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Go beyond Google Analytics and use data to educate your clients

Numbers and data are no longer a daunting task — they’ve now become an integral part of a company’s operations. The issue is most companies are only given the basic facts of their data without the what’s, how’s, and why’s that are driving the analytics. Jaywing, a British data-based digital agency, found that brands across the board are failing to take advantage of marketing technology innovations, including how data can lead to larger explanations of how their audiences consume. Further, the agency’s 2017 Data-Driven Marketing Report found that 23 percent of marketers rate data science and analytics as the least important marketing skill. By contrast, the Data & Marketing Association found that 33 percent of marketers said having the right technology for data collection and analysis as the most important tool for understanding audiences. Given these disparities (and the fact that marketers are expected to spend 11 percent of their budget on analytics), it’s important to understand why data is an essential part of your client's business and how you should present it to garner the best results.  How companies are using marketing analytics:   1. Clients now expect more from analytics. As clients get more familiar with data jargon, they begin to understand more about what is being collected. Further, they’re hearing buzzwords like “big data,” so naturally they want more than just numbers thrown at them — they want an explanation. Clients now want to know what data does, its fluctuations, and how it will affect their business. Agencies are currently searching for the right direction to send their clients in as well as condensing data into points of value. Data is coming from all directions, and having the right people on staff who can analyze it well [...]

January 3rd, 2018|

Why you should pair inbound with agile with Jeremy Knight

[easy-social-share buttons=”facebook,twitter,google,linkedin,mail” counters=1 counter_pos=”topm” total_counter_pos=”leftbig” style=”icon_hover”] Jeremy Knight spent 20 years as a B2B publisher creating publications for the private equity and fast growth business sectors. With digital technology, the Internet, and social web Jeremy believed making clients the publisher in a new media age was not just a good idea, it was the foundation for building a business. After all, building an audience was a better proposition than renting a list or leveraging third party routes to market, right? He launched Equinet Media in January 2009. Discovering HubSpot in 2011 was a game changer. The blending of a content marketing play with an inbound methodology propelled the business forward as everything we did for clients had measurable outcomes. Today Equinet is an Inbound Agency, working specifically for the manufacturing and professional services sectors, operating on the EOS system and delivering services through an agile scrum process.     What you’ll learn about in this episode: Jeremy’s transition from publisher to agency owner and the challenges he faced in that transition How Hubspot changed the game for Equinet — even when it was far less powerful in 2011 than it is today Why CMOs are going to lead revenue and why sales and marketing are two halves of the same whole Hiring for attitude and training for aptitude instead of hiring based on skills alone Why you need to focus on developing different skills in all your team member when you keep all the work inside your agency and never outsource anything Why your team needs to have access to and understanding of the tools inside a tool like Hubspot, even if using them is not part of their day-to-day job [...]

January 1st, 2018|

Research 2017

Do You Know What YOUR Clients want from your AE’s? Over 550 clients told us what they want from YOUR AE’s. Executive Summary Explains: The sometimes encouraging, sometimes horrifying, but always insightful, real feedback from the market. The top 4 things buyers EXPECT from your AE’s (and they’re not always getting it). What clients want INSTEAD of pitch happy AE’s. What one thing over 50% of all respondents said was super important to have in an AE. Your AE’s define the relationship you have with your clients. Profitability, longevity and more. You can’t afford not to know what your clients are thinking! Enter your email to get feedback from 550 BUYERS! We did a deep dive (about 90 minutes) via a webinar that you’re also welcome to view here. This statistically valid study is brought to you by:

December 29th, 2017|

Continually hone your message with Lindsay Grinstead

[easy-social-share buttons=”facebook,twitter,google,linkedin,mail” counters=1 counter_pos=”topm” total_counter_pos=”leftbig” style=”icon_hover”] Lindsay Grinstead & Bill Boris-Schacter have lived and breathed the experiential marketing space collectively for over 50 years. They started Tonic Consulting Group to take that experience and help other live event agencies, and their partners, grow both their top and bottom line. Through their combined experience, they bring an operations and sales expertise to their clients. Lindsay has worn a sales & marketing hat for her clients and her agency throughout her career. In her 15 years at Jack Morton Worldwide, she grew small accounts into huge ones and created a few award-winning programs along the way. Lindsay understands the challenges in finding and winning new business and how to organically grow business. She expertly navigated Fortune 500 companies, maximizing opportunities for revenue growth. Every client calls Tonic looking to “grow”. Lindsay & Bill help their clients identify what is hampering their growth, develop a roadmap to success and then roll up their sleeves & help implement the recommended changes.     What you’ll learn about in this episode: Treating your employees as your first audience The importance of continually refining your agency’s message Why your agency must specialize Why agencies struggle seeing themselves (and their problems) clearly What happens to your agency if you take an opportunity that doesn’t fit your niche Using working documents to continually hone your agency’s message and why you need to have your team define your agency in their own words Why your clients need to have relationships with more than just one person inside your agency The dangers of keeping around employees that aren’t pulling their weight (even if they’ve been incredibly loyal to your agency for [...]

December 25th, 2017|

Sell What You Do, Not What You Make

Agencies love to talk about their “stuff.” From event strategies to promotional packages, they get deep into the nitty-gritty. Although nuts and bolts might be great for a home renovation project, they don’t produce tons of revenue. What’s the problem? Selling tangible things limits the conversation to stuff that everyone offers. You create websites? Great, but so does every other agency in your marketplace. In other words, by emphasizing what you make, you inadvertently level the playing field. And that’s bound to kill your conversions. Instead of pontificating about features, focus on the service elements that make your agency the most powerful on the globe: It’ll oil the sales funnel and help prospective audiences slide into client roles. It’s what Accenture does, and it’s why it’s the No. 1 agency in the world. Ironically, the company barely makes anything and it’s prospering to the point that its 4,000-employee company just announced the addition of 800 jobs in Atlanta. Those are some serious numbers in a notoriously tough arena, and they do it all by highlighting what can’t be commoditized. Accenture sells its thinking, strategy and planning; in other words, it sells what it knows about the industry. Its expertise — not its products — is its strength, and that’s worth loads to eager customers. Other agencies receive $125 or $150 an hour; Accenture commands up to $400. The company has hit upon a truth in selling and agencies are poised to do likewise if they shift their mindsets from making to doing. What does your agency bring to the party? Prospects are accustomed to playing a price tug of war with their agencies, but when the talk moves toward what you do instead of the cost [...]

December 20th, 2017|

Owner Peer Networks (live)

Very few people in your life truly understand the unique challenges and potential of running a small to mid-sized marketing agency. If you’ve got a partner or two — you can kick ideas back and forth, but you’re all inside the same bottle. And just like we tell our clients — you can’t objectively see or describe the outside of the bottle from inside. This is why our agency owner peer networks are the corner stone of AMI. By joining a network you get the best of both worlds. You get that outside perspective you really need but from someone who walks in your shoes every day. Each network has a mix of advertising agencies, PR firms, marketing shops, digital marketing, and design firms with the desire and drive to grow their business to the next level. Only one company from any specific geographic market is admitted to a network. This allows for you to collaborate with people outside your bottle – to gain new perspectives and share ideas with other driven and passionate agency owners. The network is truly a safe and open harbor where valuable business connections and lifelong friendships develop. Each network meets in person twice a year (for 2 full days) and stays in touch throughout the year. Throughout this time they share resources, partner on business, seek counsel and enjoy each other’s support, and when needed, a kick in the pants. Your network becomes your advisory team, sounding board, and among your closest friends. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6TP9GDbn_0 At the in person meetings (one in the fall and one in the spring) you will learn from each other’s experiences, challenges and victories. We also share best practices in new business development, financial and marketing strategies, systems development, as well as organizational and staffing strategies. The groups often invite a speaker to join them [...]

December 18th, 2017|

Make the next few weeks all about you

Even if you’ve had a spectacular year and you’re trying to figure out how to spend all of your profits — by now, you’re probably feeling a little weary. As agency owners and leaders, we’re not so great at slowing down or listening to our body’s signals that it’s time for a recharge.  Perhaps that’s the hidden beauty that the holidays happen to align with the end of the year. These next few weeks are the perfect time for you to slow down, reboot and focus on getting ready to take 2018 by storm.  Here are some suggestions on how you might spend your time. Family, friends and feasting: Make sure you give yourself plenty of time to enjoy those you love. There’s nothing more rejuvenating than laughing with the people who mean the most to you. A little wine doesn’t hurt along the way! Soak in some smarts: You know that pile of books or downloaded but never listened to podcasts you have stacking up? Why not replenish your idea pool by enjoying some content by your favorite authors and thought leaders? Get organized: The office is usually pretty quiet — which makes it the perfect time to clean up your office, get rid of some of that paper and Connect: Whether its an old client you miss or a high school friend you haven’t talked to in ages — reach out.  Set up a time to talk on the phone or grab coffee. These are the people you’ve been missing for the last few months.  Fix that now. Prioritize: Take a couple hours and complete our one-page business plan and owner’s life plan.  Know where you’re heading and why you need to head there. [...]

December 17th, 2017|

Six Simple Steps To Mastering Marketing Automation

Marketing automation isn’t a passing fad. The technology has completely transformed the worlds of marketing and advertising and will continue to do so in the coming years. While big names like Marketo, Oracle Eloqua and Pardot tend to dominate the conversation, there are countless other players in the marketing automation space, and the market is projected to reach $7.63 billion by 2025. For marketers and agency leaders who want to stay ahead of the competition, the evolution of marketing automation technology will present opportunities that were unimaginable just a few year ago. But diving into it without a plan isn’t smart — it'll lead to more headaches than marketing miracles. Instead, start with a strategy. The Tool Is Not The Strategy Lead generation is the top priority for most CMOs that I talk to, so it’s not surprising that marketing automation software has gained such traction within the industry. It has the potential to make lead generation easier and more efficient than ever. But the success of any lead generation tactic has always depended upon the effectiveness of the strategy behind it. That’s still the case. In fact, strategy may even be more important now that a sizable part of the marketing process can be automated. Yet many of the clients I work with tend to focus (sometimes obsessively) on specific tools or features they’re missing rather than on how their marketing automation platforms fit within their marketing strategies. I’ve had an agency client try out three different platforms before deciding that each was insufficient when the reality is that any of them would have been fine. Rather than looking at marketing automation software as a comprehensive marketing solution, we have to view it as just one mechanism [...]

December 13th, 2017|

The Five Stages of Sales, with Stephanie Chung

[easy-social-share buttons=”facebook,twitter,google,linkedin,mail” counters=1 counter_pos=”topm” total_counter_pos=”leftbig” style=”icon_hover”] Based in Dallas, Stephanie Chung and Associates offer sales training, executive coaching, and small business mentorship services nationwide. Among her products is the High Ticket Selling Made Simple course, designed to help small business owners sell more and make more. As a former sales executive in the aviation and private jet industry, Stephanie has mastered the art of high ticket selling and has mentored, coached, and developed some of the highest paid, most elite, sales professionals in the country. Serving business leaders, entrepreneurs, and sales professionals, Stephanie Chung uses her proven executive coaching and sales training expertise to drive your top line sales. Chung is an executive coach, trainer and advisor backed by more than 25 years of team management, business development, and sales leadership experience. Chung is also a public speaker, a contributor on ABC, CBS, NBC and author of “Profit Like a Girl: A Woman’s Guide to Kicking Butt in Sales and Leadership” and “Embrace the Suck: How to Grow and Succeed in Business.”     What you’ll learn about in this episode: Doing sales right by caring about who you’re selling to and solving their problem How to identify your ideal prospects and actually get in front of them The importance of adding value beyond what you broadcast on your website How letting people talk about themselves increases the chance of a sale Why the agency owner is the best person to make the sale What to do to get comfortable with sales The five stages of sales Making the close extremely easy by setting it up from the beginning The importance of not being vague about when you’re going to follow [...]

December 11th, 2017|

How to Use Out of Home Media for B2B and B2C, with Betsy McLarney

[easy-social-share buttons=”facebook,twitter,google,linkedin,mail” counters=1 counter_pos=”topm” total_counter_pos=”leftbig” style=”icon_hover”] With 19 years of Outdoor Advertising experience, Betsy McLarney has planned, managed, and executed many fully integrated Out of Home (OOH) advertising campaigns throughout North America and worldwide. Today she leads a team of experienced, dedicated strategists who help clients maximize the potential of Outdoor advertising (OOH), by complementing a robust integrated media plan. EMC Outdoor works seamlessly with their agency clients or direct with a brand’s media department to deliver pitch-perfect programs and outstanding results each and every time. Complete client satisfaction is their ultimate goal.     What you’ll learn about in this episode: Out of Home (OOH) media: what is it? How digital outdoor advertising really makes the experience come alive for consumers Using OOH to hit consumers with messages at multiple touch points throughout their day It’s not just for B2C: how B2B can utilize OOH to enhance their campaigns Using street teams effectively to get your message out to live people Why OOH isn’t just for national brands and can be used effectively for even local campaigns Matching the budget to where the OOH campaign can be the most effective Can OOH still be the main means of advertising? How OOH makes digital advertising more effective Creating buzz by finding creative ways to place ads outdoors Why outdoors isn’t the place to tell a big story The Golden Nugget: […]

December 4th, 2017|

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