When is a mass mailing really needed?

When do you use all your database for a mass mailing?  I have a huge database of contacts – both personal and business.  Knowing when and how to contact them all is a difficult issue because you don’t want to annoy – but equally there are some things that you really want to communicate to a wide audience because the matter is important.

I just received an update from Mike Butcher that is a great example of the right time to use a mass mailing.

Mike is a journalist and the editor of TechCrunch Europe.  He’s a fantastically connected person and I suspect this mailing ran into the thousands.

The topics he covers are

• reason for contact
• list of current projects
• launch of two new projects
• full personal contact details
• a great meeting request service Tungle

Now, I know Elizabeth Varley who is managing director for the TechHub project  and this is a great fillip to her getting a launch boost from such a networked person as Mike.

Apart from work, the main reason I’ll consider a mass mailout is for a charity gig.  I’m working on one right now with a Leukaemia survivor who’s had a total bone marrow transplant.  This makes him a “chimera” – a person living with two people’s DNA inside him – his and the donor’s.  He is now well enough to do a charity cycle ride to fund raise for the research charity Leuka.  I’ll probably tell you more about this in another post.

When do you use all your database for a mass mailing?

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Disclosure: Sergio is a client of ours.

In 2009 Sergio Lopez Figueroa received an award from the British Council part of the Cultural Leadership International Programme and produced Delhi City Symphony. Following an experience in Delhi, Sergio composer, director and founder of the social-cultural  enterprise Big Bang Lab created the concept of cultural social responsibility in order to sustain  a global project in a network of cities, aiming to empower deprived young people to become the future changemkers and creative entrepreneurs.

Global City Symphony is a three year programme combining culture, digital media  and music. This  framework is an opportunity  for a private and public partnership model looking at outcomes towards  a common goal.  Sergio is currently approaching friends and supporters to create a website and to cover the costs of participating in the United Nations World Urban Forum and Youth Assembly to take place from the 18th – 26th of March 2010.

How much is the value of creating, producing and recording 1min of orchestral music?

Sergio is offering the recording of an uncommissioned music score,  performed in Barcelona, London  (Tate modern) and Berlin (Berlinale)  to this sponsorship call with two options.

Option 1  to purchase a limited edition of the CD of his music for Un Chien Andalou, winner of the Harlock award at Rimusicazioni Film Festival at a rate of £2 / min = £30.60 and obtain a free ticket in the next Big Bang Lab production and a credit on the Global City Symphony website and future documentary as a supporter (unless you prefer to remain anonymous)

Option 2 a donation of your choice towards the site design aiming and a credit as supporter on the first City Symphony created (unless you prefer to remain anonymous)

You can watch the making of the pilot Delhi City Symphony 2009, Building Fragments, read more about  this appeal in detail here

Time is very short, act now!

Thanks!
Sergio

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Receved via LinkedIn

Hi

Congratulations for your profile.

I’m expanding my network in the Marketing sector and I’d like to connect with you.

If you think this is not the best time to connect, please archive this request.

Thanks

B*** S****

It all reads so well, especially the suggestion about archiving the request if the timing isn’t right… except I don’t know them and that bit about congratulating me on my profile (which I must admit is admirable – but why would they think that?)….leaves me doubting.

I wrote back.  Questioning.

Let’s see

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There’s a great summary of the pro and anti arguments about the Belgian Agency strike over on e-consultancy’s site.

The comments are helpful including ones from client and agency side folk.

I particularly liked Neale Gilhooley’s comment

My career path has been 90% Agency and 10% Client, but the 10% has radically changed my views on how Agencies should service their Clients.

Agencies are not all the same and as a former Client I have seen many agencies presentations, largely falling into 2 categories:

A. Those that are professional, insightful truly creative (in strategy as well as the creative product) and added value to my business.

B. Those who displayed few or none the above.

In my view you Clients should do their job and sort these categories out before you ask them to pitch, thus saving you and them a huge amount of time and distraction. Allowing you to spend more precious time with the A’s and as little as possible with B’s. Not easy but that’s your challenge. Speaking to 2 x A’s is more productive than speaking to 6 x B’s.

Also to get the most value Clients should consider spending some of your precious budget encouraging a low number of A’s to spend more time on your needs. Don’t forget that it is your problem they are solving and the better the solution the more chance of you keeping your job.

And so different agencies follow different strategies for pitching.

What “Rules” should you have?

I’m tempted to say that it doesn’t matter what the rules are as long as you know what they are and stick to them.

BUT… there’s always an exception.

My ideal is to have one big pitch per month.  If you are of a size to handle the work load.

Pros – focus work on one thing at a time, higher quality, more senior staff involvement

Cons – if you badly need more work the temptation is to take on more, if you want to grow fast you may need more and if your success rate is say one in four, it’ll be only three new clients per year that you will win.

What are the rules you follow?

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The old cliche about “you’re only as good as your last job” can sometimes seem finding new clients a daunting task.  How can you show off your work when there are client confidentialities involved?  What ways are there to show that you are a really creatively-led agency?

Well the answer is to have a store of case studies.

What is a case study?

A case study is a piece of marketing collateral that shows off the skills of your organisation and demonstrates clearly success you have created for a client.

It’s as simple as that.  Show off your ’smarts’ the work that you want to make you famous and boast about it.  A lot.

Many agencies post their case studies on their website so potential clients can read or download them.

Here are the top 5 articles on how to write case studies

1. Top Tips to write a persuasive case study by Debbie Weil on Wordbiz.com
2. 7 Steps for Creating a Marketing Case Study by Megan Tsai
3. Writing insight-based case studies by Mark Levy of Levy Innovation [note you have to register on the site but it's free]
4. Case Study – How to write one by Hoffmann Marcomms illustrates how to write one for a client
5. Write Effective Business Case Study a video by eHow based on the Harvard Business Review model

So what’s the state of your case studies gallery?

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The London communicators group is having a meetup on March 9th to talk about

Sex and Turkeys – Are you ready to manage a merger, acquisition or joint venture?

The session will be run by Doug Ross and Phoebe Dunn of award winning consultancy, Square Peg International. ( http://www.squarepegint.com )
Your organisation is for sale. All organisations are for sale – it is just a matter of price. And when it happens it is the communications functions who will feel the pain as they are often faced with managing the issues of transition with respect to often-declining productivity, performance and morale during times of change.

Traditionally, the legal, financial and operational aspects of M&A deals and joint ventures have received the greatest attention, but executives who have been through the merger process recognise that managing the communications, cultural, and human side of change is critical to maximising deal value.

Doug will address this topic by providing participants with theory, research, and best practice examples and will balance these views with real world case studies, and personal insight. He will explore the role of communications in M&A operations by using personal relationships as an analogy and explaining the role that turkeys have played in a number of case examples.

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Tags: Doug Ross, Mergers and acquisitions

Just doing the analytics review – some interesting findings

Top 5 posts viewed

1. Writing proposals avoiding common pitfalls
2. Top 10 must-read business development blogs
3. Shout! with Johnny Vulcan MD of Anomaly
4. A new business model for creative agencies
5. Rant.  Unsubscribe unacceptable behaviour risks your brand

Thank you all for your readership last month.

Help us spread the word – please forward article links to colleagues and friends who may like to read CreativeAgencySecrets for themselves.

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We have been members of BIMA for a while – it’s a trade body for digital agencies.  They ran an event called “New business generation – farming style” earlier this month.  It was a panel discussion with Chris Cowpe – The Caffeine Partnership, Paul Kirkley – JWT, David Hart – Codegent and Mark Clark – @JFDI.

Here is Jane’s take on the event with her own views expanded.

Changes in Business Development

A subtle yet important shift is starting to change the way we look at business development. The change can be best described as a move from hunting to farming.
Seth Godin articulates the shift in his blog:

‘Five thousand years ago, every human was a hunter.  If you were hungry, you got a rock or a stick and you went hunting.  The problem was that all of the animals were either dead or really good at hiding.

Fortunately, we discovered/invented the idea of farming.  Plant seeds, fertilize em, water em, watch em grow and then you harvest them.   The idea spread and it led to the birth of civilization.
Everyone got the idea… except for marketers.
Marketers still like to hunt.
What we’re discovering, though, is that the good prospects are getting really good at hiding.’

Why prospects hide and how to overcome it

The shift is brought about by a realisation that it’s clients who define agencies; they’re agencies’ biggest assets.  To make the most of the opportunity client development presents, we’ve outlined some straightforward steps to winning new business.

Step 1 – re-focus

Did you know you’re five times more likely to grow existing business than win new?  What’s more, growing existing business is your only real chance of short term revenue.  Ask yourself some questions about your organisation:
★ Is winning new business viewed as sexily as winning new new business? Do you celebrate those who grow existing clients rather than viewing it as everyday?
★ Is your approach to new business as formalised and structured as your approach to new new business? Are you investing enough energy and resources?
★ Are you leveraging relationship equity by sharing responsibility for business development with senior management?
★ Have you equipped your staff with new business tools and know-how so everyone knows what to ask and how to ask it?
The usual goal of growing business by 10% if very casual and non-specific, versus someone telling you they can see a £500k opportunity with an existing client.   Make sure your culture is such that people aren’t afraid to ask for time and resources to pursue client development opportunities.

Step 2 – pick your targets

Every client represents some opportunity, but where should you invest?  The key is to identify a manageable number to pursue. If you’re finding it tricky to decide, ask yourself:
★ Which clients will most enhance our reputation?
★ Are we in danger of chasing those who already have strong agency relationships?
★ Do we have a great rapport with this client?
★ Have we defined what we want? e.g. are we good at taking clients from offline to online, or do we want sophisticated clients only?
Remember winning extra assignments is better, creds wise, than having a wide array of fragmented business.  If you’re wasting time and not getting traction, change tactics or cut your losses and switch from target A to target B.

Step 3 – winning

Too often agencies claim to do everything, when in reality they only really do two or three things exceptionally well. Clients are fed up of agencies trying to sell them everything when they just want X, so focus on your strengths.
Digital agencies are in the perfect position to assume the role of trusted adviser – armed with knowledge and insights that your clients are desperate to understand.
Yet do you find yourself trapped in a tactical, project orientated role (‘build that site’, ‘do that DM’)?  The good news is clients want more retained relationships.
★ When was the last time you asked your clients what their business plans and life plans are?
★ Have you asked what keeps them awake at night?
★ Do you understand their business objectives and individual ambitions? Just by asking you might reposition yourself in the client’s mind. Even if they’re taken aback, go with it!
★ How can we position ourselves in the wider context? Can we merchandise the work we’ve done through the lense of building brands as opposed to completing projects?
★ Can we engage clients at a higher level, by helping instead of selling? Are we investing enough time without an order book down our trousers?
★ How can we convince our client’s board they aren’t pursuing a digital fantasy?
★ How can we validate what we’ve done through measurement? Does each piece of work have measurable business objectives?
★ Are we measuring the quality of our relationships?
★ Have we made our organisational objectives clear to the client?  Can they help write our business plan? (brass neck required!)
Agencies often make the mistake of waiting until a job is done and the honeymoon over to try and expand.  Instead try to use honeymoon periods, when you’re in the thick of it, to win more work.
It’s also worthwhile doing client audits. They’re nothing short of revelatory. If you’re not scoring seven or eight out of ten you need to get your house in order.  Scoring high means you’ll get more business.
By understanding your client’s business in greater depth (through questioning with confidence) – and ensuring your client understands yours – you can avoid typecasting one-another.  Don’t assume ‘they’ll never do that’ and prevent your client falling into the same trap, leading to lost business for you.
It’s up to you to prove to your client that there’s value in moving to a closer, more strategic relationship, as opposed to buying project by project.  To be a trusted adviser you may have to offer yourself and your advice free – but very selectively; aware of to whom and why.  If you underprice you’re not leaving room for (‘free’) honest advice.
Given that it’s clients who define your next steps, be very speci!c about what your piece of success looks like, while remaining agile and a step ahead.  It’s helpful that outsourcing and freelancing are easier now than ever.
Finally, procurement are your greatest friends in growing organic business.  If they think you’re doing a good job, ask them what else you could do.  Invite them over and they’ll warm to the fact you’re helping them understand what you do.  And remember they’re trained negotiators – so dedicate at least a day’s training to your staff so it isn’t a disadvantage.

Just be sure not to offer them champagne!

Jane Young tweets (@resonanceblog) and works both with Kanbee, a digital agency and is the founder of Scramblr the creative collaboration tool.

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Tags: Business, business development, Business plan, Consulting, Knowledge, Seth Godin, Small Business, Trade

Apologies for the silence this last fortnight. I’ve been moving house. Grim unpacking duties.

Here’s a quick tip that I am using myself today from Mike Cliffe-Jones

Priorities

I suspect many of you are writing blogs while holding down full time jobs, and that can be hard. I wanted to share some tips with you for being organized so you can get the best out of the time you do have to spend on the blog. We talked about time management last week, so this week I want to focus on priorities.

If you only have, say, a couple of hours a day to work on your blog, then you need to make the most of the time, so that the jobs you do get completed, are the most productive.

I prioritize my work as follows, every session I do, and in this order:

1/ Blog posts

2/ Commenting on other blogs

3/ Guest posts

4/ Connecting on other social media

5/ Email

6/ Reading

7/ Planning

8/ Everything else

I do this on the basis that at whatever point I have to stop, at least the most important priorities are achieved.

I hope that helps you to set your own priority list.

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