marketing

Advertising Agency Business Development Seminar @ Portland Ad Fed

Peter · November 9, 2013 · Leave a Comment

Agencies love their friends, their Rolodex’s (yes, we still use this word) and claim that they win more business from referrals than any other new business method. 3 reasons why:

Friends are friends and friends have friends.
Friends should recommend you.
Current and past clients should recommend you. See “The One Number You Should Grow” from the Harvard Business Review.

But, there is a point when you run out of friends with friends and then its time to actually do some real business development. That’s why Rebecca Armstrong, Principal and Managing Director at NORTH; Ryan Buchannan, CEO eRoi and Peter Levitan, CEO Peter Levitan & Co. — oh, that’s me are speaking on how to grow your friends, contacts and prospect lists.

It is: An Advertising Agency Business Development Seminar – “New Business Is More Than A Big Rolodex”

Date: November 21.

Place: Portland, Oregon

Info from The Portland Advertising Federation (yes, new website coming soon….)

Need some language:

The more prospective clients you get to know, the more new business you will win. It’s that simple. Or, is it? New business is a presentation and hands-on workshop designed to help advertising agency management and employees create enlightened new business programs that will get more meetings and build relationships with the right prospects.

We will work together to examine and discuss a range of business development techniques used by successful agencies. We’ll explore list building and how to create and deliver compelling client insights that will grab the attention of the client-side decision makers you want to meet with – well before they put out that RFP. This seminar is for all agency employees because new business should be an agency-wide goal.

2 New Levitan Guest Posts on Agency Post and Advertising Week

Peter · October 30, 2013 · Leave a Comment

I am keeping up my guest posting on authoritative advertising websites to get my thought-leadership out and build my website’s authority and page rank. Just in case you don’t know what these important SEO terms are, here are definitions:

Authority from Search Engine Land: Is your site an authority? Is it a widely recognized leader in its field, area, business or in some other way? That’s the goal. No one knows exactly how search engines calculate authority and, in fact, there are probably multiple “authority” signals. The type of links your site receives (lots of quality or ‘neighborhood’ links?) or social references (from respected accounts?) and engagement metrics (long clicks?) may all play a role in site authority.

Page Rank from Search Engine Land and Google: PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page’s value. In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But, Google looks at considerably more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives; for example, it also analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves “important” weigh more heavily and help to make other pages “important.”Using these and other factors, Google provides its views on pages’ relative importance.

This Week’s Guest Posts

On Advertising Week Social Club — “Advertising Account Executives On The Frontline”

Intro: “I think that advertising agencies have to think hard about how they deliver value. It is often more about intangibles than the actual “work.” A great deal of our value resides in the Account Executive role and the client relationship. We know this because poor “account service” is often listed as the primary reason that a client has decided to switch agencies.”

On Agency Post — “eatbigfish Challenges The Limits.” FYI: eatbigfish is the leading “challerger brand” advertising agency.

Intro: “Aside from the agency name, most advertising, digital, branding and strategic consultancy websites are interchangeable. However, eatbigfish’s isn’t. It’s a marketing and business development juggernaut. Shouldn’t that be the point? “

Does your Agency Guest Post?

No? Send me an email and lets schedule a conversation about how you can amp up your social media marketing program so you get more incoming leads – I mean lots more. Believe me smart, dedicated advertising agency social media tied to intelligent, action-oriented SEO works… I’ve got advertising agency clients on three continents from my SEO programs.

Ad Agency… Should You Use Facebook?

Peter · October 29, 2013 · Leave a Comment

Should ad agencies be using Facebook in their client’s online media program? Not according to a scathing new Forrester report. Read Forrester’s open letter to Mark Zuckerberg.

A graphics fan? Here is the most damning chart…

And, for a distillation of the Forrester report, here is Business Insider’s take.

I’ll digest the report just like you.

Should Your Agency Be Using Facebook As A business development Tool?

I have been amazed by the amount of time and energy that advertising agencies spend on their Facebook marketing. I mean, really, do you think that Facebook marketing is actually going to drive ad agency business development efforts? When was the last time you “liked” another agency’s Facebook page? Do you think that your future clients are hanging out on your Facebook page? Really?

Need some help with your agency’s social media program? This guy can help.

Attention, Interest, Decision, Action

Peter · October 18, 2013 · 1 Comment

The savvy Rebecca Armstrong, Principle and Managing Director of Portland’s ad agency North, recently wrote the following to me about her perspective on new business. About creating a holistic approach. About creating the total package. About the realization that it takes a plan. I agree.

New business for me is a very holistic package of having an excellent creative and strategic reputation, having a strong, singular and differentiating POV, having vocal advocates in your existing client base, having kick-ass PR counsel, growing a culture of new business in the organization, chasing culturally-aligned clients yadda yadda. And then there’s the pitch, which is an art in itself.

It also requires…

Attention, Interest, Decision, Action

As Alec Baldwin said, “ABC. Always be closing.” Its called sales pressure. This may sound a bit intense. But, isn’t employing some form of ABC, maybe your own way of ABCing it, what it all comes down to? In the case of advertising agencies, I suggest keeping the new business machine working 24/7. Something we can do given our digital and social tools.

Full disclosure: I am not advocating a full-on old-fashioned way of doing that thing that puts fear into the hearts of advertising agencies — SALES. I am simply pointing out, by showing you one of your favorite movie scenes, that only employing passive business development efforts won’t work. You will need to find your own special sweet spot between doing nothing, building that holistic program and acting like Alec Baldwin.

So… for some of my very own ABC, think David Mamet or, in my case, Mario Puzo. Just call me. Think Corleone.

The History Of Content Marketing

Peter · October 7, 2013 · Leave a Comment

Yesterday I opined (yes, a Bill O’Riellyism) that we shouldn’t get all caught up in worrying about the definition of advertising. In my head, lets keep our lives simple and just believe that when marketers pay for our attention they are “advertising.”

I sited content marketing as not being a brand new “advertising” idea (think advertorials) and today found this infographic on the history of content marketing on the Content Marketing Institute website. So, how old is content marketing… Try 1885.