Wednesday 15 April 2015
Tuesday 10 February 2015
5 Predictions On The Future Of Marketing, PR and Advertising Agencies
Unless you are petting fluffy bunny in the forest and didn’t get the memo, it is no secret that the world of marketing, PR and advertising is changing at lighting speed.
It used to be that things were neatly divided into pretty categories:
An advertising agency created ads (and if they did media placement, they placed the ads). Some of course were better than others.
A marketing agency could do a variety of things
depending on their specialty ranging from brand identity (design,
slogan, etc.), perhaps creating your website, some paid advertising
(overlaps a bit with an advertising firm), maybe helped with events and
other ways to get the word out (such as digital fun things like search
engine optimization or more traditional like direct mail). Some of course were better than others.
A public relations agency focuses on media
attention. This used to be limited to pitching traditional media for
articles, placement, etc. Some firms helped you put on events. Some of course were better than others.
And in each category of course, there are consultants that help clients DIT: Do It Themselves.
And then the social and creative web started to become mainstream and the game has completely changed. Things are smarter, faster, cheaper as opposed to dumber, slower, expensive.
The happy divide between marketing, advertising and public relations has crumbled.
Now there amazing do-it-yourself tools that entrepreneurs, big brands and all clients can use if they so choose.
Many companies (big and small) can handle all their marketing, public
relations and advertising themselves (this wasn’t true even just ten
years ago).
However, There will always be a market though for those that need
some help. They just might not need help from a bloated agency using
old-school tactics (that was said nicely wasn’t it)?
Now, many firms, consultants, etc. are re-branding. Perhaps
they are now communications companies, or social media marketing
companies (yikes), digital marketing agencies, we-make-you-money-hah aha
companies, buzzword-of-the-day firms or whatever. Evolution is good for
those that understand how to maximize the new (and ridiculously changing
world). Evolution is bad for the ones sitting there yearning for the
days of yesterday.
Plus, client expectation and education levels have changed. Folks
have become (and continue to be) much more educated on things like
social media, blogs, search engine optimization and creating online
content.
Which leads to this question: What is the future of marketing, PR and advertising agencies going to look like?
While I don’t have a crystal ball (or do I? muhahaha) based on
thousands of conversations with entrepreneurs, big brands, consultants
and agencies, and through content consulting here are some thoughts:
1. Jacks Of One Trade: Specialized Experts
The days of Mad Men are long gone. Bloated agencies are
screwed. Why? For one thing: MASSIVE overhead. Big buildings, segways
for employees, whatever.
This model ends up driving up expense and instead of a well oiled
machine, creates an environment that often isn’t cutting edge, but
slow-moving. Slow to make decisions. Slow to take action. I know I’d
rather work with a lean agency with a specific specialization than a
“jack of all trades that costs me my first born.”
Sure, it is nice to have “everyone under one roof” for control
purposes, but now there is this Internet thing and more ways to do work
virtually. A team of freelancers can be assembled in a jiffy. Or a
consultant. Does it take more work on the agency end to do this?
Absolutely. But why hire a bunch of experts as opposed to bring them in
on a per project basis or set up a referral network?
I’d bet the future will be more about partnerships between highly specialized experts as opposed to the big box model.
2. Help With Content
It used to be that if you had a budget, you could just hand over all
of your marketing, advertising or public relations and sit back and
“watch and approve the magic.” The problem with this, and where we are
going in the future, is that smarter, faster, cheaper promotion and
advertising requires participation from the client.
Because smarter, faster, cheaper is all about the client becoming a
trusted resource as opposed to a product pusher. The go-to person.
Online and off.
New marketing isn’t about banner ads or a firm “Tweeting and
interacting online on behalf of you”, it is about content. Let’s pretend
your client is “Joe’s Delicious Dog Food.”
Perhaps you help Joe create “The Dog Hour” an online show or podcast.
Or a doggy get-together where people bring out their pets. Or
“Doginars” where Joe helps teach old dogs new tricks (couldn’t resist).
Joe is the thought leader. He knows the content. You don’t. But, you
can help if you have a knowledge of what kind of content spreads, how to
create it, market it, measure it and monetize it.
There is a huge value to help clients with this and agencies of the
future are going to have to hop onto the content train. Toot.
3. Agencies Become Educators
Teaching will be another model that will continue to take shape. More
specifically, teaching people and companies. Not keeping the secret
sauce secret. This means educating and enabling as opposed to
controlling (practice what you preach, right?).
This means agencies/consultants, etc. will continue to create their own content online and off.
Perhaps it is monthly events in your home town where you invite out business owners and marketers.
And in many ways, this content can be monetized directly. Perhaps
instead of clients, you have subscribers and create a community. A
membership site or a mentoring program.
The end result is part publisher and part agency.
4. Not Outsourcing Relationships
Let’s talk about social media for a second. A lot of agencies and
consultants are offering social media services for their clients. Great.
But, what exactly is being offered and what should be offered?
Can an agency assist with content creation? Can an agency find
relevant articles/other content in your niche to share on Twitter,
Facebook, etc.? Can an agency suggest people to follow? Can an agency
set up a Facebook page and Twitter account for you? Can an agency
suggest tweeting topics? Can an agency post content to your Twitter and
Facebook accounts? Suggest blogs and forums you should be participating
in/on? I would say YES to all of the above with millage varying.
But can an agency “be you” and act like you online? Form
relationships with people? Small talk and make it look like it is coming
from the CEO? The answer here is a resounding NO.
If a goal is to build relationships and trust, you can’t outsource
it. The client HAS to participate. This doesn’t mean sitting behind the
computer all day, but it does mean dedicating some time to interacting
which is social aspect of social media.
The problem we all see over and over is an agency doing all of the
above in the YES category and ignoring the NO category or trying to it
themselves. This is sure recipe for disaster and either results in a
broadcast stream (aka a bullhorn with no interaction) or fake
interaction done by the agency as opposed to the person (the human) that
needs to be doing it. Yuck. As with everything, time to evolve.
5. Respect The Blogger And New Media Sources
I’m not suggesting that traditional media is dead. It isn’t. I’m not
saying traditional advertising is dead. It isn’t. But, there are some
incredible opportunities online to generate buzz, sales, trust and more
that many agencies aren’t educated on.
There are blogs and new media sources with incredible sponsorship and
advertising opportunities that go beyond print ads, 30-second ads and
the dreaded banner ad (more on this in an upcoming post). Not only are
they cost-efficient, but they laser cut the demographic you are looking
for.
In our example, “Joe’s Delicious Dog Food” in the past might
be “pitched” by an agency to the local paper. 93% of the readers
couldn’t care less about dogs (probably more). Or perhaps the agency
places one of Joe’s commercials on Animal Planet. Good choice, but still
not a guarantee that people watching a lion eat a duck (or something)
own a dog. Plus, I bet that ad is super expensive.
As opposed to pitching the local paper, why not start building
relationships with bloggers and new sources in your clients niches?
Keyword here is relationships (In many cases traditional and new media
are different animals. Different etiquette. Different wants and needs.
Trust me.)
Why not help Joe form a relationship with 20 dog bloggers? Perhaps
Joe can guest post on their sites and Joe can put up their blogs on his
website. Or he can give them some dog food to try and ask for an honest
review.
Or on the paid side, why not sponsor a doggy web show or podcast? I
bet it will cost a FRACTION of a TV ad, reach dog owners and allow more
bang for the buck. Perhaps Joe goes on the dog show to talk about
nutrition for animals. Or the trusted show hosts plugs the food. Or Joe
sponsors a series called “Getting Doggy With It” where the show host
records doggy karaoke. OK, I’m getting nutty here, but you get the idea.
Traditional media in many cases is like a one night stand. It is hot,
sexy and then it is over. Online media (content sponsorships, guest
posts on blogs, blurbs, etc.) is more like a long-term relationship.
Online content is spreadable and can increase in value over time since
is stays up.
Agencies of the future will have to learn a little more respect for the blogger and new media source.
Wrapping It Up:
All in all, these are VERY exciting times for both agencies,
consultants, business owners, entrepreneurs, marketers looking to evolve
and maximize the newest era of business.
The Social Media Today
I have been asked this question a lot lately, “Where do you think marketing is headed?” and “What is the future of digital marketing?”.
Given the changes affecting how consumers reach brands, how marketers
reach consumers and how companies are approaching marketing I wanted to
write about these questions that have surfaced recently:
- Who is poised to be successful in the world of social media?
- What skills does a dynamic marketer need today?
- Mobile and targeting — how do marketers reach clients?
Social Media -
Journalists and Public Relations Professionals are poised to be amazing
content creators in the new social media world. Journalists are
probably the best content creators when it comes to social media because
they can craft compelling content and understand what is newsworthy.
Reuter’s released Social Pulse earlier this year creating a tool for journalists
to monitor company chatter. Journalists make excellent bloggers and
have the ability to create tight, focused content on a deadline. Did I
mention editing? Journalists are also extremely skilled at editing,
turning around tweets, blog posts and other types of digital content.
Public Relations professionals are also poised to be experts in the
social media world — they, too understand what is newsworthy, how to be
concise, write for reports and how to attract attention.
The New Age Marketer-
As marketers we have all been exposed to measurement and ROI in some
form. The new marketer needs to love data and think about marketing as
an art and science. Statistics, data mining and being able to
meaningfully pull together data, formulate data and report on data is
and will become more and more crucial. Forbes recent article, “Understanding the New ROI of Marketing” details the basics of measurement.
Marketing
data tools, sales tools and marketing automation tools will become a
standard part of every marketers’ tool kit. The new age marketer has to
think like a business person and act like a marketer — people who have a
strong business acumen, are able to be a data expert and retain their
creative skills will be the ones that stay ahead of the curve.
Reaching Customers – I like John Jantush’s blog,“5 Meaningful Shifts Shaping Marketing Right Now” where
he talks about “little commitments”. According to John “Generic
information overload is causing a real bottleneck for marketers. Our
prospects don’t have or won’t take the time to learn all about our great
solutions even if it’s in their best interest to do so. Our job now is
to offer them little pieces of information that move them ever so
slightly in the direction of personalizing their experience with us.”
How marketers reach customers today will be critical to their success.
Small “snippets” of information, capitalizing on tablet use,
using mobile creatively, being a data geek and employing journalists as
content creators are just a few ways to pave the road and reach
customers in a more meaningful way.
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