The RSW/US Thought Leader Survey-Where social fits into your agency new business program today...

The RSW/US Thought Leader

Survey— Where social fits into your agency new business

program today

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2013 RSW/US Agency New Business Thought Leader Survey

Taken from our 1st annual Agency New Business Thought Leader Survey Report. Given we at RSW/US typically generate questions for our surveys, we thought it would be helpful to get perspective from some of the industry's leading agency new business Thought Leaders. We asked each of them to submit questions they believed would prove helpful to agencies across the country.

Background

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http://www.rswus.com/


We would like to thank the following Thought Leaders for including questions in this survey:

Jay Baer Michael Gass Paul Roetzer Tony Mikes

Tim Williams Tom Martin

Peter Caputa

Background

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Tweets=

@rswus #agencynewbusiness

Will be posting webinar on rswus.com and slide deck

on SlideShare.

Background

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I. 3 Reasons why your agency should stop using social for new business

II. Specifics on SlideShare & Expanded LinkedIn

profiles

III. Specific responses to a few agency survey

comments

I. 3 Reasons why your

agency should stop using social for new business

1. You don’t know who you’re trying to talk to.

In our survey, Michael Gass asked “Has your agency had success using social media to generate new business leads?”

I. Stop using social for your agency new business effort if . . . You don’t know who you’re trying to talk to.

// Page 4 2013 RSW/US Agency New Business Thought Leader Survey // Page 10



58% responded “yes,” a big jump from the same question in our “RSW/US 2012 Changes in Social & Digital Survey Report,” where only 37% of agencies found social successful in generating new business leads.

More agencies are using social media for new business in 2013 but still don’t know how to use it.



Which brings us to comments like these:

“Continue to generate content for FB, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and other sites -- and to

merchandise our activity on our site and elsewhere -- but have yet to receive ANY value

in return.”



What’s the definition of insanity-doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results?



Maybe it’s how these agencies are doing it.



• Who’s reading your content?

• Who do you want to read your content?

• You want clients to read your social output and think-”I want them to do that for us.”



• What’s the time frame for success and is it realistic?

• Don’t stretch too thin.

• Is there a plan in place with defined parameters?

-which sectors to hit?

-research performed?



No matter what the channel,

new business is not an overnight exercise.



2. Stop using social for

your agency new business effort if . . you

don’t have a content plan

You've got to say something,

better yet, stand for something

II. Stop using social for your agency new business effort if . . you don’t have a content plan


Agencies tend to turn off right about now-creating content is difficult and time-consuming-but it doesn’t have to be.



Agencies aren’t being creative enough when it comes to new business



2 biggest challenges=

-Time/Organization

-Coming up with the content



As to time/organization: go back to Lee’s mantra:

start small

1) 1 post a week (or month)

2) Simple editorial calendar-who writes it

3) Focus on a core group of soc med platforms (Twitter, LinkedIn, Google +)



As to the actual content-Don’t make it harder than it needs to be



“The rule of 5 is that each and every content development undertaking should produce content assets that can be used at least 5 different ways. “ Ardath Albee

What to write about or curate (and you must do both.)

Always start with this question:

“Does the content you’re creating or curating showcase your agency expertise and/or sector knowledge?”

At least 80% of the time.



Where does it come from?

1) Your own client experiences

2) Set up Google alerts

3) Solicit guest posts

4) Interview your prospects




Jay Baer asked a question in our survey-”Does your agency make an effort to interview its future clients via blog posts or pod casts, and if so, or not-why?”



76% of agencies said no.


One reason agencies typically give us for not having a consistent new business effort is time, or lack of it.



Interviewing a prospect you want to work with is a good idea because it:

1) takes very little time-craft smart questions (don’t pander) and offer a Skype or email interview

2) people like to talk about themselves and

3) it gets you noticed by that prospect.



Several comments after this question noted the difficulty in actually getting your prospect to agree and then take the time to complete the interview.

Fair enough, but I can tell you from experience, very few agencies are doing this- it’s worth the effort to set your agency apart from competitors.



III. Stop using social for

your agency new business effort if . . you can’t make it come alive

“You can buy attention (advertising). You can beg for attention from the media (PR). You can bug people one at a time to get attention (sales). Or you can earn attention by creating something interesting and valuable and then publishing it online for free.”

David Meerman Scott

III. Stop using social for your agency new business effort if . . . You can’t make it come alive


Before you start-do you have your agency positioning nailed down?




Tim Williams asked agencies-To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement: "Our agency has a focused positioning strategy designed to attract clients that want us for what we do best".




Over 65% of agencies said they agreed.

At RSW/US we talk to a lot of agencies and they often think their positioning is spot-on, when it is definitely not.

Very simple to make sure it is however, and that’s by having someone outside your agency, or even outside the industry, give

their opinion.



One tip however, and specifically to those agencies in the 65%:

If anyone, but especially a prospect, doesn’t understand in 20-30 seconds how your agency is unique and what type of agency you are, that’s (obviously) not effective positioning.

Agencies should revisit their positioning and its effectiveness every quarter.



That doesn’t mean reinvent the wheel every quarter, but revisiting your agency new business positioning with a fresh pair of eyes will keep your effort sharp.

• So now that your new business positioning includes social, what next?

• Learn What Is Important To Your Audience

• The fantastic piece of good news here: you already know it!

• You live it.

• Show them what you know and therefore how you can help.



Basic tips:

• Tell readers what you want them to do

• Make 90% of your tweets link to articles, blog posts, pictures or video that relate to your message.

• Use a mix of headlines, questions, facts & figures to drive clicks and retweets

• Use mentions and retweets to call out authors

• Leave 20 characters for retweeters to add content

• Use your own voice in a professional way to add some personality

Michael Gass-How To Write The Perfect Tweet



http://www.fuelingnewbusiness.com/2013/03/06/a-blueprint-for-writing-the-perfect-tweet/



Let’s get more specific:

Pinterest:

Avoid human faces. Images without human faces

get repinned 23% more often than images

with faces.

Look for red. Images that are predominantly red or orange see twice as many repins as other images.

PR Daily How to create perfect social media posts



http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/How_to_create_perfect_social_media_posts__14901.aspx



Facebook:

Be positive. Positivity is more appealing and

inspiring for your fans, and it will encourage them to share your post.

Provide a link. Drive fans to your website. After all, your Facebook page exists to support your business.







Google+:

Tag people. When appropriate, tag brands and

people in your posts to encourage them to comment

or engage with you.

Include large images. Don’t settle for the tiny photo that automatically appears when you include a link in a post. Upload a larger one to grab people’s attention.








PR Daily, How to create perfect social media posts




Then there’s this from Digiday: Inside the Best Agency Twitter Feeds:

Agency Twitter accounts are often dull as dishwater. Instead of using the opportunity to poke fun at the day’s news, or to amuse followers with pithy one-liners, the majority choose instead to tweet links to press releases, offer unseemly praise of clients or to retweet Ad Age articles.

Digiday, Inside the Best Agency Twitter Feeds



http://digiday.com/agencies/best-agency-twitter/


Then there’s this from Digiday: Inside the Best Agency Twitter Feeds:

There are a handful of agencies out there, however, that have taken a different approach. They’ve opted instead to publish content that their followers – real people – might actually be interested in. And top talent in many agencies are doing the tweeting, rather than pushing it off on the PR department.



Digiday, Inside the Best Agency Twitter Feeds









Humorous?

Absolutely

Does that help your new business effort?

Partly.



Along with humor, make it personal and make it pertinent as

well




Jay Baer asked: “Does your agency publish content on SlideShare?”




Does your agency publish content on SlideShare? Almost 80% of agencies surveyed say no.

And here’s a sample of several open-ended comments we got:

Haven't heard any stories of new business dropping into an agency's lap because of it. Otherwise, you need to keep your best ideas for your clients and not the general surfing public.

As with most social media channels, it's narcissistic superficiality and "look at me" over any real substance.



The rise of visual content marketing is forcing marketers everywhere to re-evaluate their overall strategy.

No longer can a marketing professional rely solely on white papers and blog posts to get their message to prospective buyers and customers.



So why use it:

It’s now vital to include a visual element across all marketing campaigns. Social Media Examiner, How to Use SlideShare to Generate Leads

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/slideshare-for-lead-generation/


So why use it:

-SlideShare is an essential part of any successful content marketing strategy for many businesses. It’s much more than just a place to upload your webinar slides, it’s a powerful social community with a reported 60 million monthly visitors.

-One of the top 150 sites on the Web

-3 billion slide views a month

Social Media Examiner, How to Use SlideShare to Generate Leads





So why use it:

The reality-because visual content is so critical, the ability to embed SlideShare presentations across multiple channels is huge and it’s easy.

In case you still doubt, a few stats overall :

When sharing your offers consider adding photos, visual content gets 53% more likes than the average post.

Smedio, How to Optimize Your Marketing for the Visual Marketing Revolution

Heidi Cohen, 5 facts prove visual content is a guaranteed-winner



http://smedio.com/2013/05/21/how-to-optimize-your-marketing-for-the-visual-marketing-revolution/



http://heidicohen.com/5-facts-prove-visual-content-is-a-guaranteed-winner/




So why use it:

-Publishers who use infographics grow in traffic an average of 12% more than those who don’t.

-94% more total views on average are attracted by content containing compelling images than content without images.

Smedio, How to Optimize Your Marketing for the Visual Marketing Revolution

Heidi Cohen, 5 facts prove visual content is a guaranteed-winner

















brandongaille.com, Slideshare Statistics and Marketing Tips

http://brandongaille.com/slideshare-statistics-and-marketing-tips/

http://brandongaille.com/slideshare-statistics-and-marketing-tips/



Click pics for direct link

Click pics for direct link

http://blog.slideshare.net/2013/09/16/starter-tips-for-the-slideshare-beginner/


IV: Responses to

open-ended questions

Responses to

open-ended questions: Newly expanded LinkedIn

profile pages


Another question from Jay Baer that invited multiple questions from agencies: “Do your agency employees post multi-media content (photos, videos, presentations) to the newly expanded LinkedIn profile pages?”

IV: Responses to open-ended questions: Newly expanded LinkedIn profile pages



About even.

The question elicited many responses similar to these below:

We have just had a conversation about including LinkedIn in our mix. I think it could be valuable, some of the younger

staff have mixed feelings.

Didn't know about the newly expanded

LI profiles!

Need to learn how.





Expanded LinkedIn Profiles:

What are they: The ability to add your visual content to your profile

Users will now be able to add more images, videos, resumes, presentations and comments and likes from other users.

Don't just say it. Display it on your LinkedIn Profile.

http://www.slideshare.net/linkedin/linked-in-professional-portfolio-20299685?ref=http://blog.linkedin.com/2013/05/01/visually-enhance-your-professional-story-on-your-linkedin-profile/

http://www.slideshare.net/linkedin/linked-in-professional-portfolio-20299685?ref=http://blog.linkedin.com/2013/05/01/visually-enhance-your-professional-story-on-your-linkedin-profile/



IV: Responses to

open-ended questions Agency Success w/ Social

Media

I think we need to tick both boxes. On one hand, I think the Social stream and our fresh content looks alive on the front page of the website, so - I think we need to be there. But - as outreach, I don't think it's effective. We have, for a client, created content that gets thousands of hits a week and has built to a total of close to a million downloads - with great feedback. And the content is classic and classy and attracted stories on NPR and WSJ, etc. But - it hasn't moved the needle on his sales.

IV: Responses to open-ended questions: Agency Success w/ Social Media


Briefly describe your agency's success or why you lacked success using social media for new business

IV: Responses to open-ended questions: Agency Success w/ Social Media


Socially Charged Agency New Business

http://www.agencynewbusiness.com/2012/03/socially-charged-agency-new-business.html

IV: Responses to

open-ended questions: Inbound Strategy

IV: Responses to open-ended questions: Inbound strategy


From Tom Martin’s survey question, “Please explain why do you (or don't you) have a formal inbound business development program?”

We had one but could never stick to a publishing schedule. We eventually just stopped badgering people to develop the content. Morale improved and inbound leads stayed the same (zero).

Inbound is the buzz word of the year for agency new business.

It has it’s place.

But know what

you’re getting in to.

Bottom line-even if

abbreviated and in-house-you need it.

IV: Responses to open-ended questions: Inbound strategy


Webinar on www.rswus.com & slide deck on

SlideShare


http://www.slideshare.net/rsw_us


Download The 1st Annual RSWUS Agency New

Business Thought Leader Survey Report Here

http://www.rswus.com/survey/1st-annual-rswus-agency-new-business-thought-leader-survey-report

View this webinar.

http://www.rswus.com/resources/webinars

Want to know more about RSW/US? Contact Lee at [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Thank You!

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Date post:	14-Sep-2014
Category:	Business
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