new business

Little Bird Marketing Kicks Ass

May 10, 2020 By Peter Leave a Comment

I apologize for saying this. It sure seems to me that a lot of advertising agencies are on their back foot. They are in de-accelerate mode. That means it is a great time to accelerate your business development program. There is a gap. Take advantage. Fill it. Juice it up.

This post is about how the advertising agency Little Bird Marketing kicks ass.

But wait, there’s more. Over a couple of blog posts, I am going to highlight three firms in the advertising agency business development space that are making it happen. Strangely, it just so happens that they tapped me to participate in their acceleration mode.

Little Bird Marketing Kicks Ass…

One of my first advertising agency business development clients was my NOW wonderful friend Priscilla McKinney of Missouri’s Little Bird Marketing.

Things I like about Little Bird and Priscilla:

This is a proactive company. They do good work; are well-known in their markets; their website is an active sales tool that is designed to capture leads (not what one usually sees); they are on top of inbound marketing (mucho blog posts and thought leadership).

Priscilla is very active on LinkedIn (and 3,700 Followers on Twitter). You will see lots of posts and videos plus a high volume, awareness-generating podcast. The Ponderings From The Perch podcast is designed to promote and sell the agency by also promoting people like me. For example, I am sharing my podcast interview here. Quid pro quo. Plus… Priscilla is the kind of nice, smart, caring person that clients want to work with. Believe me, this additional ’emotional’ hook works.

My Interview

Below is a brief sample from Little Bird. It is a mini-podcast audio moment promotion that they want me to put on my website to reach you to support them (they also gave me the lead graphic at the top of this podcast). Smart. Click on the image b e l o w before you go listen to the full podcast.

Now… Listen to the full podcast interview here. Note that I am pointing you back to the Little Bird website. That’s what they want to happen. By the way, I was ON that day. It is a brilliant interview about my take on the state of today’s advertising agency and how agencies need to intelligently accelerate their business development program – now.

The Basics: An Advertising Agency New Business Plan

April 20, 2020 By Peter 2 Comments

Your 2020 Advertising Agency New Business Plan

I admit it. I am going to repeat myself (you’ll know it if you’ve read some of my 600+ blog posts). The marketing communications service industry must have a solid advertising agency new business plan to survive in today’s disrupted and lower margin marketing world.

Wha? Agencies do not have a solid plan? According to ad world research, most do not. I’ve seen stats that say only 40% of advertising agencies have solid active business development plans.

While repeating some of the core tenets of sales, I’ll add some new thinking based on my working with agencies in the USA and around the globe.

Be Unignorable.

That said, the bottom-line for building a productive advertising agency new business plan is to do the sales plan actions that are tried and true – with the objective of standing way out. That means having the goal of being unignorable. Not easy, but a ripe goal to pursue.

Start Here.

These actions are general sales actions that are modified for selling a highly competitive service like your advertising agency. By the way, congrats if you’ve gone beyond just offering a service to having a tool or system that you can resell. Give me a shout and I’ll show you examples of what I mean.

You have to break out of the competitive pack. I don’t care if you’re a two-person or a multi-national. You need to say something to a prospective client that stands out and makes them want to make direct contact or say yes when you ask to speak with them.

The agencies that win today deliver messaging that is: well-targeted, succinct and competitive.

Because of this starting point, distinctive agency positionings help clients to quickly recognize the agency’s expertise and value.

I’ve put “winner” agencies into three messaging buckets. They tell prospective clients: ‘what we do’, ‘how we do it’ and ‘who we do it for’ to illustrate the strength of their individual positioning strategy.

The Start Here is without question your agency’s positioning. [Read more…] about The Basics: An Advertising Agency New Business Plan

Five New Advertising Agency Marketing Resources

April 15, 2020 By Peter Leave a Comment

Hi. Thanks for visiting. Here are five new advertising agency marketing resources. I think that they are all well designed for today’s marketing environment. I mean, today’s difficult and crazy marketing environment.

First, About You. And, Time To Pivot.

I’ve been thinking hard about the ‘what and how’ of B2B marketing in the time of the Coronavirus – how is that for a DUH? Why?… because I think that a good portion of the marketing and advertising agency industry is in deep navel-gazing mode. In particular, I’m talking about advertising and marketing communications agencies that are a bit stuck when it comes to their own marketing. Phase 1.0 was freakout and cost reduction. Phase 2.0 seems to be the frozen era (OK, not for all. But, I talk to a lot of agencies and this is what I am hearing). Now, Phase 2.5 offers the question: what are we gonna do to grow?

Clearly, the marketing world is working on thinking through (in descending order): How? to even survive what could be a looong journey; What? might market/client segments should a communication agency’s B2B marketing address/attack (intelligently); and What? form should the agency’s in and outbound marketing even look like? Doing a bit of pivoting is in order. Scenario planning and being proactive is in order.

About Me Being Like You.

Hey, I’m thinking about the same stuff. After all, my client base is primarily comprised of advertising, PR and digital agencies. If this group is frozen, I have to figure out how to market to it. Somedays, I even wonder if y’all will want to market hard again. Me? I dig marketing in a downturn. It makes me sharper.

Sharper? Here are some of the marketing resources that I’m looking at or about to use. I’ll keep you posted on what I eventually employ and how. In the meantime, here you go. I will be adding them to my master Resources list – check it out.

Five New Advertising Agency Marketing Resources. All Designed To Help Your Agency Grow.

Listen Notes. “The most comprehensive podcast database online. Discover the best podcasts. Search podcast show notes and audio transcripts by people, places, or topics.” One way to leverage this search engine is to see if there are any podcasts that might want to interview you re your expertise.

Anchor. “Anchor is an all-in-one platform where you can create, distribute, and monetize your podcast from any device, for free.” Yup, a free, podcasting development tool. Worth a look-see if you want to be like Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway.

Artlist. Great name and URL, right? Royalty-free music for your videos and podcasts.

NinjaOutreach. “Create effective influencer marketing campaigns by filtering through millions of influencers insights to find the one that captures your target audience’s attention.”

Famebit. From YouTube itself… “The Leading Marketplace for Influencers. Powered by data, we built the best in class tools to connect brands with the right creators, enabling branded content that reaches the right audience and inspires action.”

LOL. Want Two More?

I have two more very interesting advertising B2B tools. But, I am saving them just for me. When I use them, I’ll let you know and i’ll add them to the next email about resources. Or, if you are interested, and in the hurry you should be in, give me a shout.

Ad Agencies And The Art Of Philanthropy

April 14, 2020 By Peter Leave a Comment

The Art Of Philanthropy In The Time Of Coronavirus – A Smart Business Move For Ad Agencies

This is an update to my original 2013 blog post – Ad Agencies and the Art of Philanthropy.

I am updating because it is a good time, Coronavirus and all, when people kinda wake up and think a bit more about being philanthropic. This is, of course, good news. However, I think that while giving to the needy or other good causes is a good thing for the world, it is also a smart business strategy. I view giving as a win-win and something, even if clearly a business tool, a great thing to do.

The Art Of Philanthropy and Your Ad Agency

My buddy Russ Stoddard, the main man at Boise’s Oliver Russell agency, woke up one day and asked how he could take his local agency to become global and unignorable. His solution was to rebrand the agency as… We Are A Social Impact Branding Agency. It worked. Oliver Russell went from local to global. Plus, they are also helping numerous good causes while growing the agency. They delivered on the art of philanthropy. A good thing.

Need some more inspiration? Here is a link to Russ’s book: “Rise Up: How to Build a Socially Conscious Business” – a potential blueprint for your agency.

The great majority of advertising agencies have one or more nonprofit clients. It is a wonderfully symbiotic relationship. The nonprofits get high-level creative and the agencies get to feel good, look good to their communities and, most importantly, provide important services to charities.

This charitable work is also good for the agency’s new business program. If done correctly, the nonprofit relationship is strategic. One agency that gets it is Portland’s Grady Britton. You can read about their multi-year program in my article, “An Agency That Does Good” on the Agency Post.

I’ve felt so strongly about the symbiotic aspect of charitable work that I’ve always recommended a strategic approach to my clients. Below is how I’ve represented this concept. If you agree with me, please pass this on to your clients. At a time of reduced government spending, it is important that agencies play a more assertive role in selling the benefits of Strategic Philanthropy.

Strategic Philanthropy Is Good Business…

The Smart B2B Referral Program

April 5, 2020 By Peter Leave a Comment

The Advertising Agency B2B Referral Program – Is That Enough For Growth?

Is it just enough to “hope” that your B2B referral program will work? The answer… no.

I just got off the phone with an advertising agency leader in London. I asked, “Where have you been getting business?” he answered, as do most advertising agencies, “from our B2B referral program.”

Ah, the Holy Grail of the B2B client and customer to a friend to agency advertising agency referral. The idea is that if the agency does a good job, a client will tell their friends about the agency. Well, at least for this London agency the good news is that they have an actual, active referral program. Most advertising agencies just hope that their clients will make the nice, sweet B2B referral via fate. I am not a fan of “fate.” You shouldn’t be either.

The B2B Referral – Good News

Don’t get me wrong. I love referrals. The right referral will result in getting the right client with little initial business development effort on the part of the agency. Win-Win. It’s like a great blind-date. Does anyone remember the blind-date? As in, you didn’t meet (as in see and scope out) the referred person until he sat across from you at the Starbucks table? Very 1980’s. OK, back to now.

The B2B Referral – Really Bad News

For the vast majority of advertising, digital and on agencies is that counting on referrals is bad news.

Two simple and compelling problems:

Referrals are not predictable. Never. This isn’t good for any sort of business planning.
Referrals are not scalable. Never. This isn’t good for any sort of business planning.

Counting on referrals is a fool’s game.

I’ve counseled agencies on how to actually plan and manage a referral program — !!! As a part of their overall business development plan. Here are links to a couple of earlier blog posts about the advertising agency referral program.

Three – I will admit it – smart, effective and easy to activate B2B referral strategies from prior business development posts just for you.

Six Business Development Referral Strategies

A key to having a robust referral strategy is to make sure that your current clients are aware that you actually want referrals. Referrals from happy customers are one of best ways that B2B companies generate new business. OK, this isn’t a huge surprise. However, what is surprising how few companies have a dedicated strategy for fostering these valuable personal hand-offs.