Tag Archives: agency

The missing Link(edIn)

Posted by alanduncan1980 on

Are you on LinkedIn? If so, you’ve probably ‘connected’ with someone or received a ‘connection request’. Unlike other social media platforms, LinkedIn enables users to state how they know each other, with the intention of discouraging those who do not actually know each other to connect.

So, you’ve identified the person that you want to connect with, now you have to select how you know the person. Are you a colleague, either past or present? This one is fairly self-explanatory. Were you classmates? Again, this one is fairly straightforward, as is the option to connect as friends. However, it’s the option of ‘we’ve done business together’ that is slightly limited. This option, to me, is the option that suppliers or contractors use to connect with individuals that they have either worked for or appointed to work as an external supplier. However, this is also the route that prospective suppliers go down. Now, whilst I am aware of the relationship between the external individual and I appreciate that they are looking to work on a project however it seems slightly presumptuous to offer to connect because ‘we’ve done business together’, when we haven’t.

Therefore, I’m going to propose that LinkedIn offer another option into the connection field. I’m not quite sure of the wording, something like ‘we’d love to do business with you’ would better define the prospect/ client relationship. Ok, I appreciate that this could lead to a lot of spamming from agencies hoping to connect via cold connecting, however I would like to think that those receiving connection requests will use their best judgement before accepting a connection request.

Oh, and a footnote on this… just in case anyone thinks that this blog is about a specific example, i.e. them! Don’t panic, I saw someone on LinkedIn recently that fell into more than one category and I had to think twice before I selected my connect option. 

How to advertise your business and services

Posted by alanduncan1980 on

How effective are tube adverts? Very is the answer, otherwise people wouldn’t advertise there. Look closely at a tube and you’ll see an advert loaded with calls to action that you’re supposed to react to when you get above ground. So, not only do adverts need to be powerful, they need to be memorable enough that you remember them later. Seriously, I love adverts. And advertising. I read David Ogilvy’s book on advertising earlier this year and loved it so much that I immediately read it again. I love how adverts are created to emotionally engage with the audience. More often than not, you’ll see me on the tube, consuming adverts, looking at the messaging, figuring out the demograph, and the likely ROI from the campaign. But with tube adverts, there’s a general theme and trend – the adverts are very much B2C. So, just imagine my intrigue when I saw the following advert:

Isn’t it beautiful? It’s so simple and yet so powerful. It’s a Ronseal ad – it does exactly what it says on the tin. Where could I possibly go to find a creative agency in London. I know… Creativeagencylondon.com! As a marketer (and therefore, the target market) it leaves me so intrigued. Normally agencies will enter my world with a creds presentation or cold call which is all well and good but it’s the same as what everyone else is doing. Now this, well not only did I take this picture but I went to the website as soon as I could get a signal. Now, naturally, the URL is just a landing page which helps the organisation track the number of people coming to the URL from the Tube, and the organisation will be running a limited number of ads, so they’ll have a better idea of where their targets are commuting from/to.

But what’s the ROI on this? Well tube adverts are not cheap however a bit more investigation led me to discover that the agency in question (Clinic) do a lot of work for CBS (who run tube advertising), so there may have been a bit of discounting involved. Chances are, this advert is going to pass a lot of people by as it’s not designed for consumers and is probably going to get a lot more shrugs from commuters, confused as to why they’ve wasted so much space. I think that there will be a lot of marketers in London who will follow up on the advert, more out of curiosity than anything else. Get them registered and engaged and the agency will only need a couple of projects to make this worthwhile.

I really find it refreshing that in an age of digital display advertising that what would be considered a tech savvy advertising agency would utilise the traditional medium of in effect, a poster on the wall to sell their services.

How not to win work

Posted by alanduncan1980 on

I received a rather stroppy email yesterday from a guy at an agency requesting a status update on a forthcoming project,  following up to an email that I failed to respond to a few weeks ago. Now I  felt guilty that I had not replied to the inital email, as I always try to be courteous, civil and respectful even if I have no intention of working with the organisation. But before responding, I thought I’d take a look at the original email, which reminded me why I put a response to the email at the bottom of my to do list.

“Dear Alan,

Would it be possible to pop in and see you this coming Thursday at 2pm (8th March) for a quick update on the position with the XXXX project? I have a gap in my day’s appointments and your location sits between two other meetings I have on Thursday.

Kind regards

XXXX”

What’s the problem I hear you ask? Well, he has decided the time that is convenient for him (not me) to meet. And it get’s better, he’s got two other meetings lined up on that day and he’s found a gap in his diary to slot me in to!

Talk about lack of customer service! Now I know that any agency is going to be working on a number of accounts at any given time however I don’t want to feel like I’m being shunted into a slot for their convenience. Let’s say I invited him in at 2pm however I wanted to spend 3 hours discussing the project? Would he have awkwardly made excuses about needing to leave early or would he have cancelled his next meeting? He’d probably have done the former, which would have annoyed me no end if he decided he needed to be elsewhere.  And then we come to the time of the meeting. He’s so busy that he can only fit me in at 2pm. What if that’s no good to me? Am I not busy as well? Or am I just sitting here twiddling my thumbs? 

So, next time you want to try and get that meeting, clear the decks and ask the prospect when would be convenient for them to meet, don’t arrange a meeting before or after (as let’s face it, you’re not going to be at your best anyway), and make them feel like they’re the only customer in the world. After all, they’re the one who is paying the bill.