website

The Advertising Agency Website Article Of Your Dreams

Peter · March 22, 2015 · Leave a Comment

Getting To The Advertising Agency Website Of Your Dreams

Virtually every advertising agency thinks that they need to redesign their website. This even happens the day after they launch their latest version. This is understandable. The agency built the new site to meet month’s old objectives, they are now bored with the great ideas they had weeks ago and their competitors might have beaten them to some form of design or technology punch. Plus, yous guys are ‘creative’ and lose sleep over every creative decision anyway. It comes with the territory.

9 Free Tools To Build The Website of Your Dreams

To help alleviate anxiety (Or, support it for that matter), here are some tools to help you get started on your next design.

How Is Your Website Performing?

Alexa: Where do you rank? See how WPP’s website kicks Omnicom’s ass.

Woorank: Review your website and its SEO health.

Nibbler: Check out your website… get results on code quality, social interest, marketing, etc.

Need Some Fresh Content Ideas?

Ad Agency New Business & Speed

Peter · March 11, 2015 · 1 Comment

Ad Agency New Business Needs Speed

I am writing up an agency positioning recommendation for an agency client. To get there, I am looking at a lot of agency websites and agency descriptions. I have to admit that I just got sidetracked by yet another ad agency Contact page that goes off the rails (see past thinking on Contact pages.)

I just visited the website of San Francisco’s Forty Forty agency. Nice website (as in it delivers a bold, “we are creative” message.) However, their Contact page makes two key mistakes; it looks like virtually every other agency out there (most Contact pages look alike) and… Forty Forty’s page has a big gaff I have to highlight. They seem to not want to get back to a new business client quickly. Here is what they say.

New Business Inquiries

Fill out the form below and we’ll get back to you as quick as we can.

Huh? “As quick as we can”? Shouldn’t they sound active and hungry and interested in new clients? This might just be a poor choice of words. But, they have that damn form (why a form?) and then don’t go down the road of being speedy. If I were an interested client, I’d rather see an active message like: “Looking for a new agency, call our CEO Bob Johnson at 415-555-1234 today.”

The Speed Drill

Act like you want the call – now. Sound very interested and like you really want to hear from new clients. Tell the prospective client that you will get back to them TODAY.

Make your Contact page friendly. Friendly is a good thing. This is especially critical in a situation where your website may be the determining factor in whether or not a client will contact you. Contact — is not a given. You need to earn it.

While you are at it, sound and look different from other agencies.

Is It OK For Ad Agencies To Shout?

Peter · February 25, 2015 · Leave a Comment

Yes, it is OK for ad agencies to shout.

First, a story.

I received an email last week from a reader that told me that he thought that I was promoting my book on presenting and pitching too hard. I found this comment thought provoking for a few reasons.

I have, like most of you, been ‘selling’ something for years. I’ve sold creative, strategic thinking, internet startup ideas, ad agency services, an ad agency itself and two books. Selling comes naturally to me. Not hard selling. But, selling nonetheless.

Why shouldn’t I be promoting my book? It is after-all my book; a new business tool for me (I get new clients because they have read the book) and it is a great read, if I do say so myself. OK, I’ll let others talk about its value at the bottom of this post.

I wrote the book as a marketing tactic and ‘publishing event’. It delivers credibility and gives me an outbound marketing tool (I send it to the right people) and an inbound source of lots of content. It has 70,000 words that I can repurpose on this blog, as guest posts, on LinkedIn and on SlideShare.

The book forms the basis of one of my strongest recommendations to my ad agency clients: help your agency stand out by writing a book. [Read more…] about Is It OK For Ad Agencies To Shout?

Are Ad Agencies Doomed?

Peter · February 2, 2015 · Leave a Comment

Are Ad Agencies Doomed? — No. But.

Clearly a large segment of the ad agency business has moved to automated advertising and design.

I’ll start with Google, Facebook and Twitter. They all have automated the placement of advertising. Others too. That means that billions of ad placement dollars have moved to the web. But you know that. 99 Designs delivers logos for $99. You know that too.

If you watched the Super Bowl, you saw that web tools like SquareSpace are automating the design of websites thanks to the Jeff Bridges commercials.

Now, There’s The Grid.

The Grid is the first artificial intelligence platform that creates websites. Sounds cool to me. Tweet this

Does The Grid Spell Doom?

The Grid hasn’t launched yet but is getting attention. Here is what TechCrunch says: [Read more…] about Are Ad Agencies Doomed?

Apparently Australian Ad Agencies Have More Fun Hiring

Peter · January 14, 2015 · Leave a Comment

It Is OK To Laugh and Have Fun Whilst Hiring

How to hire a bright, super insightful, savvy strategist in a highly competitive market?

Video sells.

The Australian ad agency Holer sure looks like a fun place to work. Australian culture rocks.

http://vimeo.com/91259491