Perceptint Musings

I realized over the summer that the online marketing world was shifting faster than ever into overdrive and the breadth of knowledge within most buyers of online marketing services was still limited. Around that same time, I began to hear a refrain from customers of the agency I was working for. “We want strategy, and our agency - including you, isn’t giving us what we expect.”

Being inside one and knowing that other agencies were in the same boat, you realize how strategy at that level is confined to the scope of the agencies capabilities. If you’re talking about services you can’t deliver, you’re essentially recommending another agency for the job.

I knew that marketers were beginning to seek out advice from trusted sources that could help guide their thinking as well as the third parties that were helping with online marketing today. They were attending more trade shows, putting themselves out there more as buyers, so as to begin attracting people who could help them.

Over the course of a weekend, I began to spell out a new role that I believed would answer the questions I was hearing asked time and again. Below is the bullet list and brief descriptions from that initial brainstorm. The more I got on paper, the more excited and electrified I became.

Internet Marketing Specialist/Client Advocate

Services

1. Internet marketing plans, strategy and strategy review
2. Deep competitive intelligence – reviews of their online marketing activities, strategies, vendors, etc.
3. Technology reviews/executive briefings with sources on new marketing channels, social, local, etc.
4. How new technology’s should/could be incorporated into the overall online marketing plan both short and long-term
5. Strategic Agency Reviews
6. Executive Coaching/Training
7. State of the Market – yearly reports including review of their activities
8. Quarterly Briefings on new topics - one would be self-chosen, the other would be chosen by the client
9. Presentations/Public Speaking
10. Marketing Conference Reviews/On-site attendance with client team
11. Long-term planning/resource needs/agency RFP’s
12. Current program reviews/feedback
13. Recommended Reading List
14. Test site for 3rd party/agency technologies
15. Work with Analysts within organizations to determine campaign success, metrics, reporting, etc.  

Value to Client

1. Leading and timely Internet marketing strategy and information in easy to digest form from an industry veteran.
2. Tailored to their individual business/vertical.
3. Executive briefings/presentations included
4. Independent of agencies/3rd parties
5. Agencies have their best interests and capabilities at heart, I only know your business and your customers needs and can help drive agencies towards your goals
6. Custom Reports/Briefings to keep executives up to date on what they need to know
7. Honest feedback on agencies/strategies/performance of vendors
8. One client per vertical/competitive market

Needs from Client

1. Routine updates on business priorities/initiatives
2. Bi-weekly round-tables
3. Regulatory and Legal Briefings
4. Travel and Expenses as needed

I knew then that I’d have to quit my job to explore this opportunity fully. I checked into the legal aspects of my non-compete to gain legal counsel and better understand my rights. That cleared my conscience and gave me comfort knowing I wasn’t violating any contract to pursue my new idea.

I couldn’t live inside the agency and advocate changing the agency model at the same time. In another instance of good timing, my wife and I had also decided we needed to move as soon as we could for us and our daughters to be closer to family.

After I quit my job, I sent this same list to a former client who’d asked me to get in touch if I ever went anywhere else. The response back was, “When can you start?” A few weeks later and we were off and running.

My goal in publishing these business notes is to begin fostering and building a new niche for Internet marketing strategists who share a common language and are in the  pursuit of common goals for their clients. These are just my initial take on the present market and I look forward to personally refining them over the coming months. I also look forward to any other online marketers feedback on these concepts and more as I explore them over the coming days.

In the next day or so, I’m going to try and lay out a better picture of all of these bullets in action and better articulate them. I’ll give an inside view of what I believe a marketing advocate looks like and does for their clients.

© 2008 Keith Boswell