Pubcon presentation from New Orleans. Getting the most out of your agency. Covering: - why partner with a digital marketing agency - how to select the right digital marketing agency - how to get the most out of your digital marketing agency - how in-house marketing directors view the world - how to set-up clients for success - tools for running your in-house marketing team - where to get smart on digital marketing trends

1. @jloomstein
Getting the Most out
of Your Agency
Presented
by:
James
Loomstein,
MBA
Digital
Space
Consul>ng

2. @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

3. @jloomstein
History
Worked
for
“Big”
agencies
Started
my
own
agency
Now
work
with
other
agencies
on
client
work

4. 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
4

5. @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

6. @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

7. @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.

8. @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
<
Focus
on
RCS

9. @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%

10. @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…
1
2
3

11. @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…

12. @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…

13. @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

14. @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)

15. @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

16. @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

17. @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
!

18. @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

19. @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

20. @jloomstein
Know what your agency knows (Stay Smart)
SEO
Industry
Trends
Code
Keyword
Research

21. @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

22. @jloomstein
Stay Smart
Join local
organizations
Sponsor
events
Attend
conferences

23. @jloomstein
Digital Space Consulting
Create. Connect. Engage.
Thank
You.

24. @jloomstein
DigitalSpaceConsulting.com
James@digitalspaceconsulting.com
Linkedin.com/in/Jloomstein
Slideshare.net/jloomstein/presentations
Twitter.com/jloomstein
Contact Information