Tag Archives: Ad agency

Ad Agencies Face Increased Accountability for Results

According to an article in Ad Age, a new GlobalSpec report found that “Twenty-nine percent of the respondents said they already spend more than half of their marketing budget online. And 48 percent said online marketing will account for a bigger proportion of their total marketing outlays this year than was the case last year.”

Getting quantifiable results was a key reason for this trend, due to increased pressure to demonstrate returns on marketing investments.

Obtaining clear, definable results is going to be important even after the recession ends. For ad agencies that deliver, that’s a good thing. But for agencies that are slack in reporting quantifiable results – or have less than stellar returns on their clients’ investments – the message is clear that they will need to make some changes if they are going to survive.

Don Beehler provides public relations consulting services to small- and medium-sized advertising agencies and businesses.

Making Your Agency’s Pitch with a Pitch Letter

When there’s news to share, ad agencies usually get the word out through a news release (or press release, which is the older but more commonly recognized term).

The problem with news releases is that reporters get so many of them they can easily be overlooked. Sometimes a short, engaging pitch letter is a better way to get attention.

What is a pitch letter? It’s simply a letter sent to a media representative that tries to sell a story idea. Often the letter works fine by itself, while other times you may want to send it along with a release or media advisory (which is used when you want to invite the media to an event). It really depends on the situation.

The great thing about a pitch letter is that it’s much more personal than a news release, and it gives you an opportunity to grab a reporter’s attention with your opening sentence.

Don Beehler provides public relations consulting services to small- and medium-sized advertising agencies and businesses.

Directing Your Agency’s PR Pitch

When it comes to pitching a story idea, getting to the right person is half the battle.

Whether you’re dealing with your local paper or The Wall Street Journal, it’s important to take the time to find out which person covers the particular area you are interested in targeting.  Sending media materials to “Editor” or “Producer” isn’t good protocol and probably won’t get you very far.

For TV stations, the assignment editor or news director are good people to contact.  For radio stations, contact the program manager or news director.  TV and radio stations with programs often have a specific person designed as a guest contact for programs; otherwise, go directly to the producer.

 

Don Beehler provides public relations consulting services to small- and medium-sized advertising agencies and businesses.

 

 

Is Your Ad Agency’s Story Newsworthy?

 

Whether you’re representing a client or your own agency, good relationships with reporters will help you communicate with important audiences and tell your side of the story in a cost-effective manner.

If you want to know which stories a reporter is interested in covering, ask him/her—just make sure the reporter isn’t on deadline.  I’ve found reporters with industry trade publications to be especially helpful in sharing topics of interest to them.  Of course, it helps to research the particular media outlet you’re pitching, and make sure you understand its audience and focus, before speaking with a reporter or editor.

Researching a reporter’s past stories on the Internet is another way to learn about his or her interests, writing style and possibly even certain biases.

Having that information helps you craft a targeted pitch so that you don’t waste your time—or the reporter’s time.

For consumer media, a local story that ties in with a national issue or trend is particularly appealing.

Here are some of the factors news media use to determine the value of news:

  • Consequence to readers/viewers
  • Prominence of individual/organization
  • Proximity to the area served
  • Conflict
  • Controversy
  • Timeliness
  • Human interest
  • Consumer trends
  • Novelty or unusualness of the story

Don Beehler provides public relations consulting services to small- and medium-sized advertising agencies and businesses.

 

Ad Agencies Top 20 Topics for Publicity

Agencies often get so busy marketing their clients that they fail to market themselves.  Publicity is a great way to get your name out in the marketplace, whether its local consumer media, industry publications.  Not only is publicity free, but it also has much more credibility than advertising.

Agency executives sometimes overlook the breath of opportunities that are available to them.  Here are my “Top 20 Topics” to consider:

  1. Agency awards
  2. New clients
  3. New employees
  4. Employee promotions
  5. Human interest stories about employees
  6. Community involvement
  7. Client promotional success stories
  8. Introducing a new service your agency is providing
  9. Services or commentary that address newsworthy topics/trends
  10. Appointments to boards
  11. Publications (articles, books, etc.)
  12. New offices/geographical expansion
  13. Mergers/strategic alliances
  14. Trends, projections, forecasts
  15. Speeches
  16. Sponsorships
  17. Mentoring programs
  18. Pro bono work
  19. Guest columns
  20. Case studies that could become feature stories

 Don Beehler provides public relations consulting services to small- and medium-sized advertising agencies and businesses.