What's Working at Small to Mid-size Ad Agencies (Home)

Emarketer reported that social media is continuing to show strength in generating traffic and leads. The trick is figuring out which channels work best for each objective.

A study of 600 US B2B small businesses by SaaS-based digital marketing software provider Optify found that social sites Facebook and Twitter drive the most social-sourced traffic to business websites. But, while Facebook delivers more traffic (54%), it’s Twitter that provides 82 percent of leads from social media. LinkedIn provided just 14 percent of site visits and 9 percent of leads.

Cost-per-lead can be much lower using social channels, making it an attractive tactic. That said, organic search still drives the most site traffic (80 percent via organic search results or direct browser traffic), as well as large proportions of leads (34 percent from direct traffic, 26,5 percent from organic search). Email (9%), paid search (10.5%) and direct referrals (12.5%) also remain substantial lead generators. If you want site traffic, concentrate on search tactics. But if client goals are focused on leads, it pays to integrate marketing tactics.

Know what your clients want to achieve, and adjust your marketing mix accordingly.

Local ads are thriving on social and mobile channels, says local advertising research and analytics firm Borrell Associates in their new report, “2013 Local Advertising Outlook: Get Ready for the Rebound.” The company projects local online ad spending will reach 24.5 billion in the US this year. That translates to a 31 percent increase over 2012, and is nearly double the projected spending for national online ads.

Social media-served local ads are a hot spot, with Facebook the top-ranked channel; nearly three out of every 10 small businesses surveyed said they plan to place Facebook ads this year. The ability to target local customers based on users’ locales, interests and likes is a big attractor. Facebook’s new Graph Search could further boost local advertising opportunities and effectiveness.

Mobile is also attracting small business attention and dollars. Seventy-five percent of small businesses surveyed expressed “familiarity” with the channel, an increase from 40 percent in 2011. Small businesses are using or testing coupons/daily deals, text messaging and mobile-optimized websites as mobile tactics. Geo-targeting is a potential growth area, where businesses can serve ads to mobile users as they physically near or enter a retail space. Twenty-five percent of small businesses said they planned to increase their mobile advertising budgets in 2013.

As you develop small business ad plans, pay attention to local advertising opportunities in social and mobile, as well as targeted display ads. Online local is a growing opportunity for agencies, and could pay big dividends for your small business clients.

Rene Ramos, creative director with LeapFrog Solutions, Inc., Fairfax, VA, recently shared how they have set up a creative collaboration zone in their agency.

LeapFrog designed a lounge area where team members can collaborate on creative projects and where current, in-progress work can be posted for everyone in the agency to see and comment on.

Mr. Ramos also created these stickers for applying comments and suggestions to the various works on display.



Having a collaborative creative space like this is also a great way showcase your agency’s creative talents to all of your clients. This shows that your agency is a creative entity, rather than simply an agency with a creative department. Creative ideas are the core profit center for today’s agency business and are key to agencies staying relevant as business partners with clients and prospects.

Note: most of the furnishings and hardware for LeapFrog’s lounge were purchased at IKEA.

While many agencies are focusing on social media, many B2B companies are prioritizing website redevelopment, per a November 2012 B2B Magazine survey.  EMarketer reported that 70 percent of survey respondents planned to increase spending on websites during 2013.

Many of these companies are addressing the need to serve content to many different device users among their customers and prospects; 87 percent of US B2B marketers used content marketing in 2012, says content curation and marketing firm Curata … but just 43 percent measured the outcomes of content programs. At least some companies are also hoping to build more robust platforms for data collection and analysis, with an eye to better integrating marketing tactics, including email and social media, with content and other online efforts.

Agencies should be alert to signals from B2B clients and prospects for opportunities to help companies adapt web properties to the changing demands of web and content marketing.

Today’s agencies are very different from the linear, hierarchical organizations of the past, requiring much more fluid and interactive processes. These processes, in turn, demand a fluid, agile structure. Instead of silos, think of a wheel, where the core idea is the center anchor, and the brand is pushed outward through customized teams executing and testing tactics and strategies. This promotes a more fluid and adaptive workflow, no longer limited by being pre-defined in the brief. Instead, the brief identifies the idea or message, and various teams find the best ways to deliver the message to desired audiences.

For a look at one of the first organizations that tossed away the silos in favor of a more agile operational process, check out this chart from @issue

What we love most about this chart is that STORY drives everything. This might be translated fairly easily into an agency chart where BRAND STORY becomes the driver for everything that follows.

How do you visualize your workflow process?  Share your charts with us by clicking “submit” at the right.

The “break in” period with a new contact at a current client can be fraught with danger for your agency. The trouble is, you just don’t know how to work with them. You don’t know their likes and dislikes; you don’t know if they have a friend elsewhere in the ad agency business; and most of all, you don’t know how, when or where to please them.

This was the case with one of our Network members. They found themselves trying to impress a new client contact on a piece of business that was very important to them.  They tried the “mental telepathy” stuff, and then the “getting to know you better” dance.  All of these strategies worked okay, but they really didn’t seem to bring about the exciting relationship they had with their former contact, until…

…they decided to pitch the new contact just as they would pitch a brand new client. The agency put together a full-blown “dog and pony” show. They took the new client contact through the whole history of the work they had done for the client—over ten years of great work. They stopped at various points in the show and pointed out great agency/client moments in terms of growth and knowledge. Then they concluded with plans for the future and how the agency was set on being involved as more of a strategic marketing partner.

It worked.

Somewhere in the middle of the presentation, the agency principal told me, the new client contact changed his body language and began interacting with the agency, nodding and agreeing. I believe the combination of the agency’s body of work and the new client contact deciding this agency could be of value to him, helped our agency “rewin” the business.

Agency workflow software has long been—and continues to be—a headache for agency principals, managers and their employees. Elaborate, all-in-one systems are often complicated and labor-intensive, impairing (instead of improving) efficiency and deterring employees from adopting or learning the system. Simpler, module-based systems are frequently difficult to synchronize with accounting packages. This has lead many agencies to test cloud-based systems or task-specific apps. Even these more intuitive workflow programs can gather dust from employee disuse. So here’s a suggestion we believe will help.

Appoint a workflow system “zealot.” This person becomes the system champion, and should be vested in the system’s success. Your zealot will learn how to get the most out of the system, then serve as chief in-house trainer and “IT person,” available to troubleshoot when other employees struggle or need help using the package. The zealot can also create lunch & learn training sessions, spot-train small groups, report when new features are added, and encourage agency-wide use of the system.

Try appointing a workflow system zealot in your agency. Having an in-house champion takes some of the pressure off agency leadership, and is likely to gain more peer support than top-down management. Just be sure to support this person’s efforts to ensure the system functions efficiently. Lack of management support is one big reason why system adoption falls apart.

How many of your clients’ marketing messages are being tagged as spam? Are their messages being blocked altogether by ISPs? If you or your client can’t answer these two questions, you need to pay closer attention to engagement.

The folks at email service provider StrongMail shared this finding from an Email Intelligence Report by Return Path:

“Marketers account for a startling 70 percent of ‘this is spam’ complaints and 60 percent of all spam traps hits. This is considerably higher than any other source, including botnets, which surprisingly account for only three percent of complaints and only 11 percent of spam trap hits.”

StrongMail’s Sean Wirt advises that keeping lists clean today means going beyond deleting bounces or unsubscribes; email marketers must also track and adjust for engaged recipients, dead addresses, and even simple user disinterest. ISPs have discovered they can manage volume by rerouting marketing messages as spam, and if users do not complain, can even block a marketer’s email altogether.

Email is not a “mass” medium. Smaller lists that are targeted correctly to engaged users will be more valuable than bigger lists, says Wirt. Keep lists clean, and work to improve tracking and analytics to ensure your clients’ messages are reaching interested recipients. You’ll improve email response rates, and ensure that your clients’ reputations as legitimate e-marketers remain intact.

As the recovery continues to feel like a drawn-out recession, you might expect smaller businesses to be reducing their marketing budgets. But according to a Constant Contact survey, “Small Business Pulse,”  60 percent of smaller businesses are keeping their budgets steady, and a surprising number are actually increasing marketing spending. Agencies need to know where those budgets are going.

For both B2C and B2B companies, the focus is on customer leads and retention. And for both business categories, the top marketing tactics are email, company websites and in-person interactions. B2B firms find in-person interactions and phone calls to leads and customers are very beneficial, while B2C firms lean more heavily on social media interactions and events. Both types of companies value PR and direct mail about equally. Traditional advertising has sunk to a new low, deemed effective by an average of just 17 percent of all firms; 50 percent fewer B2B firms judge traditional marketing channels effective than B2C firms. And surprisingly, neither B2C nor B2B firms put great stock in online advertising, including paid search.

As your agencies seek strategic entry points into local companies’ planning and marketing suites, be aware of what kinds of tactics and channels these companies are finding most effective. Tailor pitches and proposals to highlight these service areas or offer support to build on these tactics. Develop skills and knowledge by training agency employees in “hot” service areas, and promote those skills so clients know your name when you come knocking.

As the politicians keep telling us, smaller businesses are driving the economy. Smaller agencies can help their clients and prospects with the right tactical support.

Even as offline advertising has declined with the gradual demise of print media, online display has soldiered on with surprising consistency. It was the first ad media to enjoy a recovery after the 2008-09 Recession, and has continued to thrive despite abysmal click-through rates. Marketers have discovered banners can support brand awareness… but there’s more to the story. In brief, integration is the key to modern-day marketing success.

Emarketer reports that a Spring 2012 study conducted by Econsultancy and Responsys identified four global trends relating to online display advertising, and integration features in three of those. Marketers identified a need to integrate display ads with social, search marketing and email marketing. Seventy percent of responding companies said that integrating search (including SEO, paid search and search intent modeling) with display had the most positive impact on display advertising. Marketers are also looking forward to increased personalization of ads to improve click-throughs.

As you plan media buys for clients, remember to look at how search, social and email marketing might be integrated with display to improve overall tactical effectiveness. Integration with website content can further reinforce a brand message. Display alone does not get the job done. Guide clients toward a truly integrated marketing program for best results.

According to a June study by Triton Digital, a digital service provider for online and traditional radio, traditional media still garners greater trust among consumers. The study, “Media Influence Insights,” was recently shared on eMarketer.

Nearly 45 percent of all North Americans (and nearly 50 percent of females) trust TV most for news and information. More than 20 percent still place their trust in traditional newspapers; and almost 18 percent trust traditional radio. A mere 12.5 percent indicated the Internet as their most trusted news and info source. And the results for social media: just 4 percent.

Interestingly, 63.6 percent of survey respondents said they often based their first purchase decisions on traditional media exposures. Sixty-one percent then used Internet recommendations and reviews to help narrow down their choices.

While the ad industry has embraced new media, it’s important for all of us to remember that broad swath of consumers who do not use the Internet, or who use it only casually. Those who do use the Internet to research products tend to rely on digital sources for deeper information and confirmation. Ensuring that your client’s online strategy serves customers’ needs and assists them in buying decisions is now an essential element of any sales strategy.

It is more critical than ever to know the audience you are trying to motivate, and understand which channels are the best for reaching them at different points along the “path to purchase.” Often, this means employing a mix of traditional and new media to achieve client goals.

Google, Bing and Ask, the top three search engines, now integrate or allow users to ask for social results, although all three serve the results differently. In fact, social is being considered in search engine algorithms, if not as a key component, certainly as one small but growing part of the larger equation. The big reason for this is popular links. Social media users share and comment on content across the ’Net, and those links now influence search engine “relevance,” i.e., how high a link is ranked in search results. As social media is accorded greater influence on search results, companies are adjusting their search marketing and optimization tactics to harness that power.

Facebook alone now has over 900 million users worldwide, and more than 500 million are in North America. With that kind of user base, businesses can no longer afford to ignore social media. What does this mean for businesses and brands… and for their ad agencies and marketing partners? Companies and agencies alike must consider and budget for social marketing on some level. Not all social channels will be appropriate for all companies; this is an area where agencies can assist. Be the advisor and guide your clients in identifyingthe social venues where target audiences, brand advocates and other stakeholders can be found. Help develop and test the best tactics for each venue. Then integrate social media as part of campaigns whenever appropriate.

Also work to integrate social into trusted marketing tactics. Including social page links and “share” options in email is especially important. But it is equally valuable to incorporate email opt-in links on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Twitter pages. Also, use content on social pages to drive website traffic, and where possible, e-commerce traffic. And remember to include social links in traditional media to drive social page traffic and activity.

Social media optimization—integrating and enabling social sharing across all channels—is fast becoming a marketing best practice. SEO and social are now integrated, so companies and their agencies must respond.

…Products, that’s what! Agencies are taking some of their services and developing products that can be presented to clients and prospects.

Many of these products are based on general agency services, but have been branded and packaged.

For example, one agency has taken their ability to put together information about a client’s competitors and developed a report they call “Landscape™ – Your company’s 10 top competitors, fully analyzed.”  They sell it for $5,000+.

Another has done the same thing for Target Audience analysis.  They call it “Bullseye™ – Your company’s primary and secondary target audience – who they are, what they like, what they don’t like, etc.”

Your agency should think about creating products like this.

By productizing some of your services, such as research, brand development, strategic marketing planning and marketing communications plan development, you set your agency apart from others who may not have similar products.

You do this very simply by taking the service, developing a brand and packaging it in a way that makes it attractive to clients and prospects. Ideally, you should examine your processes and break them into steps or phases, detailing what happens at each stage.  This will help you to explain—and sell—the products to clients.

Then, make a call and go and sell some services.  You’ll be glad you did, and your agency will be much more profitable.

A funny thing about this…  Clients who don’t feel they need to pay the agency a monthly fee for research, planning, etc, are far more interested in paying the agency a fee for a branded deliverable. You’ll laugh all the way to the bank.

According to a December 2011/January 2012 study from BtoB Magazine, the online marketing tactic that is best at generating leads is email.  That’s the view of 60 percent of B2B marketers, as reported by eMarketer. In comparison, just 48 percent of agencies identified email as the top lead generator.

We already discussed why email is so well regarded in our Jan/Feb issue of Second Wind Magazine (Email and Social – The New Marketing Team). We also noted the growing trend toward integrating social media marketing with email to both capture leads through social channels and build social momentum and sharing via email. It’s the agency’s function to ensure that cross-channel integration is a part of client marketing.  Marketers are getting better at integration, but many still “silo” marketing functions and fail to increase effectiveness through social-email integration.

As you work with clients who want to increase leads, guide them toward email best practices, smart integration tactics and good analytics. The tools are there, but we’re still learning how to bring them into sync.

Read eMarketer’s coverage here or learn more about the BtoB study here.