How to Build A Winning Advertising Agency New Business Program

How To Build An Effective, High-ROI Advertising Agency Business Development Program

Start Here. Ask Yourself: How Is Your Marketing, Digital, and Advertising Agency Business Development Program Going?

What do I mean? Are you getting the leads you want? Are these clients high margin? Do they want great thinking, media planning and creativity from you? Might they be long-term? Do they look cool on your client list?

#1: Tough News From the 2024 RSW/US Agency New Business Report

RSW/US asked agencies: “How Difficult Is Obtaining New Business, Compared to Last Year?”

58% of agencies found it harder to obtain new business in 2023, and 38% of ad agencies reported a decrease in new business opportunities in 2023, up from 26% in 2022.

#2: My Second Book On How To Run And Grow A Kick-Ass Advertising Agency Is being bought by your competitor down the street.

If you want to run a kick-ass advertising, digital, or whatever you call your agency business development program that stands out, makes more money, and is happy, then buy my new book. Its 27 chapters cover every aspect of agency management (including staffing issues), business development, and building critical personal branding. Go here: “How To Build A Kick-Ass Advertising Agency.”

Advertising Agency Business Development Strategies and Tactics

This is an update to “How to Build A Winning Advertising Agency New Business Program.” Your competitors have read it over 50,000 times.

Advertising agency business development is a 24/7 operation that requires the right agency positioning, strategies, action, and efficiency. I help my agency clients get there faster by building them a custom, efficient business development plan. A plan that they will run 24/7.

The post’s popularity is due to three key factors:

1. It directly addresses a major marketing pain point: how to build a winning and efficient advertising agency business growth plan.

2. The post is well optimized for search engines, delivers high value, and, therefore…

3. Google loves it. FYI, my number two trafficked post is, “How To Name Your Advertising Agency – Part One” at 30,000 + views. While always rethinking their website, advertising agencies also obsess about their name. By the way, the How to Name post is also a very good cheat sheet on naming that you can steal if a client ever needs a new brand name.

Your Competiton Is Growing – Be Unignorable

Your potential clients have over 4,000 marketing communications ‘agency’ options (other agencies, new consultancies, freelancers, even your ex-creative director…).

Therefore, any form of business development passivity on your part – sucks. If you think you are doing everything right, you probably are not. How can I say this? I never thought that all was well whilst running business development at Saatchi & Saatchi and when I owned my own west coast agency.

A critical message about not being unignorable… Watch this. I built it for my friends at AAR Partners, the leading ad agency search consultant. By the way, I read this thinking about consultants, “34 Advertising Agency Search Consultants“.

OK, Let’s Go… The 24/7 Business Development Plan

I moved from New York to Bend, Oregon, in 2002 to buy a very successful advertising agency (and raise a family 20 minutes from a ski lift).

Citrus grew to add a Portland office and national accounts including Dr. Martens, Harrah’s, Leagalzoom, Nike, Providence Health & Services, the Montana Lottery, and the UN.

I woke up every day as if a client like Nike would walk out the back door along with its revenues. I bet as an ad agency owner or manager you have rough nights too. One of the things I knew I could and should do was to manage this back-door issue was to have an active, I stress active, new business plan in place.

Here are some (I stress some) of the elements of my marketing plan. They helped me grow Saatchi & Saatchi and my agency Citrus. I hope my insights help you grow your agency.

Execution Rules.

When I set out to write this advertising agency new business post I didn’t think that it would be this long – a warning to the ADHD types. However, advertising agencies’ new business planning is complex and becoming more complex every day due to the rapid changes in our industry and technology. That said, the devil in business development, you know what’s coming, is in the detail. Success is all about execution.

For example, running a successful inbound biz dev program that attracts market attention must be based on a sound strategy and smart agency process if you want to run a 24/7 sales program. Staying the course is critical.

OK. OK. Help Me ChatGPT. Here is a quick FAQ that my buddy Chat created to help you understand the core elements of this missive.

What are the key elements of a successful advertising agency new business program?

Strategic Positioning: Define clear business and sales objectives, including your agency’s unique value propositions like media expertise or demographic specializations (e.g., mobile advertising, Gen X marketing).
Proactive Business Development: Employ a dedicated Business Development Director to lead client acquisition efforts, ensuring alignment with agency goals and maintaining regular prospect engagement.
Inbound and Outbound Marketing: Implement a balanced strategy with targeted content marketing (blogs, white papers) and smart use of social media platforms to generate inbound leads. Complement this with aggressive outbound tactics like cold calling, personalized emails, and strategic ad placements.
Client Acquisition and Retention: Focus on acquiring clients through thoughtful qualification of leads, engaging pitches, and effective management of proposals and pitches. Post-acquisition, ensure smooth transitions and high client satisfaction to foster long-term relationships.
Continuous Learning and Adaptation: Regularly update the business development plan to reflect market changes and internal growth goals. Utilize tools like CRM systems to track progress and optimize strategies based on data-driven insights.

How can an agency maintain continuous new business growth?

Consistency in Marketing Efforts: Regular updates and interactions via high-value emails and social media posts ensure continuous engagement with potential clients.
Leveraging Thought Leadership: Establish your agency as a thought leader by narrowing your focus to specific niches or industries, thus standing out from the competition.
Utilizing Advanced Tools and Analytics: Keep track of all marketing and pitch efforts through detailed analytics to understand what strategies work best and adjust accordingly.

What are common mistakes to avoid in agency new business development?

Overextending Without Focus: Avoid trying to be everything to everyone. Specialize in certain areas to differentiate your agency from others.
Neglecting Business Development Culture: Ensure that business development is ingrained in the agency’s culture, with all team members actively participating in growth activities.
Inefficient Use of Resources: Focus on quality over quantity in marketing efforts to avoid wasting resources on unqualified leads or ineffective strategies.

Back To Me: The Advertising Agency Business Development Plan. First Things First.

I have never been able to construct an effective business development program without first having an agency business plan.

The business plan should include (at least):

Your agency’s business and business development objectives
An assessment of your current strengths and weakness (I have all of my clients do an internal SWOT analysis)
A competitive agency positioning (specialization is a good thing)
An analysis of your space in the world – as in, why would a client hire you?
Clear target market objectives and target market personas
A service plan (it might mean adding new services)
Your inbound and outbound (think Account-Based Marketing) plan
The very important objective of running unignorable messaging
A dedication to being consistent and efficient – as in having a process

Your business plan should also help you plan for your future in the evolving world of marketing communications. I think that client confusion with the evolving state of advertising and marketing – this includes big and small clients – makes today a great time to be an agency. Winning agencies are resolving their business challenges, crafting the right services and guidance, and, importantly, are willing to modify their business model to avoid disruption to achieve success.

It is also imperative that you develop a roadmap for how to grow your current agency to become the agency of the future. The market, communication platforms, and client expectations are changing rapidly. Assess your current strengths, weaknesses, and how your agency expertise and personnel are going to stay ahead of change (do an annual SWOT analysis).

Change can be very profitable. What if you could restart your agency using a blank sheet of paper? Would you build a replica of your current agency or would it look dramatically different? If you think that change is in order, you better get started. Here is a powerful mantra from General Eric Shinseki.

“If you dislike change, you’re going to dislike irrelevance even more.”

The Agency New Business Program – Join The 34%

Armed with your business plan you can get ahead of your competitors by having a comprehensive new business plan. Most agencies do not have a plan. Get this industry research…

66% Of Advertising Agencies Report That They Do Not Have a Business Development Plan. This Is Lunacy!

Your plan should include most, if not all of the following:

Conduct an agency brand review to determine if your current brand and services deliver market differentiation; build a positive reputation; generate incoming client interest and attract talented employees.

Create a set of ‘buyer’ personas so you know exactly what type of client you want and how they think and act.

Have a compelling agency brand story that is driven by your history, products, services, and your personality. Need help? Read Seth Godin’s “All Marketers Are Liars.”

Managing the Process.

Unless your phone is ringing off the hook, your agency’s new business program must be a priority.

Agency leadership has to be actively involved with establishing new business objectives, strategic planning, and execution.

Stay on top of the process. Have at least bi-monthly new business planning meetings.

Business development is 24/7. Your digital marketing program and management and staff activities must be ongoing and consistent.

Hire a Business Development Director to help manage the new business program and act as the agency sales leader or hunter. This person’s key job is to get meetings with the right prospects. Use my Business Development Director’s compensation plan to orient their focus.

Stimulate and empower others in the organization to participate. Everyone is responsible for growth. Best case, they will come up with a marketable new service. At the least, they should be keeping their eyes open for leads.

Be Unignorable.

Yes, that’s Jennifer Lawrence on the left. I’m using her to make the point about being unignorable. To make it in Hollywood, where there are hundreds of wannabees, you’ve got to be unignorable.

Same for the advertising industry. There are over 4,000 marketing agency options that your prospective client can access. These range from huge multinational agencies (and, yes they go after small clients too) to one-person experts. Clients are baffled by the number of agencies and types and then how to choose between them.

I firmly believe that the only way you will win the new business game is to be unignorable. Me Too marketing will not get you the clients you want.

Stand out, make noise, say something different, be a sales entity and sell. Big point: your agency website, your digital front door, has only about 8 seconds to make an impression — and, get that client to want to make contact. 8 seconds. This isn’t a design issue. This is a sales issue. I urge you to read The Unignorable Advertising Agency.

Prospecting. The Key To Advertising Agency New Business Success.

Prospecting is a long-term play and takes time. 3-P’s. Be prepared, persistent, and patient.

Use Account-Based Marketing. An ex-Microsoft exec, a client of mine, recently lauded Account-Based Marketing. He described it as something “new”. I quickly recognized it as ‘targeted sales’ and laughed. Whatever… it works. Here is a Wiki definition.

Account-Based Marketing (ABM), also known as key account marketing, is a strategic approach to business marketing based on account awareness in which an organization considers and communicates with individual prospect or customer accounts as markets of one.

Simply put –> ABM = Targeted Outreach = Direct Interest = Sales. This is a big subject worth studying. It’s all about identifying the target company and its people and then having a sound plan to reach them with the information and insights they will want to read.

Manage an active Excel prospect database and/or your own CRM system. If you have to, keep it simple – use a paper notebook. But, do it.

Build an “A-Level” prospect list. Establish selection criteria and do your research. I’ve always thought there are three types of desirable clients: Those that pay well (that means they are profitable); those who demand great work; those who are famous and enhance your reputation. Two of the above are good. Pay well is best. My agency’s client, Nike, had all three.

To build up-to-date lists – try these…

Online Directories and Lists: Websites like Clutch.co, AdForum, or Agency Spotter provide directories of advertising agencies. These platforms often include filters for location, size, specialty, and client reviews which can help you narrow down your search.
LinkedIn: Use LinkedIn to search for advertising agencies. It has a robust search function that allows you to filter companies by industry, size, and location. You can also see connections who may work at these agencies.
Google Search: A simple Google search can yield many results. Try using specific keywords related to your needs, such as “top advertising agencies in [location]” or “digital marketing agencies.”
Industry Publications and Awards: Check out industry publications like AdAge, Campaign, or The Drum. These often publish rankings and lists of agencies. Also, look at agencies that have won or been nominated for awards like the Cannes Lions, The Clios, or D&AD.
Trade Associations: National and regional trade associations often have directories of member agencies. For example, the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s) in the U.S. or the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) in the UK.
Networks and Referrals: Ask for recommendations within your professional network. Someone might have a direct experience with an agency or know someone who does.

You can also hire interns or go offshore for worker bee assistance.

Build an email list to keep all prospects, clients, and associates aware of agency thought leadership, news and growth.

Advertise. Yup, test targeted advertising on LinkedIn (via your corporate page); ditto on Facebook and Twitter.

Referrals are good. Manage your referral process. Periodically ask your friends, family, business associates, employees (many don’t think about new business), and current clients for referrals. Have a referral system and a plan.

Track the career path and whereabouts of past clients. LinkedIn notifications could become your best friend.

Read business publications, industry trade press, and pertinent websites. To manage agency time, assign information buckets to different staff members. Get past just reading the same trade press your competitors read.

A Word On Incoming. Pitch less.

Pitching and even working on everything that rings the doorbell can be a mistake. Qualify the lead. Pitching the right accounts will increase your batting average. Pitching the wrong accounts will sap your agency’s energy, cash, and time. Read my book on pitching if you want to find out why pitching everything that raises its hand can put you out of business. Remember, you have a business plan that lays out the type of clients you want and can win.

Business Development Tools.

Years ago, I heard Jonathan Bond of New York’s Kirshenbaum Bond comment about new business activity: “I don’t know what works, so we do everything.” Here are some tools worth considering.

PLEASE: Make sure that you have an agency website that sells. The great majority of agency websites do not. Get past brochure-ware. Here are some blog posts about how to create winning, sales-oriented agency websites.

Maintain sales pressure. Schedule your outbound marketing to keep up consistent sales pressure — you can’t tell when a prospect will have a new project or an AOR account looking for a new agency. I’ve always made it an agency priority to send out high-value emails at least every four to six weeks.

Deliver high-value thought leadership. Clients are looking for strategic agencies and solutions to their pain points and objectives. But, keep in mind that you are not the only thought leader on the block. There are zillions of Google results for “best advertising blogs”. To beat these horrific odds you need to become a narrow-subject thought leader to break through the clutter. It’s way better to become a niche advertising or category expert than be a Me Too generalist. Up date old posts.

Be smart. Before you make any calls, do basic (fast-paced but detailed) research so you know about your prospect’s business, possible pain points, and what sales messages might resonate. Have a smart sales script that puts the client first. Remember the rules of Account-Based Marketing.

—– Use AI to build a persona profile of your must-attract clients.

Want more inbound? Get your brilliant thinking out there via a strategic social media program. Blogs (unique blogs that is), X (Twitter), LinkedIn, Facebook (sponsored posts work hard for me) and the strategic use of Instagram and Pinterest (yes, Pinterest) will take time — but work. YouTube videos and good old-fashioned white papers, monthly emails, and speaking engagements. Get your brains out there and make the client you want you by looking like you can help them get their bonus.

Do not overreach and KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid. One of the keys to social media success is selecting platforms that your agency can manage on a day-to-day basis. There are a lot of empty agency blogs and X (Twitter) feeds that do much more harm to reputations than good.

Be efficient. Optimize and integrate everything you do. Try the Rule of Five. Amplify everything you do by five. The white paper goes in the mail (yes, mail); on your blog; on your LinkedIn page; out via Twitter and on SlideShare… You get the idea.

Run off and online events for prospects and clients. My agency Citrus got senior executives from Facebook, Google, Google Maps, LinkedIn and Yahoo! to speak at our own Portland “Meet the Makers” events. We just had to ask nicely.

Turn cold calling into warm calling. Yes, the phone still works – if handled with care. I like to soften the prospect with a series of insight-rich thought leadership mailings (if it’s email you will see if has been opened) and then call early to reach the key prospect before their day begins or to leave a mini-pitch voicemail. Consider having a script handy.

Email. Yes, email still works and volume is now being driven by increased mobile usage. But, make sure your emails have value and don’t overwhelm. KISS works here.

Video Please. Another big point: having an agency video on your website is nice (actually, I think it’s critical). But, having a video that goes beyond just being there to getting watched and passed along by your target audience because it provides value is way better. If your video drives incoming interest, tells your agency’s story and builds chemistry, you will drive lead generation. It is all about how you execute.

Be different… Sometimes it is good to break out of digital… A personalized letter, as in paper, or mailing just might break through the digital clutter. How about an agency zine?

Get past digital… Think even more different. Over the years, I’ve used online surveys, postcards, music CD’s, etched wine bottles, targeted micro-sites, digital mad libs (yes, mad libs); books like Jeffery Abrahams’ “101 Mission Statements From Top Companies” and even Krispy Kreme donuts to get meetings. Here is a case history for a food-smile-based program that announced our new Portland office. We delivered a box of hot Krispy Kreme doughnuts and a personalized digital promotional program to generate awareness and smiles.

Get out of the office and go to events to hear new ideas and meet new people. Join relevant groups and organizations. hang at the right conference.

Guest post to get more eyes on your thinking. See what I’ve done with my friends at HubSpot. Writing for them even got me a speaking gi at their huge fall event.

Guest podcast. Leverage their big audience.

Create some buzz. PR is your friend. I highly recommend that you think of PR as an essential business development tool.

Win creative awards. Go get some EFFIE’s to support your ROI story. But, watch the award budget.

First Meetings.

Whatever solicitation marketing you did worked and you landed a meeting. Here are some first meeting basics:

Keep it simple. Don’t overwhelm the clients.
Listen: Probe for problems. Consider going beyond solution sales to tell them what they should be worried about. For more on this sales technique, I suggest that you read “The End of Solution Sales” in the July – August 2012 issue of the Harvard Business Review.
Sell something special: Deliver a USP.
Deliver an unignorable insight. Ask me about how to use Google’s consumer research.
Make friends: Work the chemistry and dazzle.

The master goal: Get a second meeting to keep the dialog going.

RFPs.

Getting an RFP is like getting asked out on a date or for a test drive. You should be flattered — but. To manage incoming, build a RFP decision matrix. You should quickly have an idea of which RFP’s to respond to and which aren’t worth the effort. RFP responses always chew up agencies. Make sure that this date is worthwhile.

If it’s a go, ask for a meeting to discuss the RFP. If the client is unwilling to give you some time, you might want to pass. Read up on why you might want to NOT pitch that account. Here’s a decision matrix…do not Pitch that account!

Keep your response lean. Chances are that the client has asked for too many responses and could become brain-dead by the time they get to yours. Make sure you answer every question in the RFP before you go beyond what they are asking for.

Once you have ticked all the client boxes, go beyond. Don’t forget to include agency personality and consider an “Easter Egg” surprise element.

Pitching.

Oh, the uncertainty. Does the client have a favorite? Is this a strategic search or just a scheduled management or procurement exercise? Does the incumbent have an advantage? What type of agency is the client actually looking for? Who is the key decision-maker? Do you present what they are asking for or what you think they need? Helping to understand the client’s motivations is where your most experienced management comes into play.

Pitching is an art. I’ve been pitching new business since the ’80s, ran business development at Saatchi & Saatchi in New York and London and pitched often for my own agency. OK, I admit it… I want you to buy my book on pitching and presenting. You can buy it at Amazon right here.

Here are what I believe are the primary elements of a perfect pitch process. This is only a topline list.

Pick a pitch leader and the right team for planning and writing.
Watch your costs. Create a budget. We have all seen pitch costs gone wild.
Create a timetable that includes strategy development, creative development and staging and rehearsals.
Consider building a war room, it can be an online war room, to help focus your effort.
Determine the client, category and customer issues and opportunities and make sure you address them.
Use research to support your strategic insights. But, note that the other agencies might be doing the same. Clients are always interested in seeing brief strategic videos of their customers talking about their products and services.
Determine and manage how you communicate your strengths and manage your weaknesses. Consider doing an agency SWOT analysis through the client’s lens.
Talk more about them than you. Actually, talk much more about them.
Act like you really want the business. Surprisingly, I’ve been told by clients that not all agencies know how to look interested.
Pitches are theater. Stories are better than endless credentials. Case histories are better than showing endless amounts of work. For inspiration, watch Steve Jobs.
If you can, get the client to come to you. I’ve pitched in too many soulless client boardrooms or hotel conference rooms. It can be a buzz kill.
If you have to go to them, find a way to scout out the room and equipment ahead of the meeting.
Put your best presenters in the room. Don’t include talented but uninspiring people simply because it is their turn or that they worked on the pitch. I’ve made this mistake. It’s a bad one. Get ahead of the problem and train your team on how to present. Do this now.
Don’t forget to smile. Interpersonal chemistry wins pitches.
Have a Zoom or Google Meets plan. Manage that strange distant pitch process.

Conclusion – Be Unignorable Via An Unignorable Business development Plan and Persona.

Running smart, efficient advertising agency new business programs – the effective ones – is hard work. Too many agencies sound alike. Clients are skittish and are overwhelmed by choice. It is, therefore, essential that you create and run a biz dev program that makes you a stand-out candidate. That means that you need to look and sound like an agency that can clearly meet a client’s needs. That means that you need to have a standout brand and sales proposition. That means you need to both target the clients you want and are able to be found by them when they are out looking for you.

Make being unignorable a core objective.