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Selecting South Florida Advertising
Agencies
by Jay Conrad Levinson
- South Florida Advertising Agencies Tip #1--
Be certain that the South Florida Advertising Agency realizes
that advertising is only a small portion of marketing. The agency
must demonstrate that it knows there are many other marketing
weapons and that it is capable of using (or directing the use
of) all the appropriate ones in your potential marketing arsenal.
Guerrilla businesses deserve guerrilla advertising agencies.
Don't settle for less.
- South Florida Advertising Agencies Tip #2
-- Ascertain that your account will be considered special
and deserving of the agency's top talent. Be sure that you meet
and talk to the people who will actually be doing your advertising
— creative, media, research, the whole works. See what else
the creative people have created. Ask about the results. Avoid
agency figureheads and get to know the troops who will be serving
on your front line. Is the chemistry right between you? Don't
underestimate the immense power of good chemistry.
- South Florida Advertising Agencies Tip #3
-- Be sure that your agency understands your company's
objectives and considers them reasonable. This understanding
will be reflected in the marketing and advertising strategy that
the agency creates for you. If it's missing, look elsewhere.
- South Florida Advertising Agencies Tip #4
-- Check to see that the people who will be working on
your account have the right credentials, experience, and attitude.
See if they are good listeners. If they haven't worked on a business
just like yours, don't worry. Just make sure that they understand
the critical relationship between profitability and creativity.
If it doesn't help you earn profits, it's not creative.
- South Florida Advertising Agencies Tip #5
-- Be positive that the people you will work with have
a knowledge of your business, an interest in your business, and
a knowledge of the competitive situation. If they've done their
homework by the time they present to you, they'll have these
things. If not, you're not interested.
- South Florida Advertising Agencies Tip #6
-- Look at the ads and other marketing materials they
have created: theme lines, logos, signs, telemarketing scripts,
brochures, videos, catalogs, newsletters, Web sites, direct mail
letters, postcards, posters, and even postcard mailers.
- South Florida Advertising Agencies Tip #7
-- The best advertising agencies have grown from the growth
of their clients and those clients' ever-increasing marketing
investments. That is a better benchmark than growth coming from
new clients. Such agencies are hard to find. But the search will
be worth your time.
- South Florida Advertising Agencies Tip #8
-- When selecting a South Florida Advertising Agency,
ask people from the agency to make a presentation to you, but
don't ask them to spend a lot of money doing so. Listen to their
words, hoping they will talk more about you than about themselves.
Be aware of the emphasis they place on the importance of a strategy,
for that strategy is crucial to you. See if they know how advertising
fits into the overall marketing mix. Be wary if they speak only
of advertising and nothing about marketing.
- South Florida Advertising Agencies Tip #9
-- You must do everything in your power to know the difference
between clever advertising and effective advertising. Be careful
if the agency relies too much on the use of humor, for humor
is often the enemy of effective advertising. Advertising gains
power through repetition, but humor becomes weaker with repetition.
If you're marketing candy or chewing gum, humor may help. But
if you're marketing high-priced offerings, humor rarely leads
to beautiful profit-and-loss statements.
- South Florida Advertising Agencies Tip #10
-- Be sure that your South Florida Advertising Agency
understands the crucial necessity for follow-up, that they are
abreast of the growth of online marketing, and that they are
up-to-date but not too far in advance of society.
- South Florida Advertising Agencies Tip #11
-- You can learn about agencies, not only by their presentations,
but also by walking around the agencies themselves. Look at their
work in progress for other clients, and see for yourself their
staff's passion and enthusiasm for creating advertising that
works.
- South Florida Advertising Agencies Tip #12
-- Be especially aware of advertising the agency has created
that has run for a long time. That's a sure sign that it is successful.
Be sure that the creative people are willing to experiment and
test, to create materials that are timeless. Watch out if they
create "vampire" advertising — the kind where
cleverness, jokes, and special effects draw attention away from
your offering.
- South Florida Advertising Agencies Tip #13
-- The key to great advertising is to forget the advertising
and be certain that the product or service is the star. Great
advertising agencies produce advertising that creates a desire
to buy. It is not supposed to make people say, "What wonderful
advertising!" Instead, it is supposed to make people say,
"I want that product."
- South Florida Advertising Agencies Tip #14
-- Advertising creativity comes from knowledge. The more
knowledge the agency's people possess, the more creative they
can be. That means a powerful agency asks questions, listens
to answers, engages in tireless research, and never stops learning.
- South Florida Advertising Agencies Tip #15
-- Can your South Florida Advertising Agency help you
engage in fusion marketing arrangements with others — where
you combine marketing efforts to reach more people, but save
money because you are sharing the cost? A top agency is able
to use technology to the utmost but not rely too much on it.
Its advertising begins with your offering and the reason you
are in business in the first place — not with a snappy jingle
or dazzling graphic approach.
Copyright © Jay Conrad Levinson 2000
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South
Florida, Miami, Fort Lauderdale Advertising Agencies: Advertising
agencies based on high quality of South Florida, Ft. Lauderdale,
Miami advertising agencies that understand what it takes to grow
businesses in this volatile economy. Approved by --
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