Quality and Reach
Published on July 28, 2010
If your ad agency has or is considering writing a blog, deciding how to spread the word to acquire readers is important: If relevant corporate marketers aren't reading it, the time you invest in writing may be in vain.
Common ways to promote your blog include:
- Email marketing
- Twitter
- Links from your website
This post is a guide to using email as a blog promotional tool.
Your most important decision is choosing between using an internal email list or purchasing a list. There are pros and cons of each:
Your list - pros
- You own it.
- It's free.
- It has your clients and some prospects on it.
Your list - cons
- It may be out of date.
- It may not include all the prospects you should be pursing.
- It may be too small (you need at least 1500 good names to kick-start your blog, and more will get you there faster.
External list - pros
- It's the most effective way to increase the size of your list.
- The right list will allow you to reach the corporate marketers that exactly fit your prospect profile: by the geography, industries, titles, company size(s), and media spend that are appropriate for your agency.
- The right list will be high-quality (i.e. clean), with a low (5%) bounce rate.
- Certain list companies will completely update their email list multiple times per year, and/or will offer to correct or replace emails that bounce.
External list - cons
- There are few, if any, opt-in lists for corporate marketers.
- You'll get what you pay for: low price usually equates to not being able to effectively target as described above, or you'll experience a high bounce rate.
The opt-in question is tricky: to my knowledge, highly targeted, opt-in lists of relevant corporate marketers just aren't available. Our clients tell us they've purchased opt-in lists from many different list companies - and they're universally terrible. We've tried them internally and experienced the same result. I think the reason is fairly simple: the corporate marketers you want to reach just don't opt-in very often. However, that doesn't mean they aren't interested in relevant content.
Your next decision is to choose an email provider. I recommend you look for one with as many of the following features as you can get:
- Overall ease to use.
- Easily manages opt-out requests and out-of office replies.
- Tracks soft and hard bounces, and opens.
- Creates browser-friendly, text-friendly, and HTML-friendly formats.
- Allows you to test different subject lines to see which ones work the best, with follow-up emails going to non-opens of the first message.
- Allows you to easily manage scheduling: days, times, time zones for each send.
- Easy, one-click analytics / reports so you can effectively measure your performance over time.
- List management features like merge, purge, drip marketing, etc.
- CAN-SPAM compliant.
- Telephone support - if you need it.
- Integration with your CRM system.
Promoting your blog well makes the effort it takes to write all the more worthwhile, and email is a great way to do so.
Good luck, and let me know if you have any questions.
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It takes hard work
Published on July 21, 2010
Many of us start feeling sluggish during the heat of the Summer. Prospecting for new business can feel pretty unappealing, and as the clock moves towards 5:00 pm, it's pretty easy to start thinking about taking a swim or sipping a well-chilled cocktail (perhaps one with an umbrella).
Unfortunately, working less on ad agency new business will not yield more new clients. Nor will it get help you become a more effective new business person.
As Malcom Gladwell discusses in Outliers:
...the people at the very top don't work just harder or even much harder than everyone else. They work much, much harder.
He cites numerous examples of what it takes to rise to the top of your profession. Here are a few:
- 10,000 hours to be a great musician, chess or hockey player (and I would argue just about anything else).
- Working night and day to build a business.
- Having parents who lead by example and set the expectation for you to work hard and not settle for mediocrity.
- Being born during a group of years that position you take advantage of technological breakthroughs.
We are lucky today: there are opportunities to excel all around us. In your new business life, it takes hard work - and time. If you put in the hours, continually educate yourself, experiment, and keep striving for higher levels of performance, you'll achieve your goals.
So, resist the little cocktail umbrella, at least today. Instead, do a little more research, make a few more calls. Add a few more hours towards the 10,000 you need to become a new business expert.
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Sparkfly personalizes offers to influence shopper behavior and drive maximum margins
Published on July 14, 2010
One of the "if only we could" wishes of B2C Chief Marketing Offers is delivering highly personalized, one-to-one offers to customers - offers that result in increased brand loyalty and higher profit margins. I've come across a company that now delivers on that wish.
This is a way for your advertising agency to bring new technology and significant value to your current clients.
Here are some of the technological innovations now taking place in the sales promotion industry:
- Personalization is now possible in real-time - while customers are present in-store.
- Retailers are focused on customer loyalty and retention more than ever before.
- Personalization tools and processes are being integrated at the Point of Sale (POS).
- Post-promotion analysis can now be done in hours, not months.
Technologies that integrate real-time promotions into the POS deliver:
- Much better customer targeting
- Much higher redemption
- Tighter segmentation
- Greater market share
- Reduced traditional media spend
- Revenue gains
According to a white paper published by Retail TouchPoints,
The new paradigm makes possible a 1:1 relationship between seller and buyer that was inconceivable a few short years ago.
Besides new technology, what makes all this possible is that "the consumer is absolutely willing to sign up for personalized loyalty and rewards programs on the Web", says Sahir Anand of Aberdeen Group.
According to Retail TouchPoints, Sparkfly has "emerged as a leader in the transformation of existing POS systems, smarter CRM data integration, and a vastly improved consumer experience."
Sparkfly CEO Catherine Tabor adds this tantalizing summary of her company's solution:
Imagine a world where you know exactly which of your products an individual consumer is purchasing; when and where they're purchasing; and based on that behavioral purchase history, you can then communicate a very tailored and personalized offer to the individual consumer that will drive them back into the store, the restaurant, or to your product, at no incremental cost.
Without mentioning the Fortune 100 companies that Sparkly is now working with, after visiting the company's offices and seeing their clients' results, this may be a technology you want your clients to implement. It can and will benefit them, their customers, and further solidify your relationship.
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Look before you leap, and measure carefully
Published on July 07, 2010
It's really tempting for an ad agency new business person to look at inexpensive data sources (call them "Jigsaw-like") and get enticed by their low-price business models.
We get asked about services like this all the time, so I thought it might be helpful to provide a framework to review them.
Of utmost importance: Accuracy. These services usually claim an accuracy rate of around 75%. Taking this number at face value, they're admitting that 25% of the data is wrong.
Now, the reality of measuring accuracy. Unless these services are actually cleaning their data themselves, they really have no idea how clean it is. The questions to ask yourself are, "Am I okay knowing that one out of every four contacts I get is inaccurate?" And, "Am I okay wasting 25% of my time?"
When you're purchasing data from a service that relies on users to keep it clean, be cautious about data accuracy claims.
Why does this matter? When you think of accuracy, think of this formula: accuracy = time savings. The more accurate your data provider's information, the faster you'll reach your intended decision-makers. The less accurate it is, the more time you'll spend researching, trying to find your intended prospect.
With this in mind, here are some Pros and Cons of "Jigsaw-like" services:
Pros
- Wide variety of contacts
- Inexpensive
- Exchange out-of-date contacts with another
- No long-term contract
Cons
- No industry focus - you'll sort through lots of companies and titles to find good prospects
- Inaccuracy
- No research support
- Highly competitive - millions of people are going after the same people
- Value of your time - if you have a minimal amount of time to spend prospecting, how quickly you can get to decision-makers is critical
The best way to evaluate various data sources is to do some measurements. For example:
- Out of 100 contacts, how many are incorrect information? More than 10 incorrect data points and you're dealing with inaccurate information.
- How long does it take you to find the contact you're looking for? How does this compare to your current data provider?
- Once you have your desired contact, do you have the (correct) email, direct dial, address? If not (or it's incorrect), how long does it take you to get this information? Does your current information provider have it? Is it accurate?
- What's the value of your time? Calculate it as follows: (annual salary+bonus)x1.3 / 2080. This will show what it costs your agency to employ you, and takes into account taxes and benefits. If you apply this rate to the time it takes you to do what you've identified above, and extrapolate it annually, you'll have a true measurement of what your data really costs.
With this information in hand, you'll be able to decide whether a "Jigsaw-like" service is right for your agency.
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It's tough to improve if you don't know how you're doing
Published on June 29, 2010
How do you measure the performance of your new business team? Is it just number of wins and revenue generated? If those numbers are good, do you know what they're doing well? If those numbers aren't good, do you know where they're falling short?
If you consistently measure the right things, you'll have all the information you need to hire, fire, train, and retain a high performance advertising agency new business person or team.
Measuring how you're doing is only effective if you're measuring against something. You first need to set an annual goal for each item. Then, break the goal down into monthly increments, and if appropriate, weekly and daily. With the goal, you can then measure your performance against your target. In addition, you want to measure yourself against how you did for the same period last year, and perhaps last quarter.
Marketing Metrics
Social media: On your blog, measure followers against your goal. Review posts that get the most reads (and be sure to write more of them). Identify which ones don't get read and adjust accordingly. Track how many reads you get per day and per week against your goal. Identify steps to improve reads based on how they're trending (up or down). Measure traffic sources - where does your traffic come from - and track it against plan.
Events you host: How many guests do you expect to attend; how many show - that's the show rate, which you need to predict future attendance. How much did the event cost? What's the event's cost per attendee? How many new business meetings do you get from each event? What's the event's cost per new business meeting held? How many pieces of new business do you win as a result of an event? What's the cost per new account landed? Over time you'll have enough numbers to evaluate whether to continue hosting events or perhaps to increase the number of events, and it'll be based on a true ROI.
Events that you attend: What's your cost to attend? How many new business meetings do you secure from each one? What's the event's cost per meeting held? How many pieces of new business do you win as a result of each event? What's the cost per new business account landed? Over time you will have enough numbers to evaluate whether to continue attending certain events and perhaps if you should increase the number of events you attend. That decision will also be based on a true ROI.
Branding Email: If you use email as a branding vehicle - measure how many emails you send with each blast. What's the overall cost per blast, and per email? How many opens do you get? What's the cost per open? How many inquiries do you receive? What the total cost per inquiry? What new business do you win from emails? What's the email cost per new business account landed?
Branding/direct mail: If you use direct mail as a branding vehicle - measure how many pieces you send with each mailing, and the mailing's total cost. What's the cost per piece? How many inquiries do you receive (if any)? What's the cost per new business inquiry received? What new business do you win from direct mail? What's the direct mail cost per new account landed?
As you can see, if you measure all of your marketing activities, you'll soon have metrics on the marketing cost per new business inquiry, per new business meeting, and per new account win. This is incredibly valuable information for your future planning.
Outreach metrics
Networking / referral program: If you employ a networking and/or referral strategy, how many meetings or requests does it take for you to get one referral? How many new business meetings do you get for every 10 referrals? How many of these turn into new clients? You want to know these ratios so that you can determine how many referrals it takes to generate one new piece of business. Then, you can extrapolate and plan for the future.
Search consultants: If part of your new business strategy is to keep in touch with various search consultants, I encourage you to track your efforts and the ROI. How many consultants do you keep in touch with? How often do you do so? What does it cost (in terms of time, travel expense, mailings, etc.) to stay on their radar? How many RFPs do you get from them? How many do you respond to? How many do you win?
RFPs: How many RFPs do you receive (separate from search consultants)? From whom? Be sure to track the source of each RFP (i.e. how did they hear about your agency) so that you can better target your future marketing efforts. Track the cost (in terms of time, out-of-pocket expense, mailings, etc.) to submit an RFP. How many RFPs do you get from each source? How many do you respond to? How many do you win? What's the cost per submission? What's the cost per new account won?
Directories: Many agencies submit their creative work and other information to websites that cater to corporate marketers. You should measure these sources as well. Capture the cost of each directory, the number of times your profile is viewed by a corporate marketer, and the conversations, meetings held, and new client wins from each directory. Then, calculate the cost per profile viewed, per new business conversation or meeting held, per account won, etc. This way you'll be able to evaluate whether the particular directory you choose is providing you ROI. [Note: some of these sites may be considered "branding sites" - i.e. the cost is relatively minimal and you just need to be there. That may influence your decision to maintain a presence on the site.]
The most important metrics with outreach activities is the cost per win and the cost per source. You need to be able to answer the questions, "What does it cost us to land a new piece of business? And, "What are the least (and most) expensive sources of our new business wins?" One of the best ways to do this over time is to rank your sources by the number of accounts won from each.
Activity metrics
Using a CRM system, I recommend that you track all the outbound activities between your new business person and potential clients, which are typically the following:
- Emails Sent
- Emails Received
- Quick Chat (example, "I'm sorry I've caught you at a bad time, I'll call you tomorrow.")
- Good Conversations (this is a substantive conversation that moves the prospect down the sales funnel)
- VM (left voicemail message)
- DNLVM (did not leave voicemail)
- Received VM (received a voicemail from a prospect)
- Meeting Set (set up a meeting with a potential prospect)
- Meeting Held (meeting was held with a potential prospect)
- Business Won
With these activity measurements, you can create metrics that will allow you to determine what's working and what's not. Here are those I find to be the most valuable:
Total outbound activities = emails sent + quick chat + conversations + VM + DNLVM. You should use this daily, weekly, monthly, etc. to measure and ensure that activity is taking place.
Activities per day = total outbound activities for the month / # work days in the month (or week, quarter, etc.). How much is enough? Someone in new business who's charged with outbound prospecting to a significant number of potential clients should make at least 30 outbound calls per day.
Calls : conversations = total activities / total conversations. This is a measure of how many total activities it takes to have a good conversation with a prospect. These days, having one substantive conversation out of every five or six calls is good.
Meetings per conversation: Total meetings set / total conversations. This tells you how many conversations it takes to secure an initial meeting. The lower the number the better your new business person is able to establish rapport, ask relevant questions, and establish a reason to meet. I think you should aim for a 1:2 ratio, or one meeting from every two good conversations. If you find that the ratio is higher, I recommend doing role practice to improve your new business person's skills.
Meetings held % = meetings held / meetings set. This is a measure of the quality of the meetings that are set. Over time, you should aim for nearly 100%, as this will mean that your new business person is doing an excellent job of identifying a need and establishing your agency's relevance to satisfy it. If meetings regularly don't take place, then they weren't quality meetings in the first place.
Business won% from meetings held = business won / meetings held. This will tell you how well you convert initial meetings generated from proactive outreach. Recall that in the above funnel, we used 10%. You should be able to do better. However, a note of caution: I can't tell you how many agency CEOs have told me over the years, "Put me in front of a prospect and I'll close the business." The exact same number have been terrible at moving an initial meeting along the process to actually winning. The objective of a first meeting is...a second meeting. Don't try to win on the first meeting. For more on this, read here.
With the information discussed in this post, you'll have all the information you need to allocate your resources to the sources and activities that drive the most new business for your agency.
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Study reveals execs prefer face-to-face
published on September 23, 2009
According to a recent Forbes Insights study, business executives prefer face-to-face meetings and conferences over virtual meetings, and overwhelmingly agree that they're necessary to build
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The lifeblood of most agencies
published on September 21, 2009
When you analyze the cost of acquiring a new client, generating new business from referrals is usually the least expensive. Realizing this, the natural question to ask is, "How do I get more?"
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Add value so you don't kill your prospects
published on September 17, 2009
Pros-pec-ti-cide [pros-pek-tuh-sahyd]
-noun
- The act of killing prospects.
What a great word! I came across it in an article by Paul McCord. He raises valuable issues and recommendations that
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Real change requires real effort
published on September 16, 2009
A recent Harvard Business School article addressed why it's so hard to change, which is a good follow up to my last post on the need for constant change and improvement in ad agency new business.
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A call to action
published on September 14, 2009
You've probably heard the expression, "Change or Die". Winston Churchill had another take on it that, to me, is even more powerful:
To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.
A
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And it needs to be a sound business decision
published on September 10, 2009
A few years ago I was faced with a decision about whether or not to file a lawsuit. As I considered my options, an old friend related to me what his even wiser lawyer once counseled him about
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($ Canadian, that is.)
published on September 09, 2009
How many of us are willing to offer $40,000 off agency fees to bring in a client? Well that's what The BrainStorm Group did at the end of May. And it worked.
Ron Telpner, chairman and CEO of the
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published on September 04, 2009
What are the best questions to get corporate marketers talking?
We all have our favorites, so why not combine our knowledge and put together a list of the best? Below is a form to enter your
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"Busy-ness" abounds in good times and bad...
published on September 02, 2009
Not long ago I had to let someone go who was always the first to arrive and last to leave. She willingly put in time on the weekends without complaint. And when she was at work, she worked; it
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What's the right mix?
published on August 31, 2009
Ad agency clients regularly ask us this question, "What's the best mix of retainer vs. project work?" I think the answer can determine how successful you are at creating a sustainable new business
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You are judged on first impressions
published on August 27, 2009
A recent survey reveals that only one in three agency receptionists meet the characteristics of a Director of First Impressions. Staffed well and you'll have another new business weapon in your
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One benefit is time to think and plan
published on August 26, 2009
In a recent post I wrote about the importance of getting away from ad agency new business to get refreshed and re-energized. But there's more to it: it's taking a long-term view of the work you
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Resist pressure to reduce your fees
published on August 24, 2009
A recession is a scary time for the person trying to maintain the financial health of the agency.
I got into a conversation with a fellow CEO the other day about the pressure agencies are under to
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Listening = Winning
published on August 20, 2009
We've all heard the expression, "People love to hear themselves talk." When it comes to new business, your success is often determined by how well you get your prospects to do the talking.
I've
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One of the old rules may need to be rewritten
published on August 19, 2009
It wasn't long ago that calling a marketer on their cell phone was considered "too personal".
However, as cell phones are becoming mobile computers, and the lines between work-time and
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Growth is within your control
published on August 17, 2009
CEO beliefs and behaviors either contribute to revenue growth or work against it. The questions is, are you helping or hindering your agency generate new business?
Here's an article by Michael
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The skills of your hunters and farmers are critcial to landing and retaining clients
published on August 14, 2009
Tight client budgets, hungry competitors, and aggressive new business hunters make for a tricky new business environment. That's what we're all experiencing now, and probably will for some time -
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Caller ID doesn't have to be your enemy
published on August 12, 2009
How often do your prospects answer the phone?
New business people say that if feels like their calls are being screened. I agree. If your prospects don't recognize your number, they're unlikely
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You may have it if your new business revenue is falling short of expectations
published on August 10, 2009
I was doing some role practice recently and observed the following: the new business person asked a few good questions and then, thinking he'd identified the need he could satisfy, switched into
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White paper reveals benefits of good prospect targeting
published on August 07, 2009
There's a direct correlation, in our data and in our experience, between companies who know more about their targets, and how successful they are at generating leads.
RainToday.com's research
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Best predictor of job performance is a work sample
published on August 05, 2009
Dan Heath and Chip Heath, authors of "Made to Stick" wrote a provocative article in the June issue of Fast Company. It challenges our basic premise about how to hire successful employees.They
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Input from entrepreneurs on management, marketing and sales
published on August 03, 2009
If your ad agency is new or entrepreneurial, you're in a start-up marketing services company, or you're a CEO, you'll relate to this list of 10 things MBA schools won't teach you and the
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How to you decompress and rejuvinate?
published on July 30, 2009
As you read this I'll have just gotten off a beautiful kayaking river in Idaho. We planned this trip a year ago. With us are members of my wife's family and very close friends with great senses
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Think discipline.
published on July 28, 2009
Too often, creatively-driven firms forget the business discipline that's required to achieve financial success.
A consultant recently reminded me of this. He's the product of the financial and
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Lack of ROI is usually caused by one of four things
published on July 27, 2009
It's not uncommon to hear that an ad agency (or other type of marketing services company) is suspending their proactive, outbound new business efforts due to low Return on Investment (ROI).
In
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The single best way to improve results is to measure activity
published on July 23, 2009
Those of us of a certain age remember the Ford Pinto. It had problem: hit it in the rear-end and the fuel tank might explode. This was a rather nasty surprise that drivers wanted to avoid, which
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There are two things every client wants. K.I.S.
published on July 21, 2009
We all know that when you Keep It Simple (K.I.S.) - I'll assume no readers are stupid - business success comes easier.
I've been thinking about agency-client surveys. Each tells us what clients
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Tips from a ProBlogger
published on July 20, 2009
I noticed a post by Darren Rowse on ProBlogger that may be of value if you're looking to create an ad agency blog to generate awareness and drive new business.
Every big goal needs to be broken
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Why shouldn't ad agencies or design firms launch their own brands?
published on July 17, 2009
In a recent post I mention the opportunity to partner with upstart technology companies as a new business play. This month's Fast Company article titled "Selling Soap. Literally" shows how some
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Adweek doesn't suggest an answer; Here's one.
published on July 15, 2009
Large, well-known agencies are getting frustrated at the length of time it's taking to fill open CMO positions and with the lack of available talent, according to a July 13 article in Adweek.
I
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Reports point to continued decline, with opportunity on the horizon
published on July 14, 2009
It feels so good to wake up to a headline like this: ...during a presentation this morning Brian Wiesner of Interpublic Group of Cos' Magna, said that the U.S. advertising economy will drop 14.5%
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Continuous improvement is a competitive advantage; here's a 3-step process to do so
published on July 13, 2009
Given the competitive nature of the ad agency and marketing services world, everyone involved in new business must continuously improve their processes and techniques in order to remain in the
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10 steps to win more new business from first meetings
published on July 09, 2009
Too often ad agency principals and new business people approach their first meeting with a prospect as an opportunity to "show up and throw up". I've seen it happen repeatedly over the last ten
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Role practice will dramatically improve your results
published on July 08, 2009
Listen to a gifted proactive new business person: their ability to engage a prospect on the phone and move the conversation forward will appear effortless. What you won't see are the hours and
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Use a CRM system for new business advantage
published on July 07, 2009
A sales guy from a well known payroll services company has been calling me on and off for months, trying to get me interested in their service, even though we're very satisfied with our current
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Attitude, self confidence and practice are key
published on July 06, 2009
You can usually tell if someone is a natural sales or proactive new business person by the way they handle rejection. If they take it personally and procrastinate before picking up the phone to
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How will you obtain and connect with prospects?
published on July 01, 2009
A client asked me recently, "How will the rise of social media sites impact how I obtain and use prospect information?"
To me there are two ways you need to consider the issue:
- How will social
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Leaders never let their minds shut down, always strive to learn more
published on June 30, 2009
In college, I don't think there was any way to comprehend what a professor meant when he said, "learning is a lifelong occupation". All we wanted to do was graduate and not have to take another
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published on June 29, 2009
Every ad agency wants to break into a new category. How do you do so when you don't have the experience? How do you avoid spending a great deal of money on a pitch that you have no chance of
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Making brownies while presenting your credentials doesn't mix
published on June 25, 2009
One day during the week of June 15th, 2009 a multicultural ad agency that can't be named had a conference call with a very large, well-known telecommunications company. They completely blew it.
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Recent survey reveals the stress associated with trying to take a vacation
published on June 24, 2009
With many agencies having trimmed staff, and the pressure to win new business extreme, it's hard to even think about taking time off. Yet, we all need to recharge our batteries and in stressful
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The greatest change of our work lives is on the horizon
published on June 23, 2009
Michael Malone's new book, The Future Arrived Yesterday hit bookshelves on Monday. You may remember his name from the early 1990s prediction that work was going to become increasingly virtual. He
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Think twice, then act decisively in pursuit of new business
published on June 19, 2009
Chi Wan thought three times before taking action. When the Master was informed of it, he said, "Twice will do."
Shaun Rein writes about "Confucius' Three Keys to Successful Leadership" in a
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