; expanded to two offices and added national clients like Dr. Martens, Harrah’s, Legalzoom, Nike and the U.N.

The following is what I learned during my tenure as a businessman, global account director, big agency business development director, buyer and seller of three agencies and, most importantly, as a small agency owner.

Have A Marketing Plan.

Many (most?) companies do not have an active / current marketing plan. In fact, most don’t have a business plan. Yikes! Having both of these will put you way ahead of your rivals.

My Oregon agency’s business plan helped us grow our account list and increased the agency’s valuation through acquisition; the opening of a second office; the development of an efficient and very creative new business program and the addition of Nike AOR business (which helped us gain even more desirable clients like Dr. Martens, Montana Lottery, and Legalzoom).

Note to the 45+ crowd. The plan also acted as a framework to begin to position the company for an eventual sale.

Be Different.

Create a brand and / or product positioning that differentiates your company from your competition. Right on, you’ve heard this one many times. Good. This just might be the most important thing you can do for your brand and people.

The drill here is to have a distinctive and memorable brand positioning – it’s really a sales proposition — that actively attracts and stimulates interest from the right new clients and customers. This is the important part:  Just trying to find yet another new way to say “digital” or “full- service” agency or pizza parlor, just might not be good enough – and its really difficult to find a new way to say the same old, and generally non-competitive thing.  Instead, it might be time to think through some business models and products 9or, how you describe your product) that will more effectively get you to that truly distinctive and compelling sales proposition.

Watch Your Costs.

You are a business first. Control all costs. Cost control just might be the only thing you can totally control.

This sounds obvious, but it is critical in an increasingly low-margin service business like advertising. My metric was that every dollar I paid to someone else was a dollar I couldn’t hand to my kids, staff or pay off the 1992 Porsche 911.

Stare At Your Numbers.

We advertising people are visual so my Citrus Agency CFO created financial dashboards as a graphical management tool. We had detailed monthly financial dashboards tied to our P&L, balance sheet, accounts receivables and owner compensation (this one tended to focus our business decisions.)

We also used a real-time SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) assessment for all major company decisions like mergers and acquisitions, go-no on RFPʼs and to help manage and assess existing accounts and staff.

Only The Best.

Hire only exceptional people – that’s what Google does, so why not you? Do not rush to fill a position. You will often pay for your speed to hire in the long run.

I realize that we are now in a relatively tight labor market. Finding the best, most experienced people is getting more difficult. Here is one of my hiring mantras… [Read more…] about How To Make More Money

Overdone Ad Agency Design Fries My Brain

Peter · June 4, 2015 · Leave a Comment

Overdone Ad Agency Design Fries My Brain

I spend a lot of time looking at ad agency websites. I even have a Pinterest website that includes many (that’s it on the left.)

Soooo many are overblown, over baked, over jam-packed with copy and images. These websites also sound alike with about, work, process (‘our agency’s very own special sauce), client lists, photos of offices, contact pages, hip staff photos and long lists of services. Yes, I get it. These are logical sections. But doing what the other 4,000 ad agencies do is not very original.

I Am Beginning To Really Dig Minimalism

I am not yet sure what I really think about Walrus‘ approach (i.e. the talking walrus.) BUT… it is minimal and does not look like any other agency and there is a bit of humor which is sorely missing in the advertising industry, so I will give it a mighty WOW.

2 Minimalist Inspirations

6 Social Media Tools To Spy On Droga5 and Ogilvy

Peter · April 6, 2015 · 1 Comment

How To Use Social Media Tools To Spy On Droga5 and Ogilvy

I admit it. I put the powerful word ‘spy’ and the agencies Droga5 and Ogilvy in the headline to get your attention. Droga5 and Ogilvy are rather famous so the use of their names should get me some extra views from agencies that are interested in having a better understanding of these industry leaders.

I’ll use them as examples of how you can use some social media tools to spy on any agency competitor or even your perspective clients. I found these tools while building out my advice to my agency clients on how they can create a smarter, more effective blog strategy. An obvious point is coming.

Understanding what keywords, blog subjects, and Tweets are working for other agencies (and prospective clients) will help you write and market blog posts that will work harder to drive traffic back to your website.

To understand what will social media tactics will work for you, it is a good idea to look at what currently works for your competition. To get there, I use a couple of primarily free tools. Most of these tools have a more robust paid version. Dig in. [Read more…] about 6 Social Media Tools To Spy On Droga5 and Ogilvy