@jloomstein

Getting the Most out of Your Agency

Presented  by:  James  Loomstein,  MBA  Digital  Space  Consul>ng  

@jloomstein

Wait, About Me…

•  Digital  agency  with  over  10  years  experience  in  content,  crea>ve,  communica>ons,  and  analy>cs    

•  Passionate  about  the  tools,  plaForms,  and  technology  used  to  connect  and  engage  consumers  

•  Focused  on  empowering  brands  and  customers  by  enabling  them  to  research,  relate  and  engage  with  each  other  

•  Extensive  experience  in  local  search,  PPC,  SEO,  conversion  op>miza>on,  targe>ng/segmenta>on,  and  marke>ng  strategy  

@jloomstein

History

Worked  for    “Big”  agencies  

Started    my  own  agency  

Now  work  with    other  agencies    on  client  work    

What Digital Space is Looking Towards

Companies to begin making full integration of social media across the customer experience

Content and authorship to make significant strides with the merging of search and social

Microsoft to create and promote their products as social software

Social CRM to grow substantially, while removing silos

Large companies creating and moving to strategic engagement platforms

Data scientist to overtake the top hire on social media teams (community managers will move to #2)

Social media becoming an increasing source of business intelligence

Increased focus on social media security, compliance, and governance

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@jloomstein

How I see it

CASE IN POINT –  I  worked  on  a  large  CPG  account  for  an  Omnicom  agency    –  Our  weekly  status  call  included  26  partner  agencies  –  Territory  control  pushed  ahead  of  client  success    –  In  one  instance  -­‐  it  took  5  months  to  get  a  Facebook  page  approved  

The  era  of  the  standalone  500+  employee  full-­‐service  agency  are  over    

Mobile,  social,  video,    etc.  have  moved  agencies    towards  specializa>on  &    niche  service  offerings    

Hiring  a  single  agency  to  run  your  company  in  so  1998    –  everyone  has  to  learn  how  to  play  together    

@jloomstein

Why partner with an agency

BUT THAT ALSO COMES WITH SOME CHALLENGES •  Finding  the  right  skills  to  match  in-­‐house  experience    •  Good  agencies  tend  to  be  very  busy  •  Conflic>ng  interest  and  struggles  for  budget,  work,  

and  crea>ve  freedom  •  Death  by  commicee  (“…..It  just  doesn’t  feel  right”)    

BECAUSE YOU GET •  Becer  access  to  knowledge    •  New  skills  (mobile,  responsive  design,  CMS)  •  Becer  toolbox    •  Ability  to  scale    •  Measurable  results    •  Easy  to  fire  

@jloomstein

How to select the right SEO agency

•  Fundamentally…..  –  What  are  the  primary  objec>ves  we  want  to  complete?    –  Do  we  have  the  internal  resources  to  be  successful?  –  Do  we  need  full-­‐service,  bou>que,  strategy,  specialty,  or  order  taker?  –  Who  will  manage  the  agency  rela>onship?  –  How  do  we  measure  success?  –  Have  a  plan.  

•  And  also……  –  Research  as  much  as  possible.  –  Make  sure  they  understand  your  sector.  –  Make  sure  they  can  be  a  part  of  your  team.  

@jloomstein

How to get the MOST out of your agency Standardize  monthly  tasks  list,  weekly  check-­‐ins,  scheduled  

reports    

Your  objec>ve  with  your  agency  is  scalability  and  

repeatability    

Stay  smart  for  your  sake  and  that  of  your  agency  

Create  plaForm  partnerships    -­‐  Hubspot,  Magento,  

ExactTarget  

Work  with  agencies  that  like  to  work  with  others    

Invest  in  tools  that  either  save  you  >me,  make  you  money,  or  

make  you  look  smart    

Stop  obsessing  over  what  image  to  use  in  your  monthly  

email  newslecer    

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Focus  on  RCS    

@jloomstein

How to get MORE out of your agency

•  Focus  on  accountability  •  Demand  analy>cs  and  repor>ng  •  Require  flexibility  (on  them  and  you)  •  Challenge  them  to  say  “no”  to  the  project  •  Don’t  hire  an  order  taker  (unless  that  is  what  you  need)  •  Decide  who  are  the  deciders    •  Focus  on  the  right  KPIs  (content,  outreach,  etc.)    •  Setup  an  IGNITE  session  (strategic  planning  day)  •  They  understand  your  needs  and  obliga>ons  to  your  boss    •  Use  the  tools  they  use    

15%

67%

@jloomstein

If I worked in-house

•  Define  the  problem  we  are  trying  to  solve  –  Audit,  on-­‐going  seo,  outreach,  content  marke>ng,  reputa>on  

management,  etc.  –  Leads,  sales,  increase  in  qualified  visitors,  brand  awareness,  etc.    

•  Understand  my  current  state  –  PPC  analysis  (SpyFu.com)  –  SEO  analysis  (Moz.com)  –  Website  analysis  (Google  Webmaster  Tools)    

 •  And  finally    

–  Decide  what  I  need    –  Set  clear  goals    –  Obtain  mul>ple  bids    –  Listen  to  stories    –  Understand  that  the  local  rank  of  an  SEO  agency  and/or  case  studies  are  

not  an  indicator  of  success    

and needed to hire an agency…

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@jloomstein

Ask the right questions

•  What  problem  are  we  trying  to  solve?    •  What  URL  is  being  used  for  this  project?    •  What  other  web  assets  do  we  currently  maintain  internally  and  externally  (micro  sites,  

extranets,  intranets)    •  Have  any  form  of  insights  been  gained  for  how  our  customers  consume  our  company  

digitally?    •  Have  we  completed  any  usability  studies  on  the  current  assets?  •  What  types  of  reports,  metrics  and  analy>cs  are  available  on  usage  across  the  enterprise?    •  What  is  our  biggest  internal  challenge?    •  What  are  the  immediate  goals  for  implemen>ng  an  online  marke>ng  campaign?  •  What  does  success  mean  in  terms  of  an  online  marke>ng  campaign?    •  What  keywords/keyword  phrases  do  we  think  poten>al  customers  would  type  into  a  Google  

search  to  find  us?    * Comprehensive 70+ point questionnaire available upon request…

@jloomstein

How in-house Marketing Directors view the world and get the most out of their agencies

•  I  interviewed  personal  connec>ons  who  serve  as  current  marke>ng  directors  within  the  healthcare,  travel,  and  CPG  space    

•  I  asked  ques>ons:  –  How  do  you  iden>fy  agencies  to  work  with    –  What  do  agencies  need  to  do  to  be  successful/make  you  successful  –  Where  do  agencies  drop  the  ball  –  What  do  you  wish  agencies  knew  before  they  started  working  with  you  –  What  is  the  best  thing  an  agency  can  do  to  make  your  life  easier    

         Here  is  what  they  said…    

@jloomstein

How to get the most out of your agency

How  do  you  iden1fy  which  agencies  to  work  with      •  Can  they  share  their  business  plan,  budget,  relevant  clients    

•  Evaluate  their  website,  previous  work  (call  up  their  clients)  and  their  social  media  –  Get  a  good  idea  of  their  character  by  seeing  if  they  are  doing  for  themselves  what  I  need  

for  them  to  do  for  us      

•  Understanding  who  is  the  day-­‐to-­‐day  team  (not  just  the  biz  dev  team)      

•  The  ones  that  don’t  show  up  with  canned  client  roster  or  general  case  studies    

•  Some>mes  gepng  an  agency  that  says  they  can  do  everything  is  not  always  the  answer  for  your  par>cular  business  issue    

@jloomstein

How to get the most out of your agency

What  do  agencies  need  to  do  to  be  successful/make  you  successful    •  Communicate  /  be  consistent  (avoid  mis-­‐alignment)  

•  Show  value    

•  Take  >me  to  understand  our  needs/concerns    

•  Bring  clear  and  thoughFul  strategy  and  insight  to  the  table    

•  Work  closely  with  us  to  help  establish  valuable  KPI's  (business  level)  

•  Be  fully  briefed  and  understand  how  success  is  measured  (in-­‐house  marke>ng  team  level)  

@jloomstein

How to get the most out of your agency

Where  do  agencies  drop  the  ball  •  Con>nue  to  promise  and  say  "yes"  to  everything    •  Not  thinking  through  the  pros  and  cons  of  an  efficient  and  effec>ve  solu>on/

approaches    •  Not  measuring/tracking  our  efforts  and  providing  insighFul  feedback  to  adjust  our  

course    •  Thinking  they  have  all  the  answers    

 What  do  you  wish  agencies  knew  before  they  started  working  with  you  •  Come  in  with  an  thoughFul  analysis  from  the  perspec1ve  of  our  audiences    •  Understanding  why  they  were  hired  and  what  the  #1  reason  is  that  they  are  the  

agency  for  a  par>cular  project    •  Prove  that  we  NEED  to  work  with  them    •  Be  ready  to  discuss  and  show  best  prac>ces  in  our  field  and  successful  examples  of  

our  customers  journey  and  experience    

@jloomstein

How to get the most out of your agency

What  is  the  best  thing  an  agency  can  do  to  make  your  life  easier  

•  Be  a  great  partner  and  have  a  vested  interest  in  the  solu>on  they  implemented  •  Constantly  communica1ng  with  the  in-­‐house  marke>ng  leads    •  Strong  project  management  and  produc>on  processes    •  Accountable  and  responsible    •  Stop  being  the  wizard  behind  the  curtain  

@jloomstein

How I set my clients up for success

Kick-­‐off  mee>ngs    or  product  demo    

days    

Standardize  kickoff    documents  &  repor>ng  

templates          

Leverage  communica>on  tools  (HipChat,  Basecamp,  

Join.me,  breeze.pm)  

Decide  on  the    deciders  

Work  with  agencies    that  like  to  work  with    

other  agencies    

!�

@jloomstein

What 2014 holds

•  Marke>ng  silos  will  become  a  thing  of  the  past  

•  Agencies  shiu  in  business  models  to  more  integrated  services    –  In-­‐bound  marke>ng    –  Website  performance  –  Search    –  Lead  nurturing  (email,  whitepaper,  landing  

pages,  CRM)    

•  Agency  shiu  from  project  based  work  to  retainer  based  structure  

•  Market  move  to  greater  convergence  among  paid,  owned,  and  earned  media  

•  Greater  integra>on  between  search  and  social    

 

@jloomstein

Build the right toolbox

Business Insights SEO Workshare

Highrise Pocket SpyFu Whitespark Dropbox

Basecamp Trello Moz Hittail.com MangoApps

Breeze.pm

Callrail Fliptop

MySeoTool.com

Huddle

Evernote HipChat

Rapleap

Screaming Frog

Harvest Boomerang CrazyEgg

Moz

Join.me

Rapportive Followerwonk

Google Webmaster Tools

Mongoose Metrics

@jloomstein

Know what your agency knows (Stay Smart)

SEO

Industry Trends

Code

Keyword Research

@jloomstein

Get Smart

Blogs / Influencers Google

Copyblogger  /  New  Rainmaker  

Duane  Forrester  /  Mac  Cucs  

TheMobilePlaybook.com  

Seth  Godin  /  Start-­‐up  School   Seth  Godin   analy>cs.blogspot.com/  

Moz.com  /  White  Board  Friday  

Brian  Solis   Googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/  

Social  Media  Examiner   Chris  Brogan   Google  ZMOT  (2012)    

Mashable   Lee  Oden    

Social  Media  Today   Scoc  Monty    

Search  Engine  Watch   Search  Engine  Journal  

Search  Engine  Land   Curated  Twicer  Lists  

@jloomstein

Stay Smart

Join local organizations

Sponsor events

Attend conferences

@jloomstein

Digital Space Consulting

Create. Connect. Engage.

 Thank  You.  

@jloomstein

DigitalSpaceConsulting.com

James@digitalspaceconsulting.com

Linkedin.com/in/Jloomstein

Slideshare.net/jloomstein/presentations

Twitter.com/jloomstein

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