10 Reasons Ad Agencies Should Participate in Social Media for New Business

Tweet MICHAEL GASS is blogging about the importans of adapting to new media, in short:

"Fortunately the debate on whether or not ad agencies should participate in social media is rapidly shifting to how they should participate. But just in case your agency is still on the fence, here are 10 reasons why should participate in the social media arena:

1. Small agencies can compete with much larger agencies. Smaller agencies are more nimble and can more quickly adapt their agencies to utilize social media for themselves and for their clients. I don’t know if you will ever have another time as golden as now for your agency to gain market share.
2. Build awareness. You will find it much easier to build awareness for your agency nationally than you were able to do locally.
3. Agency branding. Social media is a great tool to simplify the complexities of developing your agency’s brand.
4. Networking on steroids. Social media is a tremendous networking tool. It is the most efficient and effective way of establishing relationships for new business that I have ever used.
5. Social media is a great teacher. Social media teaches ad agencies to develop the best new business practices, the way we all should have been doing new business all along.
6. Know what your prospective clients really want. Understand how to create the right appealing message that causes them to initiate the conversation. Know what their challenges and obstacles are. Have the ability to understand how to market their business better than they do.
7. Generate significant prospective client online traffic. You can generate great traffic through you agency’s blog and social media tools. As I’ve said often before your agency’s blog is the gateway to your agency. Your agency’s website is more like a static brochure. As important as it was for every agency to have a website it is now just as important to have an agency blog.
8. Lead generation. When you have an appealing position and you can generate traffic to your agency blog, you’ll in turn generate leads.
9. Reputation management. Social media provides tools to monitor your agency’s brand. Conversations about your agency are going to take place with or without you. It’s by far better to know what’s being said and having an opportunity to respond.
10. Positioning as an expert. Social media gives your agency an opportunity to be positioned as a respected and trusted expert. Clients are more likely to listen and allow you to lead. An added benefit is that specialist get paid more, are not dependent upon local business and have the opportunity to work with the clients that are the best fit for their agency.

Social media isn’t a fad. It not only is changing the advertising industry as we know it, but it is one of the most important new business tools in your agency’s tool box.

Read the whole articel here: Michael Gass, Social media