Attracting New Agency Business

by Jack Loechner, Nov 13, 2012, 6:15 AM

• Comment
• Recommend
• Tweet
• 

According to a new survey by RSW/US, about 8 in 10 agencies believe that the number of opportunities for new business are about the same as last year (34.4%) or have increased (44.8%). But, more than 8 in 10 say that obtaining new business is either as hard or harder than it was last year.

Difficulty of Obtaining New Business vs. Previous Year (% of Respondents)
Degree of Difficulty	% of Respondents
A lot easier	1.8%
Easier	15.7
The same	47.6
Harder	25.3
A lot harder	9.6
Source: RSW/US,October 2012

Agencies that say they are having a tougher time finding new business because they believe there are fewer opportunities out there, or not looking hard enough, or aren't open to starting a relationship with a small piece of a client's pie with the hopes of growing it into something larger.

Reasons For Difficulty in Obtaining New Business (% of Responses; Multiple Selections OK)
Reason	% of Responses
Less time to accomplish	20.7%
Fewer opportunities	65.5
Harder to break through to prospects	58.6
Can’t invest in new business program	5.2
Other	22.4
Source: RSW/US,October 2012

The most effective tools for generating new business, according to agencies, are referrals (59%), networking (57.4%), and business from existing clients (57.4%). As marketing ranks thin, there are fewer people moving from one company to the next - thus limiting referral and networking opportunities.

Marketing Tools Most Effective in Generating New Business (% of Responses; Multiple Selections OK)
Tool	% of Responses
Social media	11.5%
Referrals	59.0
Email marketing	11.5
Paid search	1.6
Organic search	4.9
Cold calls	18.0
Networking	57.4
Conferences	9.8
From existing clients	57.4
Presentations or speaking	24.6
Email campaigns	9.8
Source: RSW/US,October 2012

Agencies are significantly more likely to believe that the number of new business opportunities is increasing relative to last year, than remaining the same or declining.

Opportunities For New Business Relative to Previous Year
Opportunity	% of Respondents	Expectation For 2013
Remain the same	34.4%	34.4%
Increase	44.8	61.7
Decrease	20.8	3.9
Source: RSW/US,October 2012

Marketers are getting more and more sophisticated, says the report, and need firms to help them strategically find their way into the digital and social space, and integrate these new platforms.

Digital and social continue to drive new business opportunities for Agencies, with 76% and 53% of Agencies, respectively, stating that they are seeing these two areas as the biggest drivers of business relative to other marketing/media platforms.

Frequency of Business Opportunity Type (% of Responses; Multiple OK)
Type of Opportunity	% of Responses
Digital (web, design, mobile)	76.3%
Search (paid or organic)	19.1
Social media	52.6
Traditional (print, TV, etc)	46.1
Sales collateral	23.0
Trade show support	13.8
Media planning/buying	28.3
Inbound marketing programs	6.6
Source: RSW/US,October 2012

The report includes responses to questions from Adweek about the changing nature of how Marketers are reviewing agencies. Nearly 1/2 of all Marketers say that creative is always part of the pitch process. Operational considerations are growing in importance when reviewing Agencies (according to Marketers) 73% say it is "growing in importance".

Frequency of Creative And Operations Presenations Included in the “Pitch” (% of Respondents)
Included In Pitch	Creative	Operations, Resources, Efficiencies, Cost “Growing in Importance” (A lot to not at all)
10 = Always	12.8%	28.2%
9	10.5	16.5
8	22.1	28.2
7	18.6	11.8
6	12.8	5.9
5	8.1	5.9
4	8.1	2.4
3	5.8	1.2
2	1.2	0.0
1	0.0	0.0
Source: RSW/US,October 2012

And, from the “marketers” viewpoint, the report includes to the response to the question “... how do you most often learn about new (to you) agencies... ?

Marketers Learn About Agencies (Other Than Referrals; % of Responses; Multiple OK)
Source	% of Responses
Social Media	15.6%
Email from agency	58.3
Mailings from agency	49.0
Industry conferences	35.4
Webinars	11.5
Phone calls from agency	46.9
Source: RSW/US,October 2012

For additional information about the study and more responses, please visit RSW/US here.

• Comment
• Recommend
• Tweet
• 

Be the first to comment on "Attracting New Agency Business"

Leave a Comment