The Side Note

The newest contributor to The Side Note, Joshua Woolery, turned me on to Michael Gass and his blog FUEL LINES, which is all about “tips, tactics, trends, talent and tools for ad agency new business.”

One of Michael’s latest posts, “Prediction: Ad Agencies that make social media central to their business model will be hiring,” discusses how a midsized ad agency in Louisiana is having explosive new business growth by making social media an essential part of their business model.

According to Michael, the agency is “having a breakout year with 8 new accounts since the beginning of the year, profits up 104% over this time last year, 94% of the new clients located well outside their market. Their new clients are located in California, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington, Washington D.C. They even have a new account in London.”

Michael goes on to outline seven tactics the agency used to generate this success – everything from using social media to promote their own agency to leading with social media in initial prospective client discussions.

Making social media central to your business model may seem obvious to most, but I haven’t run across an agency yet that is having the abovementioned success. I think this Louisiana agency is a great example of how embracing social media wholeheartedly and not looking back can propel your business through the economic slump. It seems the agencies that pay heed may be the only ones standing once the dust settles.

On a side note (pun intended!), I’d like to welcome Joshua to the blog. We’re looking forward to his many contributions and hope you are, too. For more on Joshua and to read his first posts, check back throughout the week.