Recently I was working with a great agency, around 15 people, that was doing some truly outstanding work.
Are you waiting passively by the phone?
They were well known in their market, but had been defined in that market as a “certain type” of marketing firm. While there were many pitch opportunities in the area, a steady steam of RFPs and reviews going out to other agencies, it seemed they were never called.
Why Don’t Prospects Call?
They reached out to us and asked. The answer it seems was simple. Over the past many years by not defining their brand they had allowed the market to brand them. And as their capabilities had grown, and improved, they failed to communicate that to prospects. The market perception of the agency was out-of-date and just plain wrong.
While this was a painful lesson for the agency, it’s something we see all the time. Marketing firms of all types are focused on the here and now. The opportunity that’s right in front of them. And much like the cobbler’s children, little attention is paid to their marketing needs, their brand. Over time the perception in the market changes from what the agency really is to something far from the truth.
There are steps you can take to make sure your brand remains fresh, active in the market, and never allows the market to start branding you.
5 Steps To Keep Your Ad Agency Brand Fresh:
1. Agency Focus: In this cluttered market place only an expert has any chance of standing out. Business leaders don’t have time to educate someone on their unique situation. An expert understands their product, their service, and knows how it can benefit customers. OR an expert knows their customer better then anyone. OR an expert has a unique view of the marketing landscape. Find something to be your area of expertise. Just being a “full service highly creative marketing firm that offers outstanding service” isn’t enough any more!
2. Make New Friends: We all now that people do business with people whom they like and trust. Choose to make a new friend over just creating a new business transaction. This will pay off in the long run.
3. Effectively Communicate: Establish yourself with your target market by creating a dialog on things that you have in common. You must be able to establish a relationship. With lots of people.
4. Find Opportunities To Speak: Become a speaker to your target market, and educate people on both the changes hitting their market as well as the challenges they face. Provide Solutions.
5. Use a Spark: Hire an Account Executive who is responsible for building agency awareness and creating large numbers of relationships with key prospects. This is the fastest way to build agency your agency brand with prospects. And that means more calls asking you to swing by for a visit. More new business.
There you go… 5 easy-to-forget strategies that can help you establish and maintain your brand in the mind of your ideal prospect. And just think, once they’ve heard of you, perhaps know you, and think you have some smart solutions then they will call you.
Next Steps
Agency leadership needs to build a long-term vision for success and gain commitment from staff to that vision. Any planning needs to ensure that agency teamwork, which is essential to making the vision successful, comes forth. Sanders Consulting Group, the recognized experts in agency growth, has proven techniques and strategies to transform your agency. Give us a call and let us show you how.
Photo by MechanicalLazarus
