Personal Brand Development Benefits Ad Agency New Business

personal branding and ad agency new business

Park Howell is the owner and chief storyteller of the agency Park & Co

Growing your personal brand can greatly boost your agency’s new business opportunities.

It makes sense for the principal to be the face of the agency. Not only are they the least likely to leave, but usually small to midsize agencies are built upon the vision, values and the type of culture that best suites their owners. And, agency owners are critical to new business.

There are many situations where your personal brand is as essential, or even more so, than your agency’s brand.

Take a look at personal branding from a prospective client’s perspective:

  • Humanizing the agency
  • Improving employee communications
  • Building media relations
  • Sharing agency news and information
  • Improving your agency’s reputation
  • Demonstrating your agency’s innovation
  • Enhancing credibility
  • Attracting top talent
  • Sharing social responsibilities and causes

Growing your personal brand is made much easier through social media, fueled by content marketing, that will help generate inbound leads.

Here are three simple steps to grow your personal brand. 

1. Community development

One of the most significant changes to agency new business is that audience development comes before business development. You grow your personal brand by developing a targeted online audience.

Audience development is now a core marketing responsibility.

There should be a significant shift in your thinking. You need to embrace audience building as an important new business initiative and provide the necessary time and resources to build your online community of prospective clients.

But, many agencies continue to struggle with building an online community. A good number of agencies have the attitude that “if I build it, they will come” but that isn’t the case. To have success, it must be done the right way.

2. Create Value

You can grow your personal brand by creating an inbound marketing program which provides a system to better understand and engage your prospects

Here’s a crucial tip for building your online community of prospects:  Stop trying to sell your agency. It’s not about touting your credentials, capabilities and case studies. You will never build an audience without value.

Value is simply being of service. You identify the needs of your potential clients and then create and share information that is relevant to their challenges. You must be willing to share your expertise freely.

This is the secret sauce of success in social media and growing your personal brand. Spend more of time thinking about them than about yourself.

You won’t be valued if you are constantly touting your agency’s capabilities, accomplishments and awards. It’s not about you or your agency, you must stay focused on the challenges and needs of your audience.

3. Provide a Direct Connection to Your Agency’s Brand Leader 

As spokesperson-in-chief, your skills and experience in social media has become even more important.

Prospective clients expect to have direct connections to the agency’s brand leader. As an owner, you should communicate through social media to help your agency appear more human and too create a strong emotional connection with those you are trying to reach.

I learned long ago that PEOPLE want to work with other PEOPLE that they know, trust and like. Social media and developing helpful content is a much more efficient way of reaching prospects than the interruptive type tactics of the past.

The mix of your personal brand with a prospective client community can be powerful. Bottom line, if you develop your personal brand, you will help your agency acquire more new business.

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About Michael Gass

Consultant | Trainer | Author | Speaker

Since 2007, he has been pioneering the use of social media, inbound and content marketing strategies specifically for agency new business.

He is the founder of Fuel Lines Business Development, LLC, a firm which provides business development training and consulting services to advertising, digital, media and PR agencies.

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