Boring Presentation Decks Kill Ad Agency New Business

Delivering a presentation that moves prospects to action STARTS with the presentation deck.

I’ve reviewed hundreds of agency presentations. Could somebody please tell me why great CREATIVE PEOPLE become so BORING when creating a presentation?

PowerPoint and Keynote slides have the ability to empower your presentation or kill it.

Most presentation decks are created using PowerPoint. There are approximately 30 million PowerPoint presentations made each day. Though PowerPoint is the most popular presentation software, it isn’t my favorite. I prefer using Keynote because it’s more graphically oriented. I like using the power of pictures instead of slides that are filled with stale text, boring bullet points and mundane charts and graphs.

Here are a few of my suggestions for creating a more effective presentation deck:

1. Brainstorming and Storyboarding

Use your presentation software as a tool for brainstorming and storyboarding.

After I’ve identified the overall theme, the heart of my speech, I like to use Keynote’s Light Table feature to brainstorm and begin storyboarding my presentation. I create a visual outline of  my presentation using full-bleed photos and images inserted into individual slides. The images serve as visual pillars for what I want to say.

Studies have shown that people only remember 10% of what they hear and 20% of what they read, but about 80% of what they see and do. Retention is six times greater when the information is presented visually.

I create initial slides that contain a key thought or image that reflects one idea per slide. This is a very productive exercise that is both easy and fun. I like building my presentations visually and using the Light Table I can spend time arranging, comparing and rearranging my presentation slides in a logical order.

I enjoy searching for just the right images to express the key points that are essential to my main message and help create a visual storyboard. I found that using this visual method to build your presentation deck also works well for a team.

2. Design Your Presentation Like a Story

Storytelling is an important element when it comes to making effective presentations. Our brains are hardwired for stories. Using stories to communicate your points, brings life to even the most boring subjects and audiences remember them.

My presentations are much more personal if I use personal photos to illustrate my message. They enhance the story and create more of a personal connection with my audience than using stock photos.

My image filled slides become my guide. I don’t have to use any notes when presenting. I can maintain direct eye contact with an audience and my presentations tend to flow better than if I’m using text filled or bullet pointed slides.

3. Be A Good Editor

David Ogilvy famously said, “I am a lousy copywriter, but I am a good editor.”

When I’m finished with an initial draft, I’ve identified my main theme and selected no more three main points. Then I begin the difficult part of editing the presentation. If a slide doesn’t support the theme and my main points then it’s deleted. To push myself even further, I’ll often set a maximum number of slides to be used, depending on the type of presentation. This practice forces me to be as concise as possible.

Most agency presentations fail because they’ve overloaded their audience with to much information.  They just can’t control that urge to give their audience more. But, just because you said it doesn’t mean they’ll remember it.

“The more points you try to make, the less points they’ll get.” Olivia Mitchell, presentation trainer

Additional articles that may be of interest:

• How to Build A Powerful Presentation Deck
• Tips For Improving Your Presentation Skills for Ad Agency New Business
• How to stop information overload in your presentation

I also recommend the book, Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery by Garr Reynolds

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Boring Presentation Decks Kill Ad Agency New Business

A Call To Action for Ad Agency New Business

A call to action is an important element for generating inbound leads.

Inbound marketing earns the attention of prospects and makes your agency easy to be found primarily through content. By creating interesting and helpful content, written for a specific audience, you help draw prospects to your site.

Website traffic is very important. It’s the initial step, but you don’t want prospects to just read your content, you want to ignite engagement with them. To do this you must spend time developing a strong and clear call-to-action (CTA).

According to some studies, over half of website visitors leave within 15 seconds. For a landing page, you have less than 5 seconds. Every call to action must immediately answer two primary questions:

1. What do you want prospects to do?
2. Why should they do it?

First, what do you want prospects to do?

A call to action provides focus for your website and gives direction to your visitors for what you want them to do next. A lot of businesses and agency websites don’t doing this.

70% of websites lack any call to action. Small Biz Trends

A lot of agencies are getting this wrong. They outline their services, showcase their work but their weak or nonexistent calls to action are costing them leads.

I’ve reviewed hundreds of agency websites from a new business perspective. That’s part of what I do. Most fail to give prospects a clear direction on what to do next other than to contact info@youragency.com. They’re missing new business opportunities because they give little or no attention to creating a clear call to action of what they want their prospects to do next.

Your website visitors are looking for information and they’re looking for help. They’re researching ways to work with you. But, your readers busy and they don’t have the time to figure out what you want them to do as a first step. An effective CTA will eliminate the guesswork.

Secondly, why should they do it?

Answering the next question should emphasize the benefits. What is in it for them? What is their takeaway? How does this next step make their job easier?

Calls to action such as “Call for a free consultation” or “Sign up for our newsletter” doesn’t motivate your readers. The words “free consultation” has come to mean “sales pitch,” and “signing up for your newsletter” is giving you permission to sell stuff. Greg Digneo

The focus changes from the action itself to what the visitor gains from taking the action. Lead with benefits instead of your credentials and capabilities.

Here are a few additional tips for effective CTAs:

• Spend the majority of your writing time creating an appealing CTA headline. It’s that important.
• Calls to action should be short and straight to the point. The best CTA is usually the simplest.
• Using social proof, testimonials, case studies, etc, near your call to action can increase conversion rates by 68.7 %.
• Keep your calls to action above the fold. Website visitors don’t scroll down, they spend 80% of their time above the fold.
• Be sure to use your social network such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn for your calls-to-action.
• I recommend to my clients that they use a dedicated landing pages that identifies an initial step for a new client. It could be a brand audit or market audit, a discovery workshop. If you’re looking to generate leads, a landing page is the critical tool you need to find success.
• Remember to make the next step for prospects as painless as possible. If your sign-up request is to long, 86% of visitors will quickly leave a page. A key mistake is asking visitors for too much personal info too soon.
• Instead of using info@youragency.com or the use of an inquiry form, allow prospects to connect directly with a person.

An additional resource that you might find helpful is Hubspot’s 101 Example of Effective Calls-To-Action

photo credit: call to action via photopin (license)

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A Call To Action for Ad Agency New Business

Use The Right Bait When You Fish For Ad Agency New Business

How to put yourself in front of prospects so they can’t help but find you.

Since 2007, I’ve pioneered the use of social media, content and inbound marketing strategies specifically for agency new business. I originated a system that makes targeting, positioning and differentiation easier and helps agencies to find, attract and engage their best prospects online. I’ve trained over 200 agency CEOs and their senior management teams in all 50 states here in the U.S. and agencies in over 21 foreign countries.

In a podcast conversation with Drew McLellan, who owns and runs, Agency Management Institute (AMI), I talk about how to leverage social media to create a niche for your agency that will help your agency stand out from the competition. 

What you’ll learn from this podcast interview:

• Generating new business through niche blogs
• Making these niche blogs truly a niche (hint: “healthcare” is not a niche)
• Why these blogs need to be written by one or two visible authors
• The pace these blogs have to be written, at least initially
• Why you should start out with just one niche blog
• Why a person should be the face of only one blog
• How to keep this process running smoothly and consistently
• Why agencies have to add consulting as a service line
• The differences agency websites and niche blogs to have
• The time commitment this program requires
• The steps your agency can take right now to get this program up and running

iTunes: Listen here.

Stitcher: Listen here.

Build A Better Agency website: Listen here.

Google Play: Listen here.

More About AMI

The Agency Management Institute (AMI), offers training and an agency owner network for small to midsize advertising, digital, marketing, media and PR agencies. 

The podcast, Build A Better Agency, is a helpful resource that is provided by Drew and AMI,

No matter how strong, big or well-known your agency is today — I believe it can get even better.  My guests are all agency-centric or have an expertise in an area that I believe agency owners need to know more about. Drew McLellan

Each podcast is 30-45 minutes long and ends with next steps that you can take immediately to implement something you’ve heard. Agency leaders will gain new ideas, fresh perspective and maybe a kick in the pants or two from listening.

A new episode is released every Wednesday. Subscribe to Build A Better Agency:

• Download/subscribe to Build a Better Agency on iTunes
• Download/subscribe to Build a Better Agency on Stitcher (for most android users)

Ways to Connect with Drew

• Website: agencymanagementinstitute.com
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/drew.mclellan
• LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/drewmclellan
• Twitter: @DrewMcLellan

photo credit: Kwitchatown Fishing Village, South Westland via photopin (license)

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Use The Right Bait When You Fish For Ad Agency New Business

Improve Ad Agency New business Leads with Authority Marketing

Leverage SEO and expert positioning!

Based on Google patents and documents, which explicitly state that Google prefers experts and authorities. John McDougall, the author of Web Marketing On All Cylinders and The Big Dog Authority Marketing Checklist, will show you how positioning your agency and team members as thought leaders is critical to digital marketing success.

One of the best tools for new business is leads from your website and blog but the days of easy SEO are over. Wondering why your SEO doesn’t work as well as it used to? John shares advanced SEO and social media concepts – put into simple explanations – that you can put into practice immediately.

The Authority Marketing Roadmap:

• Branding via specialization
• Building a platform / list
• Blogging
• Writing a book
• PR
• Public Speaking
• SEO
• Social Media
• Links from influencers
• Sales Influence
• Conversion Optimization
• Tracking ROI – Analytics

In this session you will learn how to leverage the relationships between tactics and do Web Marketing On All Cylinders.

Audio of John’s session:

Here’s a copy of John’s presentation deck that you can use to follow along with the audio presentation:

More About John McDougall

John McDougall is the founder and CEO of McDougall Interactive, an award-winning agency specializing in SEO and digital marketing for the financial services industry and for law firms.

John and his agency are elite Google partners and have been invited, all expenses paid, to Google headquarters in 2012, 2013 and 2014. John has been helping companies like Arrow Electronics, MIT, Phillips Medical and hundreds of others improve their SEO/website marketing for over two decades. Having recent client success stories such as bank5connect.com that has been voted the 2nd best online only bank and being asked to write for the National Law Review, John has successfully refined his client focus and thought leadership.

John’s writing and digital marketing seminars have been featured in The New York Times, The Huffington Post, Forbes, Search Engine Journal, HubSpot and more.

John’s latest venture is authoritymarketing.com that promotes the idea of thought leadership being central to modern marketing.

Connect with John via Twitter: @Mcdougalljohnd

Additional Fuel Lines New Business Conference Sessions:

• Jami Dunham – 3 Things Ad Agencies Need for New Business
• Peter Levitan – The Preeminent Thought Leader on How to Win Ad Agency Pitches
• Bob Hoffman – The Most Provocative Man in Advertising
• Paul Roetzer – The Indispensable Ad Agency
• Michael Gass – Inbound Marketing for Ad Agency New Business
• Jeff Fromm – How to Stop Chasing New Business
• Jami Oetting – How to Seduce Prospects Without Giving Your Work Away for Free
• Jody Sutter – Persuasive Writing for Ad Agency New Business
• Park Howell – How Storytelling Can Drive Your Agency New Business
• Don Beehler – Drive Ad Agency New Business with a PR Plan

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Improve Ad Agency New business Leads with Authority Marketing

Build a Community for Ad Agency New Business

Building an engaged online community should NOW be a core responsibility of business development.

The battle for new business has moved online which makes community development indispensable in marketing your agency online. Knowing how to build an online community has become an important skill-set for those charged with agency new business. Community development comes before business development. 

How to Build an Online Community of Prospects

1. Create a Niche Blog

For over eight years, I’ve recommended creating a niche blog for agency new business and have helped create over 200 personal blogs for agency principals.

A personal blog can provide small to midsize agency owners a perfect platform to create positioning of expertise which appeals to a very specific target audience. Think of it as a fishing expedition. You fish for a specific fish with a particular bait. You fish away from the boat (the agency’s website) so you don’t scare off the fish. Since it lives offsite, the niche blog can be much more targeted than the agency’s website, which tends to show a diverse client base and very little differentiation from other agencies.

Blogs focused on a specific topic and audience are more successful for a new business objective. Recently, a client won a significant national account through their niche blog, www.thestorestarters.com. This small agency, with only a creative staff of three persons, was awarded the business of helping a national brand launch 22 new stores because of their positioning of expertise as the store starting gurus. They got the work without an RFP or pitch. This is what a niche blog can do for your agency.

Last year, it seemed like everyone jumped aboard the content marketing bandwagon. But most of the content wasn’t focused on a particular theme or a specific audience. This produced a gluttony of generic content that doesn’t create appeal.

If you really want a blog to provide new business opportunities, you must pick a niche and be the expert within that niche. My blog, Fuel Lines, has created great success because it is focused on a single idea – ad agency new business. This helps to cultivate an audience that is attracted to your writing and becomes the foundation for building your online community.

Prospects are searching for expertise. The essential element of developing a positioning of expertise is to write.

2. Be Personal

From the beginning of launching my consultancy, I’ve found success by understanding two fundamental truths:

• Social media is all about PEOPLE connecting with other PEOPLE.
• PEOPLE want to work with other PEOPLE that they know, trust and like.

As agencies grow, the more faceless they become. If you really want to generate new business through social media – get personal. Learn to use social media to humanize your agency. It’s the secret sauce that most agencies have neglected.

Nothing will connect more with your readers than being personal.

People don’t hire agencies, they hire people. The person behind the agency. It’s important to find ways to show your personal side. A lot of agency principals have a difficult time doing that.

Growing your personal brand is made much easier through social media.

3. Really Know Your Target Audience

My approach allows you to quickly define your target audience, engage and get to know them. How?

a) By Creating Content

I can intimately attest how difficult a consistent writing program can be. But, the reason that I’m such an advocate are the many benefits content marketing provides. It makes new business more focused and much easier than the interruptive type tactics of the past, such as cold calling.

One of the primary benefits of content marketing is that it can provide an organized system to personally get to know your prospects.  But you must be willing to provide the time and resources to do it the right way.

b) By Creating Value

Here’s a crucial tip for building your online community of prospects:  Stop trying to sell your agency. It’s not about touting your credentials, capabilities and case studies. You will never build an audience without value.

Value is simply being of service.

You identify the needs of your potential clients and then create and share information that is relevant to their challenges. You must be willing to share your expertise freely.

This is the secret of success in social media and growing your personal brand. Spend more of time thinking about them than about yourself.

You won’t be valued if you are constantly touting your agency’s capabilities, accomplishments and awards. It’s not about you or your agency, you must stay focused on the challenges and needs of your audience.

c) By Creating a Direct Connection to Your Agency’s Brand Leader

As spokesperson-in-chief, your skills and experience in social media has become even more important.

Prospective clients expect to have direct connections to the agency’s brand leader. As an owner, you should communicate through social media to help your agency appear more human and to create a strong emotional connection with those you are trying to reach.

Traditional corporate communication is beginning to give way to social communication.

Agency principal’s communicating through social media provides an efficient and effective way to be accessible. The time has arrived for social media to become an expectation for agency leaders.

For additional help, check out my article on How to launch a blog for ad agency for new business — fast!

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Build a Community for Ad Agency New Business