The advertising industry is constantly changing and evolving. With an increased need for advertising, and increase in advertising saturation, how can ad agencies cut through and stand out? Where is an ad agency’s place with the emergence of AI? How can account managers work effectively with multiple clients? How do we as agencies overcome some of the advertising industry challenges?
Achievable, and identifiable KPIs
When asking clients what their goals are with an ad agency partnership, clients will simply say “we want to grow our business”. It can be very difficult as an agency to develop a strategy from that. Growing businesses is not a linear approach. Different strategies need to be implemented for different goals. A broad goal can be frustrating because it can discredit the agency’s progress. One way to help clients fully grasp agencies’ contribution and the necessity of advertising is identifying a clear KPI. A good KPI is narrowed in on one specific goal. An example of a clear KPI is: increase website traffic; grow Facebook followers; increase Instagram likes; grow subscribers; etc. A good KPI should be tuned in on improving one aspect. Once you have identified the area of focus, a time frame must be established. A realistic time frame to achieve these goals is crucial. Clients need to give the agency enough time to achieve the KPI. Although small KPIs can be achieved quickly, lasting goals take longer to complete. In order for advertising efforts to truly work, and have a lasting impact it will take a longer period to achieve and sustain. Lastly a KPI must have a realistic goal. Obviously, all businesses want to grow and be the best of their kind. Agency can help business grow exponentially, but it can’t happen overnight. For example, having a goal to increase website traffic by 700% in 2 months would be unlikely to be achieved. Having clearly defined goals can help show clients how you are contributing to their business versus a general idea of growing their business. It can explain exactly what areas were focused on improving, and by that approach grow their business overall.
AI v.s Human
As AI products grow, the question of what is AI place in the ad industry continues to rise. Can AI replace the need for an agency? How can the ad industry find a place in a world among AI products? AI can be a very resourceful tool. AI can enhance and not hinder the advertising industry. Advertising Agencies are filled with some of the most curious, creative minds with different backgrounds, experiences, and views. There is a personal touch that can’t be recreated with AI. Instead, using AI as a starting point or to set a layout is a good way to utilize it. AI creative is not as strong as the creative coming from someone working at an ad agency. Remind clients what they get with an ad agency, especially one that is a full service, like Miller. At Miller ad agency, all the people that work there are experts in their area. Whether that’s design expertise from Wade, or SEM help from Alex, Miller employees have much experience to offer. This experience can’t be replicated simply from AI. Remind clients why the human touch is important. Remind them of the personal things we catch versus AI. Whether that’s how some copy is read, or even a face-face meeting to provide better clarification on certain campaigns, show them why the human element is important.
Managing Multiple Projects
It can be challenging to work on multiple projects. Different clients have different needs, and everyone wants to do right by their client. How can someone manage working on multiple projects? It’s important to set aside designated check times for all the accounts. It’s critical to check on accounts to make sure campaigns are running smoothly and effectively. It’s a good practice to check in on all types of campaigns that are running, and check on consumer response. One should ask: does more budget need to be added or removed? Another way to successfully manage multiple projects is to share the wealth. If there’s one element that works well for one client it can work for another. An example of this would be how we like to implement landing pages because we saw success with one of our clients. Of course there are different approaches for different verticals, but sharing the knowledge learned from one account should be shared with another. Communicating thoroughly with clients is another way to aid in the account management process. Keeping clients updated and informed can help avoid any miscommunication on expected goals. Lastly, take it one step at a time. It’s easy to get scared with all the work that comes with managing a lot of accounts. But taking it step-by-step and writing out all your tasks makes it a lot less scary tackling so much.
