Why your agency positioning (probably) sucks
•Als PPTX, PDF herunterladen•
0 gefällt mir•4,906 views
This document discusses common problems with agency positioning and provides advice on how to improve it. It notes that most agency positioning uses overused and vague clichés that do not differentiate agencies and drive down prices. It recommends that agencies should 1) define their target audience based on specific attributes, 2) have a clear sense of purpose and values, and 3) use authentic, jargon-free language. Defining the ideal client and standing for meaningful purposes can help agencies attract the right clients, say no to wrong fits, and increase win rates and prices by focusing on the right opportunities. Agencies should interview staff and clients to understand how they are uniquely valuable in order to craft effective positioning.
Empfohlen
Empfohlen
Weitere ähnliche Inhalte
Was ist angesagt?
Was ist angesagt? (20)
Ähnlich wie Why your agency positioning (probably) sucks
Ähnlich wie Why your agency positioning (probably) sucks (20)
Mehr von Boom Online Marketing
Mehr von Boom Online Marketing (20)
Kürzlich hochgeladen
Kürzlich hochgeladen (20)
Why your agency positioning (probably) sucks
- 1. Drink :// Digital, April 2019. Why your agency positioning (probably) sucks. And what to do about it.
- 2. Fourteen years in digital agencies, operating at board level. Roughly 800 appointments, 500 pitches and 300 wins…and a lot of mistakes! I now work with agencies to help them craft a winning approach to business development (and win the ‘right’ clients as a result). Guest writer One of the 100 most influential people in agency business development (ooooh, get me!) Trainer
- 4. There are a lot of agencies out there. A LOT. For a prospective client, it can be difficult to tell one from another. The same (often) unsubstantiated claims, words and phrases are
- 5. Award-winning Customised Bespoke Tailored Superior Best-practice Data-driven Full-service Global Honest Transparent Integrated Leading Number one Results-focused Specialist Award-winning Customised Bespoke Tailored Passionate Best-practice Data-driven Full-service Global Honest Transparent Integrated Leading Number one Results-focused Specialist Best Friendly Advanced Guarantees Innovative Read more: 34 violently clichéd phrases that agencies mindlessly add to their positioning
- 6. The result? A proposition that is inward looking, ‘broad-brush’ and cliché-ridden... Image courtesy of Coventry Telegraph
- 7. www.generic-agency.co.uk Hi, we’re an award-winning, innovative digital marketing agency, specialising in SEO, PPC, affiliate marketing and conversion rate optimisation. We work across any sector with businesses of all shapes and sizes. Get in touch and we’ll tell you how brilliant we are.
- 8. All this does is to add to the noise, bringing thousands of agencies into direct competition.
- 9. It can make business development a slog. Image courtesy of Matt Cardy / Getty Images
- 10. It drives down rates and hits
- 11. And it provides very little for clients, staff
- 12. OK, smart-arse… So what does good look like?
- 13. Good is when an agency speaks to a specific audience, focusing on the problems they face, the opportunities they are seeking to exploit and the outcomes they care most about. 1.
- 14. Sector(s) Product / service / technology Behaviour s Problems Roles Journey / phase of growth Company traits / brand attributes Objectives / aspirations Defining an audience Demographic Values / culture Attitude / outlook
- 15. Journey / phase of growth (or decline!)
- 16. Values / culture
- 17. Demograph ic
- 18. Good is when an agency has a strong sense of purpose. They stand for something. 2.
- 19. We believe in the power of behavioural science to create more impactful brand experiences, captivating campaigns and compelling communication.
- 20. We stand up for the challengers, the disrupters and the up-and-comers. Those that rebel against the status quo and the pretence that big means better. We exist so our clients can be a thorn in the side of the leading players in their markets, just as we seek to challenge the complacency and unwieldiness of the biggest agencies in
- 21. We believe in a future without ‘departments’, ‘boxes’ or ‘pigeon-holes’. A future where people and brands see past the narrow mindset of online and offline, above-the-line versus below-the-line, digital against analogue.
- 22. “A vendor’s purpose, values and culture are the biggest influences on a group’s decision for almost two-thirds of marketers. Eighty-three percent say they are more likely to buy from a business whose culture and personality closely match that of their own business”. GROUP.MIND.SET. HOW GROUP DYNAMICS IMPACT B2B DECISIONS by Gyro
- 23. WHY WHAT HOW Simon Sinek’s golden circle Few companies know why they do what they do. Why is not about making money. Why is a purpose, cause or belief. It’s the reason the company exists. Some companies know how they do it. These are the things that (might) make them special or better than the competition. WHAT Every company on the planet knows what they do. These are the products or services they sell. WHY HOW
- 24. Award-winning Customised Bespoke Tailored Superior Best-practice Data-driven Full-service Global Honest Transparent Integrated Leading Number one Results-focused Specialist Award-winning Customised Bespoke Tailored Passionate Best-practice Data-driven Full-service Global Honest Transparent Integrated Leading Number one Results-focused Specialist Best Friendly Advanced Guarantees Innovative Read more: 34 violently clichéd phrases that agencies mindlessly add to their positioning
- 25. Good is when an agency uses emotive, down to earth language, devoid of jargon. Their authenticity and personality shine through. 3.
- 26. David Ogilvy, 1982. ‘Jargon is the hallmar of a pretentious ass’
- 27. When it comes to business development, positioning literally sets the agenda for winning the ‘right’ clients. It acts like a filter, helping to attract the right prospects (and disqualify off-profile
- 28. It makes decision making on where to invest your sales and marketing budget
- 29. It provides the platform to say ‘no’, just as often as you say
- 30. It means you can more regularly avoid the bun fight of competitive pitching, increase your win rate and justifiably charge more for your specialist expertise.
- 31. How do we get some of that? Sounds good.
- 32. Ask yourself the tough questions. 1. Why do we exist? When are we at our very best? What do we stand for? What do we want to be known for? Is there something we resolutely What do we want our legacy to be? How would we like people to describe us? What does our ideal client look like? What do we want to be doing more / less of?
- 33. Interview your team. And clients. 2.
- 35. If business development is getting you down, positioning is probably the root cause. Define what your ideal client looks like. Stand for something. Ditch the clichés.
- 36. Don’t be shy… t: @bennap l: linkedin.com/in/bpotter/ e: ben@ben-potter.co.uk m: 07766 607418 Econsultancy: https://econsultancy.com/author/ben-potter/ The contents of this presentation is the copyright of Ben Potter New Business (2019). The contents are not to be shared or distributed, either in whole or in part, without the express permission of Ben Potter.
Hinweis der Redaktion
- How many agencies do we have in the room? Talk about something that I believe to be a major problem in ‘agency land’. Agency slant to it but equally relevant to freelancers and anybody else selling digital marketing products / services. In fact, could well apply to any market where services have become commoditised.
- Why? Too many ingrained, dated behaviours and processes with respect to how agencies and clients approach working together that ultimately benefit no one. Mission to make the experience of buying and selling digital services better by working with agencies. Especially in how they position themselves, which is what I’m going to talk about tonight.
- First, what do we mean by positioning? Simply put, it relates to how you present yourself to the outside world. Answers a number of critical questions in the mind of buyers: Who are you? Why should I work with you? What makes you different? Frankly, why should I give a dam about you and what you have to say?
- I wrote an Econsultancy article a couple of years ago and quoted 20K. Read article the other day that quoted 30K. There may be some variation in colour but there is huge middle ground where agencies broadly look the same. As a result, the same words…’
- Range from the self-centred and downright wrong to stating the bleeding obvious… Leading - Anyone can be ‘leading’ when choose your own criteria. ‘Award-winning’ – cynical old sod / reached the stage where agencies actually stand out when they don’t include ‘award-winning’ in their one liner. Results-focused - if you’re not focused on getting results for your clients, why are you in business, quite frankly? ‘Friendly’ – because I definitely prefer working with people who rude and hostile? And don’t even get me started on passionate. None of these things make an agency unique. They’ve been overused to the point of becoming virtually meaningless. And they have little relevance to what the prospect is actually looking to buy.
- Is there anyone in from Coventry? Apparently, it was the selfie capital of the UK back in 2014!
- I have of course exaggerated this for comedy affect. However, there are literally thousands of agencies that only communicate along these kind of lines.
- The agency doesn’t have a clear, defendable territory - so they are, in affect, in competition with everyone.
- When you’re talking to everyone, you’re actually talking to no-one. How do you decide where to spend your time and money to attract business? There’s a high chance you try a bit of everything with nothing quite having the impact you hoped for.
- I don’t dispute that agencies with broad brush positioning don’t win their fair share of business. There’s a lot to go round. But I bet you repeatedly beaten down on price. Because high competition = commoditisation. There is always someone to do it cheaper. The power is very much in the hands of the buyer. So it’s a race to the bottom. And it certainly doesn’t build loyalty.
- How do you attract and retain clients and people when there is seemingly no difference between your business and the next? Inevitably you end up working with clients that aren’t a good fit. There’s bills to pay so you take on that client who know is going to trouble. The same client that jumps ship at the first sign of trouble (attracted, of course, by the promise of bigger, better or cheaper elsewhere). And so, the cycle continues. A drink to the first person to shout out a difference between the two rabbits!
- So having torn your agency to bits, it’s only right that I now offer some actual advice on how to make it better. In my humble opinion…
- An agency cannot ‘specialise’ in 5, 10 or 15 different sectors, especially when small relatively small. It’s a ‘catch all' approach devoid of strategy. David Ogilvy - ‘the essence of strategy is sacrifice’. If you want to be good at something (and known for it), you need to accept you can't be good at everything. Agencies avoid narrowing their focus for fear of what they’ll miss out on, as opposed to what they’ll gain.
- Assumption that narrowing focus, means sector(s). Many ways to define and make yourself attractive to a specific audience. A few examples…
- Both very specific and quite provocative. As I understand it, these guys are flying.
- It might be targeting businesses that share similar values i.e. ethical, environmental Very topical at the moment of course.
- Or perhaps working with businesses looking to target certain demographics. If I’m a brand looking to target youth culture, do I go to these guys or a generalist? Who’s likely to have the greater level of expertise? By focusing on a specific audience, these agencies have significantly reduced their competitive landscape.
- They might have a perspective or a point of view. That opinion might be quite polarizing, which is no bad thing. In fact, this in itself may define your audience. I work with agencies but not just any agency. Because where business development is concerned, I believe three things are integral to success in an agency setting: business development is a team effort it should be treated and designed as an experience, and there are no silver bullets. If you don’t agree with me, we’re probably not going to be right for one another. And that’s fine. But if you do agree with me, there’s a high chance we’ll see eye to eye on a lot of other things.
- A few other example from agencies I’ve been working with, currently rolling out new positioning, hence not being able to reveal names. These guys believe in the power of behavioural economics over and above other customer research techniques and methods. They absolutely stand by it. If a prospective doesn’t share that belief, they wont be right.
- These guys target challenger brands. They also see themselves as challenging the complacency of larger agencies. So the two marry up nicely.
- This dictates every aspect of how they run their agency; recruiting, training, structure, how they approach a brief. The point to all of these is that some will agree, others won’t. And that’s the point. Because ultimately they want to attract clients and staff that share what they stand for. It’s the basis of any good relationship.
- Importance of this reflected in a study, by Gyro (B2B creative agency) who found… And backed up by Simon Sinek in his book ‘Start with why’…
- Who’s read it? What – services / How – approach, specialisms, expertise, processes / Why = purpose behind the ‘what’ and ‘how’. SS argues people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it. That the best decisions, that often we can’t explain, come from the gut. Where there is a shared purpose, cause or belief. SS says ‘why’ is where true differentiation exists because…
- …these ‘points of difference’ only ever manipulate people into buying products and services. Biggest being price / and in digital, novelty – we love the latest, shiny new thing. Manipulations work but there are trade-offs. Gains are normally short term. The relationship is transactional. If you want to attract the right clients, simply explaining what you do doesn’t cut it any more. To resonate, people need to know why you do it. If you’re looking to build loyalty in clients and staff, you need to inspire, not manipulate.
- I suspect I’ve made my point on this earlier. I wouldn’t be the first to say it…
- Agencies fall back on jargon, such as ‘passionate’, ‘transparent’, ‘integrated’ and ‘award-winning’ in an effort to be better than the competition. But better doesn’t equal different. It just creates a market occupied with thousands of agencies spouting the same old features and benefits. Not good. So, when it comes to language, be more human, more normal, more real, more you. All ‘agency-speak’ does is get in the way of telling your story in a way that is relevant and authentic.
- What I hope to have demonstrated is that… It’s about attracting people who think like you do, who believe what you believe. Just like a brand in any other walk of life. Why shouldn’t an agency be able to build a following, in the way a consumer brand does, albeit on a smaller scale?
- These days, it’s like being a kid in a candy store with the number of channels, tactics and shiny new ways we could spend our marketing budget. But invariably we don’t spend it on the right things. We try a bit of everything hoping some of it might stick. Positioning provides focus. My agency went from…
- And be able to justify it to yourself, your people and those you are saying ‘no’ to. Is anyone old enough to know who that is? Zammo from Grange Hill.
- When you’re talking to a specific audience, there is a greater chance they’ll be uninterested in your rivals. And, having bought into your ethos and superior expertise, they are more prepared to pay a premium.
- Positioning is a process of discovery, not invention. Isn’t something you can simply make up. You can’t fake an interest or passion. And if you can, you’ll only get away with it for so long. So for me, with the right process, it should be something that comes fairly naturally. At it’s heart is why you do what you do, for who and how, ideally based on exploiting a current or attainable advantage. It involves…
- These are just a sample of the questions I use in a workshop with a senior team… I’d also recommend you look to bring in an external facilitator who can bring different perspectives and an independent voice.
- By involving your team and clients you’ll get a broader perspective on your strengths and weaknesses, even words and phrases that might be used in how you position the agency. Questions you ask not dissimilar to those on the last slide.
- It’s important you carry out competitor research to identify any others playing in your chosen space and how they present themselves (to ensure you talk differently). Also trends and developments related to your target audience, helping to validate the strategy and come up with possible marketing angles and content ideas. Use the Simon Sinek framework of why, how, what to bring it together. And then seek the opinion of peers, clients, trusted partners.
- If you’re not getting cut-through with your outbound emails, the root cause… If you’re using a business development agency and they’re not getting you appointments, the root cause… If you bring in a BDM and they’re not working out to be the miracle cure you were expecting, the… If you’re pitching to anyone and everyone (and wondering why your win rate sucks), then yep, you guessed it… When it comes to BD, agencies look for short-term fixes. Try a bit of this, a bit of that, with nothing quite having the impact hoped or expected. But the source of the problem is nearly always the same. If you want to fix your business development woes once and for all, start with positioning. Define.. You’ll soon find that everything else starts to fall into place.