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No Stock Photos: Using Social Media Images to Provide Value

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12Jul

While it’s true that there is a limitless amount of digital space, that’s only true in the technical sense. An infinite amount of brands can create social media accounts, but rising competition means that not every brand has an equal shot at being successful on social media.

Part of this is just name recognition. If you’re a small-town burger joint, you’re not going to be competitive with major fast-food chains no matter what you do. But a significant factor in social media success is the amount of effort you put into your content.

Stock photos and pre-made design templates from Canva are popular options when it comes to providing images for social media content. They’re attractive, professionally done, and—best of all—usually free.

The only problem is that every other brand in your industry knows that too, which is why so many have the same, disjointed social media brand identity when it comes to their socials. Stock imagery might be cheap, but it’s hard to build a distinctive brand with other people’s assets.

How can your brand avoid this? I feel that most brands get into the pit of stock imagery in the first place because they consider images and design as an accessory, not an asset. In reality, graphics and photography can tell just as much of a story as words can when created with intention.

Social media users want value from the brands they follow. Slapping a stock photo on every post just isn’t going to elevate you past the competition. But here are a few free ideas that will:

  • Instead of a picture and a post, why not combine them. Create a slick, branded graphic that conveys key information. Not only will it be unique to your brand, but it will force you to cut anything inessential to conveying your message since you’re working within the limitations of an image.
  • Use images to expand on a post’s information, not simply restate it. If your content is about dieting, your image could include a stat about weight loss or the “five foods that don’t taste healthy…but are!”
  • Reaffirm your company’s core values through imagery. If you focus heavily on diversity, pictures speak louder than words.
  • Realize that sometimes, no image is needed, especially on sites like LinkedIn or Twitter. If you’re on Instagram and using an abundance of stock photography, maybe that’s not the best platform for you.

To say that “pictures speak a thousand words” is a cliche, but that doesn’t necessarily make it untrue. It’s blatantly obvious when a brand is just putting their logo onto a free stock photo and calling it a day—is that the kind of image you want your brand to portray?

There are valid uses for stock photos. Websites and ads are great places to utilize them, but on social media, a little more creativity is required to project the kind of brand image that builds a credible reputation and invested online audience.

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The 4 Best Social Media Platforms for Audience Connection

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5Jul

The biggest asset of social media is that it allows your brand to have almost-instantaneous connections with your audience. While all platforms allow this, they are not all created equal and favor different kinds of brands.

Your Facebook and LinkedIn strategies, for example, should not be interchangeable. The two platforms have different uses, so your strategies should have different goals.

Building your social media audience will depend on you knowing which platform best aligns with your targeted demographics. To help, the best social media platforms for engagement, and which kinds of brands should use them, are outlined below.

Facebook: Facebook is your best bet for a community and eCommerce combo. Facebook audiences tend to be simple social media users (they skew much older than the other platforms on this list) but that does make them more likely to be brand loyal. However, the amount of engagement you get on Facebook depends almost entirely on how much money you put into advertising efforts like digital ads or boosted posts.

If your demographics skew older or your social media strategy is heavily ad-based, Facebook is the best option for you.

Twitter: If you’re looking to have naturalistic back-and-forths with your audience and can master the art of the meme, Twitter is the place to be. Unlike Facebook, where aesthetics and impeccable branding are important for garnering interaction, on Twitter your brand has the freedom to be more casual and engage with users on a more human level. Or, you can take a page from Wendy’s playbook by tweeting whatever you think is funny and seeing how well it sticks. Getting your goofy, non-sequitur tweets RT’d by larger accounts is one of the fastest ways your account can grow. Beware, though, that the retweet format makes it easy for audiences to take your posts out of context.

If your brand is socially aware or current-events based, Twitter is the right option for you.

LinkedIn: If you’re a business owner, especially one whose business relies on referrals, you need to be building an audience on LinkedIn. A lot of people don’t like LinkedIn’s DMs, which is understandable, they do have a reputation for being spammy. Luckily, growing your audience can be done entirely through your feed. LinkedIn, more than any other social media platform, respects thought leadership. If you have something unique to say about your industry (or even better, a niche within your industry) it’s easy to grow your connections quickly and build a reliable audience around your personal brand. Remember, though, that the real audience-building effort starts in the comments section. Never ignore your post notifications.

If you’re establishing yourself as a brand and need to make professional connections as well as build your reputation, LinkedIn is the choice for you.

TikTok: Unlike Instagram or YouTube, being successful on TikTok does not mean your videos need to have high production value. You just need to be engaging and know what the TikTok algorithm is favoring at any given moment. Community-building on TikTok requires very little comment effort from you at all. It’s not really expected that brand accounts engage in conversation, and the TikTok comments section isn’t really built for it anyway. As long as your videos are performing solidly, your community will build itself.

If your demographics trend younger or you have a skilled video content creator on your team, TikTok is the platform for you.

Now, what if your brand doesn’t fit into one of these categories? There’s nothing wrong with that—all it means is that your goals aren’t engagement-based. If you care about brand image and sales over audience-building, you’re more of a fit for Instagram.

Social media channels are not interchangeable and arbitrary. To maximize your audience engagement, you need to set up your digital presence to meet your audience where they’re at.

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Here’s What You Can Do If Your Clients Are Struggling

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28Mar

Lost revenue, lost labor, and a new economy to try and survive in—this is what the Covid-19 pandemic has given to businesses of all levels.

As marketers, we need to be understanding of the current climate and the delicate situations that our clients might find themselves in. If a client that you value your relationship with finds their business financially struggling, you don’t have to sit by and wait for them to walk away.

Here are three things that almost any agency owner should be able to do to lend a hand.

Introduce them to helpful members of your network.

As a business owner, you should have a robust network of connections that you can rely on for special projects or referrals. In your client’s time of need, it might be worth introducing them to a few members of your circle—or at least a mutual LinkedIn connection or two.

Strong relationships are essential in the growth and longevity of any company—it pays to take care of your network from time to time. If you can create a positive connection between your client and a member of your network, you could stand to build a stronger connection with both of them with very little effort on your part.

Say, for example, that you’ve passed your client on to a PR partner that you work closely with (I use this example because I’ve done it several times). Your PR partner will look kindly on you for the extra business and your client is likely to stick around longer because you’ve proven to be a helpful asset to their business beyond the scope of your campaign.

Extend a generous temporary discount.

If you see long-term potential with the client and they’re one that you enjoy working with, cut them a deal for the moment and give them a discounted rate.

A lot of businesses are still struggling right now as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic—the manufacturing and hospitality industries are at the top of the most affected list. If you have other clients who are paying enough that you can afford to give one client a temporary discount, there’s no reason not to slash your struggling client’s rate for a month or two until things turn around. You’re a marketer, after all—you should be able to work your magic on their business and increase sales to the point where they’ll be financially stable again in no time.

However, when I say “temporary,” I mean temporary. And make that clear from the outset of this agreement by clearly stating the length and terms of the offer. If you’re giving them a discounted month, make sure it’s no more and no less than a month. You do not want clients getting the idea that they’re being given a new, lower rate.

But what if they just take the discounted rate and then leave once the price goes back up? What I usually do is add an addendum that states for every month that’s discounted, another month is added on to the end of their contract. Remember, just because you’re doing someone a favor doesn’t mean you shouldn’t financially protect your own interests, too.

Tip them off about some best practices they might not know about.

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4 Red Flags of a Failing Campaign

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25Mar

Does your team have a hard time getting projects smoothly across the finish line? Does it feel like deadlines keep getting pushed back again and again?

To tackle your problems, you need to isolate them first and figure out their source. Here are the most common red flags that a campaign might be going a little off the rails.

You struggle to remember what you last talked about with the client.

Do you often find yourself saying “Wait, I have a meeting with that guy again already? What for?” The meeting might not be for anything in particular, as the client might just want to catch up on the campaign. But if they’re doing it too often, it’s typically the sign of a problem.

It’s hard to give individualized attention to every single client, but if you find yourself constantly trying to remember why you’re having a meeting, then for one reason or another you’re having too many meetings.

When a client blows up your calendar or asks early on for weekly or even biweekly meetings, it’s because they don’t have complete faith in you. Now, this might not be your fault — but it also might be! What could you be doing that’s making them feel insecure or like they need to be a helicopter client? Are you promising deadlines that your team is missing? Are deliverables coming back with a round after round of edits?

Take the time to figure out why a client feels the need to constantly be briefed on the campaign and fill in the cracks in their campaign swiftly and all at once. Cracks only grow the longer you leave them unattended.

Ideas are generated but never acted on.

You can’t hand-hold your team’s way through projects (nor should you have to), but for your own peace of mind, keep a tab of every idea that gets approved by the client and check to see if it’s been set in motion within 24 hours.

Everyone loves ideation, but initiative is sometimes a problem when it comes to getting things out of the idea phase. You want to show your client that you’re a proactive, forward-thinking agency. Letting things hang, especially ideas they were excited about, isn’t a good look.

My advice is to assign action items right after hopping off a call with a client. Round up your essential team, hammer out what tasks need to be done in what order and task each member with something to get moving on by the end of the next day.

Projects and deliverables are left hanging.

“I thought she was handling it?”

“Well, I thought you were handling it!”

“I’ve been waiting on so and so to give me such and such for two weeks — should I send them an email?”

These are things you never want to hear from your team. If you are, it means that a project is going to be seriously late — and possibly hasn’t even been started.

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Your Last-Minute Holiday Marketing Guide

Your Last-Minute Holiday Marketing Guide
23Nov

The gifts are wrapped, Christmas decorations have immediately replaced Halloween decorations, and soon Santa Claus will soon be violating international airspace laws to bring gifts to children around the world. Time is almost up…but you’re falling behind on your marketing goals, don’t fret! You’re not out completely of luck.

While the holiday season is the prime time for marketers, it’s a very brief and time-centric period, so you need to act decisively and quickly.

If you haven’t touched on the holiday season in your content at all, you’re missing out on a nice heaping helping of customer engagement and brand awareness. Or, maybe, you have done your due diligence and have been keeping on top of the holiday season, but you’re looking for that extra festive flair for your Facebook, Instagram, and other accounts. 

In the spirit of the plethora of gift-giving holidays that take place around the most expensive time of the year, here are a few content ideas that will help spark the holiday spirit…and fat Q4 sales.

  1. Updated festive visuals. Really, your banners on Facebook, Twitter, and Linked in should be changing at least quarterly, but this time of the year is basically a given. Add a Santa hat to your profile pic, a menorah to your cover image, flashing lights to your Instagram Stories, get wasted on boozy eggnog, and make ten TikToks (we’re not liable for the results of any of our advice). Above all, make sure your holiday-themed content has appropriately wintery and holiday-centric imagery.
  2. Flash sale! It’s a bit too late to do a “12 days of deals”, however, it’s still fair game for quick “limited time” social-media-exclusive sales. People make last-minute gift purchases all the time, but—and this is a major and very important but—make sure your shipping capabilities will get the product there before the end of the year. It’s forgivable to miss Christmas (a lot of families have Christmas get-togethers even after the 25th) but if you can’t get your product boxed up and packed in the sleigh before March, do not do this.
  3. Contests. Giveaways and prize draws are popular at any time of year, but especially during the holiday season. A big basket of merchandise or a larger grand prize will get people flocking to your page.
  4. Amp up your email marketing. While not strictly speaking social media marketing, an email marketing campaign is an effective and personable strategy content idea for reaching out during the holidays. Send out a few product-specific blasts that showcase some glitzy photography and you’ll be bound to pick up a few stragglers who put off shopping until the last minute. You’ll want to be very careful with your messaging around this time of year, however, considering the global…”thing” that is still ongoing. As far as consumers are concerned, COVID-era messaging is played out and depressing. Adding “these trying times” to your email won’t net you sales, and your final quarter projections are going to have a blue Christmas.
  5. Share your work family with your audience. Whether you post (not embarrassing) pictures from your Christmas party or your team reaching out to the community for a volunteering event, this idea adds a healthy dose of humanity to any marketing campaign. This type of content, above all else, should be promo-free.

So, maybe the holiday season snuck up on you this year, or you’ve been grasping at straws for what to publish. Either way, the ideas above will help you finish off the holiday season on a high note so you can focus on the new year!

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Your Instagram is Failing. Here’s Why.

Your Instagram is Failing. Here’s Why.
16Nov

Have you been noticing that your photos on Instagram—even though they are higher quality and more eye-catching than ever—just aren’t getting the same love they used to? It’s not a coincidence. 

For a long time now Instagram has made its intentions about becoming a video-centric platform clear. They no longer desire to be simply a photo-sharing application but rather a content app that can compete with YouTube, Snapchat, and, most importantly, TikTok. Photos will still be a main function, but it’s clear that Reels, Stories, and IGTV are what the platform has identified as its most essential parts.

What does this mean? It means a few things. The first is that if you’re only posting pictures you’re missing out on more than half of the functionality of the app.  It also means that the Instagram algorithm is likely starting to see you as an inessential user since you aren’t producing the kind of content they want to promote. And thus, you will not be favored and your content will not earn as many views.

And if you think you can get away with just sharing your TikToks or YouTube Shorts to your Reels and still get a max number of views, you’re wrong. Instagram has state-of-the-art copycat and repost detection—their algorithm will punish you if you simply recycle your TikToks onto Reels. 

Just like every other platform, Instagram is relying on exclusive content as the main attraction of their app—they have zero incentive to even let you post your TikToks there, even though for now you still can.

As an added negative, they are also becoming pretty snobby about the quality of the content that gets popular. If your Reel is blurry and not shot with stunning cinematography (by Instagram standards, anyway) it will sink to the bottom of the pile and go largely unrecommended.

So, what can brands and content creators do about this? Well, unfortunately for them, not much. Marketers have also noted an increasingly hard time getting anything past the Facebook censor once it’s boosted. When we use a platform, we only have two options—play by their rules or find somewhere else.

Now, in my personal opinion, I think Instagram’s rules are a benefit. They weed out content creators and marketers who aren’t willing to do the work and thus cut significantly down on competition. I know that my agency can produce the kind of high-quality content that gets favored by Instagram’s algorithm. If other creators could do the same they wouldn’t have to resort to reposting their TikToks. You don’t get to be an influencer or a tastemaker without putting the effort in. Sorry, not sorry.

Succeeding at any social media platform, especially as a marketer with client agendas to take into account is an uphill battle. Platforms like Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and the rest want to make money off their content creators but don’t really care if that cash flow is totally reciprocal. They have a pronounced distaste for branded content and that isn’t going to change. What you need to do is do the creative work to make your content engaging and have it be the kind of content that these apps want to promote. That really shouldn’t be too much to ask—it’s kind of your job!

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5 Rules of Social Media That Other Agencies Won’t Tell You

5 Rules of Social Media That Other Agencies Won’t Tell You
2Nov

Does it seem like social media marketing just clicks for some people? their content is perfect, they connect with the best people, there are “likes” aplenty—meanwhile your business or product of equal quality is straggling behind, trying to pick up a few modest likes and shares where it can.

Some people just can’t seem to grasp some of the most elementary concepts when it comes to Facebook, Twitter, and the other platforms. And that’s OK—you’re a business owner, not a social media expert. If these platforms could be mastered on their own, there wouldn’t be a need for digital marketing agencies. If anybody—even those who do claim to be social media gurus—say they’ve learned it all themselves, they’re lying.

The sad truth is that there isn’t an official “Social Media Marketing How-To Manual.” Any brand that’s succeeding at it has a marketing team or did at one point in the past. And as for marketers? We’ve all figured out what works and what doesn’t through trial, error, and a TON of hands-on experience.

But unfortunately, it isn’t in many brands or agencies best interest to share what they know. If you get as good at social media as your competitors, they face losing clients. And if you surpass the need for an agency then they’re SOL—it’s like in Terminator when the robots outgrew the humans. 

But, I’m going to do you a favor and loop you in—I’ll tell you why later. There are many unspoken rules of social media and how things work, but these are without a doubt the most essential. So let’s get started on everything you need to know.

  1. Don’t “Like” your own content. It’s nice to pat yourself on the back every once in a while, but don’t do it on social media. If your only engagement is from yourself, well, that will look a tad pathetic, won’t it?
  2. Respond to customers ASAP. Don’t forget, it’s SOCIAL media. That means these are channels of communications between you and your customers. Keep things positive, informative, and professional.
  3. Be involved in the community. Apart from having good customer service, you need to be social in other ways such as sharing other businesses’ content (as long as they aren’t competitors). You should also be hosting engagement-heavy content like contests, polls, and Q&A sessions.
  4. Abide by platform rules. Each social media platform connects people in different ways. LinkedIn is all about professional networking. Instagram is heavily focused on images. Twitter does best with news and current events. Make sure you “do as the Romans do” and shape your content to match what people flock to.
  5. Keep it visual, baby. It’s been proven time and time again that social media updates do significantly better with some form of visual. Whether you want to use a picture, video, GIF, 360-video, live broadcast, or whatever is next in the world of marketing, you need something to compliment your copy.

So, while there isn’t any go-to manual, these rules are a great starting point for marketers who are trying to hit the ground running with social media. As you abide by these unspoken laws, take the time to plan, write, create, strategize, and revise your methods. Trust me, your efforts will go a long way.

Why am I telling you all this? Because digital marketing is a complex and time consuming art, and no matter how good you get at it, unless you can afford to do it internally you’ll need to hire a team—and, to be honest, it’s easier for everyone involved when a client isn’t starting from zero.

So get posting! And when it’s time to scale up your operations, we just hope you’ll remember the humble agency who brought you to the dance to begin with.

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How to Grow an Audience: Brand Loyalty

How to Grow an Audience Brand Loyalty
26Oct

What is loyalty?

 In a sort of medieval sense, we think of it as a mass of people swearing fealty to a king or other institution. But it’s 2021, and there’s a lot of competition for that king slot. Being a well-known brand isn’t enough to guarantee you a massive following anymore. You have to earn your place at the top.

You may think brand loyalty comes from having a dominating brand and, to some extent, that is correct. In 2020 the brands that had the highest customer loyalty rankings were Netflix and Amazon, but that’s more out of ubiquity than the love of the brand. As the streaming wars continue, I think we can expect to see Netflix in particular fall a little lower on the list.

The Criterion Collection is a home-video distributor that releases on DVD and Blu-ray films that they deem culturally important. Their focus is on independent or foreign films, typically skewing towards movies from the 1970’s or older, that don’t have home releases on modern platforms. Were it not for Criterion remastering and releasing premium versions of these films, foreign masterpieces like Seven Samurai and 8 ½ could have easily slipped into obscurity and important eras of filmmaking would risk being lost entirely. 

Criterion is not a massive company, but they have brand loyalty that rivals big-wigs like Apple. Here’s why:

  1. Criterion is very careful about the quality control of their product. There are entire internet boards dedicated to comparing Criterion remasters frame-by-frame with the original prints of the films. Quality and attention to detail are something they know their audience values, so so do they.
  2. They aren’t niche. Competitors like Scream Factory and Arrow Video give the same TLC to their releases that Criterion does, but specifically to schlocky horror and grindhouse films. Criterion releases important cinema of all genres. Part of the fun of being an avid Criterion fan is that you never really know what’s coming up on the release schedule until they announce it.

Criterion cultivated and keeps a devoted following by being almost surreally in tune with what their audience wants. You may not think it, but they have a finger on the pulse of their social mentions and when they f-up, they’re quick to correct it.

One thing that is crucial to remember is that customer loyalty is as quick to fade as it is to appear. 

Chipotle was the center of a genuine obsession for many people in the late 2010’s—a cultural craze so hypnotic that one man made a mission of eating Chipotle for 186 days straight. Its brand loyalty soared above competitors like Qdoba who, let’s be honest, basically serve an indistinguishable product. And then…

Once hailed as the king of fast food, a 2016 breakout of E. coli within the chain became national news, causing their sales to nose-dive 30% in one quarter. That’s more than just health-conscious consumers deciding to eat elsewhere; it’s a concerted backlash formed by feelings of betrayal from people who help Chipotle close them. And while the restaurant’s reputation has recovered, for the most part, a sudden 30% dip in sales isn’t something most companies are built to withstand.

If you think your brand is too small to have the same kind of devoted following that your larger competitors do…you’re probably right, because that’s defeatist, loser talk. You CAN earn a massive audience just by taking the special care to listen to what your audience wants and deliver on it. That seems like something so simple it can’t be true, but you’d be surprised how few major companies invest in top-notch quality control.

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Can You Market on Pinterest?

Can You Market on Pinterest
19Oct

Here’s the one bit of advice to remember if you want to be a successful digital marketer: look at everything as a resource.

Someone who says “X social media site isn’t good for marketing” is a rookie and you should only look at any of their marketing advice with a healthy dose of suspicion.

Every platform has its uses, which is why today’s topic is: Pinterest.

As a digital marketer, be like Batman. He has a utility belt stacked with gadgets that he uses if and when he needs them. His grappling hook and batarangs get pulled out quite frequently, but his bat shark repellent (a real thing!), not so much. And while that last one sounds absolutely ridiculous, there have, in fact, been instances where he was lucky to have it on hand.

|Get a Free Consultation about Bat Shark Repellant Pinterest|

Pinterest is a unique tool. It won’t have applications for every campaign, but you need to know how to use it for the opportunities that come along where it’s the right tool for the job.

Adding Pinterest to Your Social Media Marketing Strategy

If you need proof that it can be used for social marketing campaigns, let’s look at some recent headlines.

In June, Pinterest and IKEA partnered up to create a “Renocations” feature, which helps users find inspiration for their next home renovation via a custom Pinterest board. Also in June they teamed up with Volkswagen to create a virtual test drive feature for the car manufacturer’s first electric model.

If you are new to Pinterest, once logging on and picking your interests, you will see that posts (or “pins”) are arranged in a different way. It’s too cool for traditional linear order! But the way it displays content isn’t the only element that is unique.

Check out these great ways to be a Pinterest pro:

First of all, Rich Pins are great ways for businesses to have an advantage over the competition. They will take some time to set up, but these posts have extended reach and your followers will be sure to view them easily and your content will be viewed.

Images are the biggest elements of your pins, literally and figuratively. As such, they should be bright, simple, and eye-catching. After all, they will be competing with many posts on the same subject, so you want your followers’ eyes to lock onto your pins as soon as possible.

Longer images work best on this social media platform thanks to its layout, but this can work in your favor, especially if you decide to add overlying text.

Speaking of the written word, you have the opportunity to add captions. You will want to take advantage of this. Pinterest isn’t the place for a long-winded block of text, but a couple hundred characters could help get your point across.

If your goal is to reach out to a local audience, you can utilize Place Pins. This will allow you to talk about a specific location and showcase imagery. This is a great way to show some hometown pride.

Lastly, keywords. When writing for Facebook and Twitter, the rule of thumb is a maximum of three hashtags per post. However, with Pinterest’s keywords, you can go crazy. The more the merrier on Pinterest! These will help you get a lot of attention on this popular website.

Pinterest is yet another avenue to tap into your customer base. It has a dedicated user base and you should research how you can take advantage of its unique infrastructure.

Has this blog got you wondering if your brand is pin-able? The Go! Agency offers a fully-developed Pinterest service.

Here’s a fact to make the decision a little easier: 87% of Pinterest users have bought a product because they saw it on the platform.

Mic drop. We await your call.

Editor’s Note: This blog has been updated and republished to reflect current information. The article was cleaned up, recommendations were reassessed, and references refreshed.

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13 Trends Agency Owners Can Leverage To Stand Out In 2022

13 Trends Agency Owners Can Leverage To Stand Out In 2022
18Oct

by Forbes Agency Council | Expert Panel 

From types of clientele to subject matter expertise, practice areas and menus of services, every agency has its particular differentiators that help it stand out in a crowded field and appeal to its target audience. Facing stiff competition to win clients, agency owners need to take note of emerging trends in their industry to ensure success in the coming year.

For insight into the latest movements in the world of advertising, marketing and PR, look no further than the advice members of Forbes Agency Council share below. If you’re an agency owner, learning more about the trends that will impact your business in 2022 can give you a head start on incorporating them into your client work and your own marketing strategy and help your agency stand out from and rise above your competitors.

This article originally appeared on Forbes.com, on October 18, 2021. Read the rest of the article here.

 

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