What Advertising Agencies Should Know

Have you ever wondered why Advertising Agencies are called Agencies?

It’s because they serve their clients as agents. The intention of the agency model was never to be the single source for everything marketing and advertising. Some services are provided by in-house resources and some are contracted out.

Anyone who says they do it all in-house is probably doing a dis-service to their clients.

Especially these days when there is so much happening in both traditional and digital advertising, where the lines of marketing and technology are repeatedly crossing each other, and where new channels to reach audiences are developed every day.

That's the beauty of the original “agency” model. They were to be an agent to their clients who found the best creative resources, the best production resources, the best planners and media buyers and pulled them all together with a strategy managing them to ensure the best outcome for their clients.

Ad agencies have a long tradition of operating this way, and it's the reason “agency” was added to the term in the first place. It’s good news, and should really make you feel better about the future of the industry.

When a client says, “we need great SEO services, or video, or content production, or social media strategy” and that’s not your core competency as and agency, hold your head high and say,

Close “we work with some of the best in the industry, and we’re going to bring them to bear on your behalf”.

As an agent you should align yourself with resources that augment all of the stuff you’re great at. If you’re a great branding company, but actually developing the website that communicates the brand you’ve created isn’t your bag, have a partner who’s ready to roll.

If you have excellent creative ideas but turning them into a video or a social media plan with a real strategy supporting it is not your strong suit, remember, you’re an agent. An agent who works to bring the best resources to the table.

And don’t forget that as an agent there is profit to be made in bringing together resources and managing all of the work being done on your client’s behalf.

Stacking-up the staffing overhead in your agency so you can say you provide more services than your competitors is a dangerous game.

Losing focus on your core competency to chase a service you’re not completely comfortable with can be expensive, and devastating if it doesn’t work out.

I’m not saying don’t try new things. I’m saying try out new things with experienced partners first. If the ball really gets rolling on a new service that you’ve been an agent to provide for an extended period of time and clients are throwing bags of money through the door. Then it’s time to pull it in. It’ll be self-financing and have a ready-made client base to support it.

Be proud that you’re an agency. Use the term agency to leverage the best services possible and don’t discount the idea that there’s a lot of value in being the resource that can pull it all together and really make things happen.

It's something to think about.

Why Louisville Businesses Should Post Video

You’re probably seeing more and more Louisville small businesses and Louisville advertising agencies posting video in their blogs, social media post and on their websites.

Why? Because it works! of course, what kind of question is that?! But I’m going to tell you why it works.

First. It’s a function of how social media and search engines work these days. Social media channels like Facebook give preference to video over other types of media.

They’ve figured out that their members like and engage with video more often and longer than other types of media.

Whether you're a Louisville Small Business or a Louisville advertising agency, here’s a tip: When you’re posting video on Facebook, studies show that Facebook gives even more preference to Facebook videos and less to those that are linked in from YouTube. So be ready to upload. Additionally, Facebook Live videos go straight to the top of the feed every time they’re posted.

It’s also important to know that Google loves video. And it makes sense. Google owns YouTube. Google capitalizes on their symbiotic relationship often offering video content ranked high in their search results.

And guess what, YouTube is now the second most often used search engine. Second only to Google. Coincidence, I don’t think so.

So those are some pretty practical reasons why your business should be using video online, but it’s also because were a video culture. People simply engage with video more. We like it and web analytics show that this is true.

Now if you want to succeed with video online you do need to focus on good content. You probably see a lot of static talking heads droning on against a wall in their bedroom. Not very compelling.

A video about gardening should happen in a garden, not in a bedroom.

Make videos that are watchable, interesting to look at, about topics you know well and where you can speak as an expert. And have fun. A sense of humor will go a long way with your audience. Dan steps on rake

When you have good quality video content, you’ll be surprised where you can use it.

On your website On Facebook, Twitter, Linked-in, Snap Chat, YouTube, Pinterest, and more.

In presentations

With proposals

And on and on and on…

You have an HD video camera in you pocket right now, so you really are equipped to get started. You do want to be sure your video is good, that it targets your audience correctly and represents your business properly. If you need help planning and producing video content that will work, just let us know. Content-1 is a Louisville video production company and we're here to help.

That’s why Louisville businesses large and small should be using video online. We hope you enjoyed this video, as usual, we really appreciate your likes and shares. For more information go to Content-1.com

Content-1 is Proud to be Working with Our New Client - Cubero Group

Content-1 is now providing content development services for one of Louisville's most well established advertising agencies - The Cubero Group. It's great to be working with Henry Cubero and his well-respected team of ad pros. We're very excited about the opportunities that could develop from this working relationship into the future.