Convince and Convert Blog: Where Social Media and Email Collide

I am of a vintage that was shaped by Van Halen’s album (actually a cassette for me) 1984. With Jump, Panama, and Hot for Teacher (a video that joins “Hungry Like the Wolf” in my early teen pantheon), this was a truly epic record - highlighted by David Lee Roth’s bad boy caterwauling. 

And then, he screwed it up. Went solo. Recorded novelty hits like Just a Gigolo and California Girls, which were only slightly more legit than Weird Al Yankovic shlock. 

From 1985 until the inevitable bittersweet reunion tour in 2007, both Roth and his former band mates suffered, never recapturing their former glory (despite the yeoman efforts of Sammy Hagar). 

Internet Marketing is Not a Solo Act

Ultimately, it was proven that David Lee Roth was better as part of a group, than he was a solo artist. And the same is true of your Internet marketing efforts.

Many (and perhaps even most) agencies I talk to are trying to add digital marketing services to their capabilities by hiring their own David Lee Roth. A guru. A turtle-necked Web geek that can do it all. Don’t make that mistake.

Here are 3 reasons why the one man show routine doesn’t work.

1. It’s Unknowable

Digital marketing is a paradigm and a platform, not a job function. You can’t hire somebody who does “digital marketing” the same way you hire a copywriter or an account executive, or an art director. The field of Internet marketing is now far too broad and the nuances too numerous for one person to be able to cover all the bases on a practitioner level.

There is no way I could actually execute on the full array of tactics the way I did in 1995-2002 when the variety of tactics was semi-graspable.

The biggest mistake agencies (and clients) make is believing that the same guru that is designing and/or programming Web sites on your behalf can also handle the marketing of those Web sites. They cannot. The two skill sets are almost opposites.

Web design is a project-based, creative, inward-facing, technology-driven process. Internet marketing is an ongoing, methodical, outward-facing, relationship and message-driven process. Other than a little initial search optimization on recently completed sites, Web designers are not doing Internet marketing.

2. Knowledge in a Silo Cannot Expand

I very much believe that eventually we won’t have digital marketing departments or even digital marketing agencies. As digital (Web, mobile, digital outdoor, etc.) becomes fully integrated into the lives of a majority of the developed world, “digital marketing” will be a component of every campaign.

This convergence is already happening. Public relations and search engine optimization are blending. The growing use of video advertising online. Direct mail campaigns that use personal URLs that lead to individualized landing pages - are those “traditional” tactics, or “digital” tactics?

Eventually, digital won’t be given the special treatment the way it is today. You wouldn’t have a “radio department” and eventually you won’t have a “digital department” either.

If digital will be a part of everything, isn’t it imperative that everyone in your agency (or in-house marketing department) understand digital marketing to some degree?

If you have a guru, it gives EVERY other member of your team a built-in excuse (that you provided) to not have to get up to speed on digital marketing.

3. Asking for Trouble

If you hire a guru to handle all of your digital marketing and centralize that understanding, it creates an operational bottleneck in your organization. It’s not even a hub and spoke model. It’s just hub. Every brainstorm that requires digital thinking requires the guru. Every client meeting. Every pitch. When the guru is sick, the digital effort is grounded.

Plus, how many accounts can the guru work on competently?

It’s an extremely inefficient way to manage your personnel.

Further, since the guru gets to work on all the big accounts (because all the big accounts will want digital marketing), the guru develops quite a resume. Consequently, the guru will be endlessly recruited (perhaps even by your own clients). Eventually, the guru will leave for another opportunity that doesn’t require the ball juggling of an agency, and may include free lunch, stock options, and a big office.

Trust me. The guru will leave.

And then what? When the sum total of your organization’s digital marketing expertise walks out the door, how do you keep providing services to current clients, much less attract new ones? Typically, agencies faced with this scenario try to find Guru 2.0 which of course just perpetuates the problem.

Don’t Be Seduced by the Guru

I know fully embracing and integrating digital marketing is hard. If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t have started a consulting company to assist. The pull of hiring one person to make the pain go away is strong. But don’t fall for it.

Make a plan to distribute responsibility for digital marketing tactics to multiple members of your team. One person handles SEO. One person handles Email. One person handles online media buying. Clearly, once you have a concentration of clients that need digital marketing services from you, you may want to add staff to work on tactical execution. But until then, remember one critical fact:

Internet Marketing is Complicated, But It’s Not Hard

If your staff is bright enough to work for you, they’re bright enough to figure out part of the digital marketing arsenal.

Do you agree? What are your cautionary tales or success stories about Internet marketing gurus? I’d love to hear your comments. Let’s discuss.
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Web services giant Sapient recently fielded a national online digital marketing survey of more than 200 chief marketing officers (CMOs) and senior marketers responsible for managing digital budgets (among other things).

Survey respondents were asked about the top qualities they sought in their advertising and marketing agencies in the coming year.

Sapient’s Top 10 Wish List for Agencies of the Future…and My Comments

1. Greater knowledge of the digital space. With more than a third of marketers surveyed revealing that they are not confident that their current agency is well-positioned to take their brand through the unchartered waters of online digital marketing and interactive advertising, it’s clear that agencies need to have a greater knowledge of the digital space in order to thrive. In fact, nearly half (45 percent) of the respondents have switched agencies (or plan to switch in the next 12 months) for one with greater digital knowledge or have hired an additional digital specialist to handle their interactive campaigns.

This is another in a series of warnings from me that traditional agencies NEED to get uber-competent at digital marketing now. Clients are switching agencies based on digital marketing knowledge. See my post “Wake Up Agencies - Digital Shops = Trojan Horse” for more.

2. More use of “pull interactions.” When trying to engage consumers with their brand, 90 percent of respondents agree that it is becoming increasingly important that their agency uses ‘pull interactions’ such as social media and online communities rather than traditional ‘push’ campaigns.

No question this is true, and it will be even more acute in 2010 when Millennials (who prefer organic sources of information and recommendations) become a larger demographic cohort than Boomers or Gen X. 

3. Leverage virtual communities. An overwhelming 94 percent of respondents expressed interest in leveraging virtual communities (public and private) to understand more about their target audience.

This one is a little fuzzy for me. It sounds like market research using social networks. That can work, but if this list is in order, no way is this #3 for the future of agencies. On a related note, check out Rapleaf. They take a database (your client’s email list, for example) and cross-reference it against all the social networks so you can figure out if you should emphasize MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, or something else. Cool, and potentially massively useful. 

4. Agency executives using the technology they are recommending. Ninety-two percent of respondents said it was ‘somewhat’ or ‘very’ important that agency employees use the technologies that they are recommending. For example, it is important that agency executives regularly use Facebook, Flickr, wikis, blogs, etc. in their personal social media mix.

The fact that this even made the list is an indictment of the advertising profession. If you’re going to pitch a social media campaign to a major client, you might want to have a Twitter account (among other things). It’s like SEO firms that aren’t ranked anywhere on Google for their own services. The Emperor has no clothes.

5. Chief Digital Officers make agencies more appealing. Forty-three percent of marketers surveyed said that agencies with chief digital officers are more appealing than those without.

I agree that having somebody in charge of digital strategy in an agency can be beneficial (disclosure: I had this role at Off Madison Ave for nearly 3 years). However, that approach only works if the agency has many digital experts, and just needs someone to steer the ship. Too many small and mid-sized agencies far prey to the “guru syndrom” and hire one Internet guy to handle all digital marketing for their agency. Big mistake. If that guy leaves (and he will), you’re screwed. And, centralizing digital expertise gives the rest of your staff an excuse to not get better at digital marketing. Don’t do this. See my series of training workshops for agencies on how to not get your whole agency competent at digital marketing. 

6. Web 2.0 and social media savvy. Sixty three percent of marketers surveyed said that an agency’s Web 2.0 and social media capabilities are ‘important/very important’ when it comes to agency selection.

Yes. Related to a couple of the points above. However, it’s critical for agencies to have a social media strategy for their clients, not just a random collection of social media tactics. Building a wikipedia page is not a strategy.

7. Agencies that understand consumer behavior. Seventy-six percent of respondents deemed this as an ‘important/very important’ aspect of their agency’s online digital marketing and interactive advertising area of expertise.

Isn’t this what agencies are supposed to be doing now (never mind the future)? This will be a huge determinant on agency winners and losers in the future, because Google and others will take away agencies’ revenue streams that are procedural rather than strategy and creative-driven. See my post about Google looking to crush agencies for scary details. 

8. Demonstrate strategic thinking. Seventy-seven percent of marketers surveyed ranked strategy/brain trust capabilities at the top of their agency wish list.

Yes. See #7. Same thing in my book. 

9. Branding and creative capabilities. Sixty-seven percent of respondents ranked branding at the top of their agency wish list while seventy-six percent ranked creative capabilities as ‘important/very important.’

This one is definitely more future looking than some of the others. At present, especially for the mid market, digital marketing can sometimes be very successful without great branding. But that will change, and agencies MUST get their creative teams comfortable with digital. How do creative directors get away with “I don’t really understand online, so I have our junior art director do that stuff”? Would that work for radio? For outdoor? For magazine? Well guess what, Internet advertising is larger than all three of these media types (U.S. annual spend).

10. Ability to measure success. It’s no surprise that marketers want an agency that can report on where campaigns succeeded, fell short and where they should be fine-tuned. Sixty-five percent ranked analytics at the top of their agency wish list.

This is the secret weapon of digital marketing and what makes it superior to traditional in some ways. Agencies that aren’t using the inherent measurability of interactive marketing to their advantage are missing the boat. The reason digital marketing will thrive in the recession is its targeting and tracking components. 

What do you think? Are there other attributes the agency of the future must have? Jetsons-style flying car? Extreme Wii proficiency? Please leave a comment with your ideas.

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Convince & Convert launches new training program series to help agencies improve their digital capabilities

Addressing the needs of ad agencies and PR firms to improve their digital marketing competency, Convince & Convert is now providing a series of customizable, in-person training programs.

We are offering 5 intensive, all-day sessions to train ad agencies and PR firms on a wide variety of critically important digital marketing services including:

Digital Marketing Audits & Action Plans
2 days on site interviewing staff and reviewing interactive marketing work samples, followed by creation of a detailed 90 day action plan.

Winning Search Engine Optimization & PPC Techniques
Includes training exercises on SEO copywriting, link building, PPC ad creation, bid management, and reporting.

Relevant Email Marketing That Works
Learn how to segment recipient lists, boost click through rates, and deliver killer email ROI to your clients.

Internet Advertising Tactics and Targeting
Learn how to craft solid online media plans, how to maximize effective targeting, and the 4 rules for effective Internet creative.

Social Media - The Roar of the Crowd
Learn how to create layered social media programs that get measurable results for your clients, and how to monetize social media efforts.

Better Than Conferences

“Sure agency staff can go to conferences, but they typically are full of theory and case studies,” said Jason Baer, President of Convince & Convert. “We deliver training that’s hands-on, tactical, and relevant. After our sessions, agencies can begin implementing the next morning,” he said.

All Convince & Convert training programs are conducted at the agency’s location, eliminating travel time and expense for attendees.

Programs are customized for each agency, and all attendees receive personalized workbooks and implementation materials, including checklists, vendor recommendations, and step by step procedures for digital marketing success.

After the training sessions, we conduct follow up Webinars with all attendees to answer questions and oversee implementation.

“Too many agencies are trying to handle advanced digital marketing for their clients, without the expertise to do so,” said Baer. “These new training programs will give agencies the serious know-how necessary to compete with digital specialists.”

>>Call or email to discuss setting up customized training at your agency

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It was bound to happen, and now it has. A big-time digital agency (R/GA) has opened up a full-fledged brand development arm.

And whom do you think they will be competing against with this new branding department? Other digital agencies? Nope. They are aiming for traditional agencies and the branding, media placement, and creative budgets they enjoy. The division is headed up by an ex Wieden & Kennedy executive.

To quote from AdAge:

Branding is a logical progression for R/GA, an agency that focuses on digital design for clients — for example, its Nike Plus work. It’s also another example of R/GA’s aggressive expansion into other marketing disciplines; the shop was originally known for its web work but has added TV production and media planning in the past few years. 

Digital marketing is going to grow. That’s unquestioned (see blog post about growth rate). But the smart digital agencies aren’t satisfied with consuming that piece of the marketing pie. They figure that if they can master the digital component - widely recognized as the most complicated aspect of marketing - surely they can handle traditional branding and advertising. I see a horse. His name is Trojan.

As social media (see blog post on social media’s role) becomes a more important part of public relations, this argument becomes more valid. It’s further supported by the increasing ties between online and offline media, with traditional media tactics driving traffic to landing pages (see blog post about landing page testing) and campaign microsites.

This is not just a national, big agency trend. In every market in the country, digital agencies are adding PR 2.0 divisions to specialize in social media, and are trying to deliver traditional services. With the digital marketing DNA being firmly rooted in measurement and analytics, digital shops are using tracking reports and low cost new media tactics to convince advertisers that they know a better way.

Forty Agency in Chandler, Arizona is a good example. Formerly a Web design and application development firm, they have branched out into branding and social media PR. They’re not doing broadcast production or traditional media buying, but that’s a logical next step. 
 

Agencies, the time is now

This is the official call to arms. Traditional agencies have to get serious about digital marketing now (see blog post about how to embrace digital). Not only are you not tapping into your clients’ digital budget, but you run the risk of those clients beginning to think that their beloved advertising and PR agencies just haven’t kept up with the times.

Agencies that want to do the “easy” digital stuff like building Web sites, but don’t want to get their hands dirty with SEO, analytics, or other numbers and process intensive services just perpetuate clients’ thinking that digital shops understand the future better than traditional firms.

It’s not too late. Is digital marketing complicated? Absolutely. Is it out of reach for advertising and PR firms that want to commit to it? Absolutely not. But you have to take the plunge pretty soon, or the curve to catch up will be exceedingly steep.

Comments? Any digital agencies want to admit to their master plan? Any traditional shops feeling threatened and ready to do something about it?

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Many agencies without full service digital marketing departments choose to outsource any SEO work to a specialist. While I believe that the present focus on good content makes SEO easier, not harder for traditional agencies (especially PR) to handle in-house, many will continue outsourcing this critical service (or at least until I launch a “How To Do SEO At An Agency” seminar).

Howdy, Pardner

Meanwhile, finding an SEO partner is the modern day equivalent of securing someone to mine your gold claim while you go back home to Philadelphia. (feel free to insert your own Deadwood-style reference). Basically, SEO is the Wild West, with more Excel. There are no rules to speak of, very few “right” answers, and essentially no barrier to entry. There are literally hundreds (thousands?) of freelance and small firm SEO “experts,” some of whom know only slightly more than the traditional agency that hires them.

7 Critical Questions

To make sure you find a partner that understands SEO and where it’s headed, that can serve you and your clients competently, ask them these 7 questions.

1. How do you measure the success of your SEO campaigns?
You want a partner that uses metrics like leads, online sales, phone calls generated, etc. to measure success. Be wary of firms that tout their ability to get you “#1 Rankings”. Ultimately, being ranked #1 has zero direct revenue benefits. You also want to see regular reporting that focuses on those relevant metrics, not just your search position.

2. How do you determine which search terms to focus on?
Here, you’re looking for some sort of detailed search term analysis, combined with a thorough evaluation of the business model of the site to be optimized. Partners that mention testing terms to determine which will generate best results get extra credit.

3. How do you create content for search optimization?
At present, search-friendly content is the name of the game. Carefully crafting content that addresses key search terms and making sure that content is legitimately interesting to both real people and Google is the critical. Big bonus points for partners that create multi-modal content (photo galleries and videos) and partners that have dedicated search copywriters on staff. Make sure you ask for samples of their content creation.

4. How do you integrate search optimization efforts with other aspects of the marketing program?
Here, you’re looking for partners that recognize that good SEO isn’t done in a vacuum. Integrating SEO with public relations, making sure that search terms related to a new product or campaign are optimized. That’s what you want to see in this response.

5. What is your approach to getting more links?
Links are the coin of the realm in search. If you don’t have links from at least semi-popular Web sites pointing to your search-optimized content, it’s going to be an uphill battle (unless you’re emphasizing highly obscure search terms). Consequently, you want a partner that has a clearly defined process and proven expertise in finding quality links for their clients. Directories, blogs, one-to-one link requests, competitive analysis, etc. Ask to see samples of their link acquisition campaigns.

6. After the initial setup, what services do you provide month-to-month?
Some SEO firms will put real effort into getting the search program set up (pick terms, write copy, establish reports, get a few links) in the first 60 days, but then charge the client hundreds or thousands of dollars each month thereafter for essentially very little work. Find out precisely what they will do to improve the campaign on an ongoing basis. You want a partner that will create content on a regular basis, be garnering new links continuously, and be monitoring competitors.

7. What’s your best success story?
Ultimately, search optimization is about results. If a potential vendor can’t point to a series of clients for whom they dramatically increased sales, leads, etc. through measured SEO, stay away.

Any other tips you’d recommend? Reaction from the SEO community? Leave a comment.

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Excellent post by Bart Cleveland on the AdAge Small Agency blog recently about Comfort Zones.

Bart made the point that if you get too careful and comfortable in your agency, you won’t attract clients that are looking for innovative work. There’s no question this is true. His post used “risky” or groundbreaking creative as the benchmark, but I’d say what services an agency provides is perhaps an even better measure of its Comfort Zone.

Digital marketing is NOT comfortable for most “traditional” advertising and PR firms. I get that. I’ve lived it. But, given the fact that digital marketing is growing extremely fast at the expense of other tactics, and given the fact that this will be even more acute in a down economy, agencies’ resistance to fully embrace digital is confusing.

The vast majority of agency principals are very smart folks. I know this to be true. They are good businesspeople, and great marketers. They clearly recognize that digital is taking a larger and larger share of the pie every year, and that digital-only shops are a growing threat.

Thus, if the awareness is there, I conclude that fear and uncertainty is the obstacle for most agencies to really get going on digital.

Digital Marketing is Like Learning French

In my experience, many agency leaders are immediately overwhelmed by the dizzying array of numbers, vendors, acronyms and general craziness inherent in digital marketing. I absolutely understand that coming at digital head on can be frustrating and baffling.

But, there’s an awful lot of jargon and insider knowledge in traditional advertising and PR too, and agency principals managed to pick that up somewhere.

True, digital marketing has a lot of specific terms. But if you can learn a foreign language, or learn how to write up a media plan, you certainly can figure out digital marketing basics.

It’s Not Different. It’s The Same.

The number one mistake that I see agencies make is to treat digital totally differently than other elements of their organization. In a lot of shops, it’s like Area 51. The digital guys are separated, quarantined and viewed with a mix of reverence and curiosity.

This causes two huge problems.

- Your digital guys have almost no oversight because nobody can speak their language
- You never really integrate digital into the fabric of the agency or even at a campaign level, because your “traditional” teams don’t understand or work closely with the digital teams.

There’s no other marketing tactic that gets treated this way. Would you hire a single radio expert and put them in a corner of the office and only deal with them when necessary and then say “okay radio guy, I don’t understand this very well, but do your stuff.” Of course not.

Ultimately, digital marketing is just that…..marketing. The same rules apply. Figure out the characteristics of prospective customers. Figure out how to most efficiently reach them. Craft messages that matter to them. Deliver those message. The main difference between traditional and digital marketing is the ability to measure success definitively, and that’s an advantage that should be embraced by agencies.

Many agencies are beginning to implement digital marketing tactics on their own behalf, using themselves as guinea pigs to develop greater digital prowess and confidence. This is an approach advocated by Michael Gass at Fueling Ad Agency New Business who works with agencies to set up their own blogs.

If you’re not fully embracing digital, why not? Leave a comment.

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In a major announcement yesterday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) provided new guidance to public companies stating that corporate Web sites and blogs are a suitable means for official information dissemination to investors, provided those sites are a “recognized channel for distribution.”

This apparently means that if the corporation has an openly available and accessible Web site and/or blog, that posting information to that blog satisfies legal disclosure requirements. WOW.

Entire industries (including financial services PR and wire services) have been built at least in part on the SEC’s long-standing requirement for public companies to proactively “push” information to investors via press release distribution.

This new guidance changes the game, and creates clear winners and losers.

Public Company Corporate Blogs - 4 Winners

If companies are not required to push information, then any type of alert or notification system that would make investors away of new data posted to a blog is a huge winner.

- RSS systems like Feedburner (which is really Google)

- Possibly enterprise email service providers like ExactTarget

- Blog software entities like Wordpress, and especially enterprise blog systems like Compendium Blogware

- PR firms that understand blogging, blog management, and social media

Public Company Corporate Blogs - 3 Losers

The new SEC decision will put a serious squeeze on some, as the distribution of official press releases is an expensive and lucrative business. Losers in this new scenario include:

- Any sort of wire distribution service like PRWeb, Marketwire (which we’ve used at Convince & Convert for social media release distribution), and BusinessWire (which is a Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary

- PR firms whose current service mix includes a healthy dose of financial disclosure releases

Any other winners and losers? Add a comment!
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Convince & Convert launches consultancy to help agencies figure out a digital marketing game plan

(July 8, 2008 — Flagstaff, Ariz.)
Thousands of advertising and public relations firms find themselves under siege as new tactics and digital specialty agencies chip away at their client base.

What’s an agency to do? Outsource digital marketing? Hire an in-house expert? Merge with a digital marketing agency? Ignore the Web and hope it goes away?

Convince & Convert, a new digital marketing consultancy, has launched to answer those questions – and more. The firm is believed to be America’s first devoted solely to helping agencies get better (and more profitable) at digital marketing. Convince & Convert improves agencies’ in-house expertise in email marketing, search marketing, Web strategy, Internet advertising, social media, and mobile marketing.

The company specializes in Digital Marketing Audit and Actions, an intensive, 2-day analysis and examination of an agency’s digital capabilities, with a detailed roadmap for improvements. The firm also works with agencies on an ongoing basis to increase in-house digital marketing expertise and profits.

The firm is led by Jason Baer, a 15-year Internet veteran who has worked with dozens of agencies and hundreds of major companies including: Nike, Fujitsu, Pulte Homes, Cold Stone Creamery, and RJ Reynolds. He founded the award-winning digital marketing firm Mighty Interactive, which he sold to integrated Tempe, AZ agency Off Madison Ave in 2005. He remains a senior consultant to Off Madison Ave.

Notes

•    To provide a true competitive advantage to its clients, Convince & Convert will work with only one agency in each U.S. market.

•    Digital marketing is expected to double in the next 4 years, according to eMarketer, yet many advertising and PR agencies continue to struggle with integrating digital marketing tactics and executing them competently and profitably for their clients. A recent Forrester Research report says agencies “…must build new interactive competencies quickly in order to succeed.”

•    Convince and Convert maintains an active blog on digital marketing issues for agencies

Tags

digital marketing, digital marketing consultants, ad agency consultants, interactive marketing consultants, internet business consultants, PR firm consultants, social media consultants, ad agency roundtable

Links

Convince & Convert digital marketing blog

Convince & Convert digital marketing consultants services and fees

Jason Baer Biography

Are You Digital Ready? Quiz for Agencies

Quotes

(attributable to Jason Baer, President Convince & Convert)

Advertising and PR firms have been having their lunch eaten for years by digital-only shops, and I’ve done some of that eating. Agencies must act now to dramatically improve their digital capabilities or their core business will begin to erode.

Ultimately, there shouldn’t be a “digital” group within an agency. Every marketing tactic should have a digital component. That’s what Convince & Convert does - shows agencies how to integrate and profit from interactive marketing.

Attributable to Forrester Research Report “Agencies Must Build Digital Skills to Survive) April, 2008

Traditional advertising agencies face significant technical difficulties. Clients are shifting business to digital shops, and consumers have turned away from media channels that built the agency industry and toward emerging Internet media. Ad agencies must build new interactive competencies quickly in order to succeed. How? They must build digital skills with a three-tiered approach of establishing digital commitment at the executive level, retraining existing staffers, and building a pipeline of future talent.

Multimedia

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Jason Baer
Convince & Convert
(602) 616.1895
jason@convinceandconvert.com
Twitter: @jaybaerSimilar Posts That You Might Enjoy

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