Marketing an ad agency creates better visibility.
An advertising agency's business is to understand advertising, and that includes marketing. While other companies promote their own businesses, an advertising agency has to up the promotion to show it understands different forms of marketing with its promotional techniques. If you can market your advertising agency successfully, others will have the confidence that your agency can market their business successfully as well.
Instructions
1. Learn the core values and product of the business. Talk to owners and management to find out what they are trying to accomplish. Find out if they specialize in one or more areas of advertising or marketing. One agency may use many forms of marketing. Another agency may specialize in billboards, media or print. Know your advertising agency's focus and the key ways it helps clients have greater viability.
2. Increase creativity. Since an advertising agency's business is to promote people, events or other businesses, be creative in how you market the agency to these potential clients. If the agency's advertising isn't special, other businesses are not going to believe it can creatively market their business. If the advertising agency uses billboards to promote its clients, use billboards to promote the advertising business, listing three ways the agency can increase business for clients. Whatever marketing format used, make the message simple, clear and inviting.
3. Market to the agency's strengths. Don't oversell what the advertising agency is capable of accomplishing for a client. If you are not honest about what the agency can do in promotion and in types of formats used---brochures, business cards and media---clients will be dissatisfied and your marketing plan will fail as word gets out that the advertising agency does not follow up on its promises. But, if you carefully craft a marketing plan catering to the agency's strengths, clients who are drawn in because of your marketing and who see benefits will tell others. Word of mouth is a marketing tool.
4. Develop different forms of marketing. Use every form possible to market the advertising agency. Create brochures, fliers and business cards specifically geared to marketing the advertising agency. Include the company logo, name, address, telephone numbers, website and email address. Include the company catchphrase and the primary ways the advertising agency promotes clients. A flier should include more information than a business card and a brochure more than a flier. Write press releases for the media about changes made, about business anniversaries, successes and staff changes.
5. Donate time. Donate the expertise of the agency for charities and fund-raisers to increase visibility, credibility and likability. It isn't enough to give money or even provide a design or two. Designate an employee to work directly with charities. Have management and staff not only provide promotion for an event, but also be on hand to serve food at the soup kitchen, build a house or assist with a duck race.
6. Prepare a basic marketing plan. Marketing an advertising agency means knowing where you are going and what you plan to achieve. As you promote the agency, a plan will keep you focused and help the advertising agency do what it does best as it brings in new clients---market others.
Tags: advertising agency, advertising agency, forms marketing, marketing plan, advertising agency business