During last week’s Adweek Elevate: Publishing virtual event, Winmo’s VP of Sales, Ryan Wilkie, interviewed one of our newest clients, Jason Webby, Future‘s vice president of the Eastern region, for a Boardroom Breakout session. Future is a global multi-media platform that has 200+ brands and engages 400 million people across the US and UK (that’s one in three adults for those keeping score) through their websites, magazines, and events (hopefully we’ll see more of these in 2021).
Future is one of those unicorn brands that has found their stride during the pandemic — increasing their audience share, taking more number one positions, acquiring new businesses, and launching new verticals. With even more ambitious plans for 2021, Wilkie and Webby discussed Future’s growth momentum, new business philosophy, and powerful partnership with Winmo.
Ryan Wilkie: Tell us about Future and your role within the company.
Jason Webby: I’m the vice president of the Eastern region at Future. I oversee our advertising and also lead all of our programmatic strategy and development. Future, if you’re not familiar with us, is a global publishing platform of specialist media brands. Our formula is pretty simple. We create reviews and educational content that help people engage in the things they care about, and then ultimately help them figure out what they need to buy in order to live and experience those passions.
You might know us from some of our brands like TechRadar, PC Gamer, Guitar World, and Marie Claire. Over the years, we’ve amassed about 160 different brands and reach over 110 million US adults a month. So we’ve quietly become one of the largest publishers in the US that not a lot of people are familiar with.
RW: I know Guitar World and TechRadar, but not that they are under the Future umbrella.
JW: The decision in the past had been to really market the brands themselves. And then, as we started to get much bigger, we needed to be Future as a company. We especially needed the media community who buys advertising to understand that we’re not just a TechRadar, but this massive portfolio owner and there’s a lot more that we can do with different brands out there.
RW: 2020 has been a very strange year for all of us. How is Future fairing through it all?
JW: It’s crazy. I joined Future and at the end of June and still haven’t physically met anybody at my company, so it’s all been really strange. We just closed our financial year, posted record earnings, and closed our third acquisition that we’re really excited about, CinemaBlend. The website has 19 million unique monthly visitors, so the acquisition immediately makes us a top-five publisher in the entertainment space.
Concurrently, we launched the companion site WhatToWatch that recommends streaming options on services like Disney+ and Hulu. The one, two punch of these websites, on top of our 160 others, make Future a force to be reckoned with in the entertainment vertical. We have a legacy in the music industry with Guitar World, Bass Player, Louder, and a string of other niche music titles, but now we’re a player in entertainment. That changes the way we go to market and who we can do business with.
RW: To what do you attribute all of this year’s success?
JW: There are a few things at play. One, is our legacy verticals, tech, and gaming. During the pandemic, everybody’s working from home, had to buy new tech for their home office, and are playing video games. Our traffic in those two areas is through the roof. And because everyone’s buying tech and gaming equipment, those advertisers are spending.
Future is a leader in those categories and, on top of that, we create content that helps people make decisions. So, consumers read about the top 10 best Xbox controllers, then they can click to buy it. That implicitly means that people come to our sites with intent—either to learn something or buy something. Our campaigns tend to really perform well. We get a lot of repeat business.
One of the acquisitions we made in the past year was TI Media, which is a branch of Time Inc. over in the UK, and a number of different lifestyle brands over there that we’re now migrating over here as new launches, including Woman & Home.
We’ve also launched a couple of new ones, Real Homes, My Imperfect Life, and the fitness sites Adventure and Fit&Well. These are all very different than Tom’s Guide and Guitar World, so we’re still focused on our legacy categories while adding new ones.
RW: Are there any other new verticals you’re seeing increased value in right now?
JW: We have so much scale and we’re getting into new verticals that go beyond tech and gaming. We’re really going after automotive, women’s lifestyle, CPG brands, alcohol, home furnishings, fitness, and pets.
RW: How does Winmo help with your research and prospecting efforts?
JW: It’s a natural fit for what we’re trying to do. If we were just in tech and weren’t looking to grow, we already know everybody in this space and Winmo may not be as important for us. However, given that we’re entering into new verticals where we have very few relationships and don’t really know all the players. So having tools like Pathmatics and Winmo helps us understand how are these clients who we don’t know, spending their money and then who are the people we need to go build relationships with.
RW: A lot of clients come to Winmo for help to identify new opportunities, but it also protects and expands existing business. Does Future use the tool in both ways?
JW: Definitely for new verticals, that’s no question, but for current clients as well. Especially Pathmatics, which breaks up advertiser spend into different categories. If one of my top retail advertisers only does desktop display with us and we see that they’re spending thousands more on video, we’ve got a problem. We should be talking to them about our video offering. When we understand more about where our clients are spending their money, we can craft better proposals.
RW: What are some of the pain points your team experienced prospecting?
JW: The change in hand of people at different locations. We used to find a lot of out of date contacts. That’s definitely changed with Winmo. One of the ways we’re looking to use the platform more is actually in our onboarding. So, looking at market share data and really understanding our competitive space, the landscape, and how we’re doing. Are we growing our unfair share of that pie? And before we do that, we get to define what that pie is.
RW: How is Winmo helping to solve those problems? What are you using the tool to gain visibility into?
JW: As we enter into all of these new verticals, we have to be smart with our allocation of time and resources. We use it to really understand who the top spenders are, so we can prioritize our prospecting efforts accordingly and go after the biggest fish.
I also have an enterprise sales team that focuses on large accounts and a mid-market sales team for smaller accounts. That helps us identify prospects in both areas. I can say, okay, mid-market team, you’re going to go after these 5,000 accounts. Enterprise, you’re going to go after the top 500. It helps prioritize our efforts and quantify how we’re doing.
RW: Who else at Future is utilizing Winmo outside of the sales teams?
JW: Our creative solutions team uses Winmo because they can see the creative that people are using and have run. That’s helpful when we’re building custom projects. We also have our insights team that uses it to pull together data on what’s happening in the industry and for our board level that goes up to our CEO. That’s a new effort for us, so we will need to lean on you, Ryan.
RW: Awesome. We’re here, man.
If you liked this blog post, check out:
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New CMO Hires: Q1 2021
in Ad Sales, Agency New Business, Marketingby Samantha StallardThere are hundreds of C-suite shakeups every day across industries. It can be easy to miss these moves — and the awesome opportunities that come with them. In particular, a new CMO often signals large-scale sweeping changes within an organization. Rebranding! New website! Request for proposal!
Download 25 Brands with New CMOs – Q1 2021 list
First-time CMOs and new hires are the top trigger for agency changes, media spending shifts, and new martech investments. New hires evaluate these areas and begin making adjustments within a 3-12 month window. In fact, a Winmo study shows that on average, a new AOR is typically named 6-18 months after the CMO is hired.
From a prospecting perspective and with such a short turnaround, it’s crucial to stay up to date on any new hires or promotions, and have pitches prepared in order to stay one step ahead of the competition.
Our latest list, 25 Brands with New CMOs: Q1 2021, provides the names, titles, contact information, and previous job information for marketing executives who have taken on a new role in the last few months. Below, we’ve highlighted even more information from four of these newbies. Keep reading to discover seller, agency, and martech opportunities and uncover a deeper knowledge of what’s going on behind-the-scenes at these big brands (then, download the full list).
1) Alicia Waters: CMO, Crate & Barrel
In October, the retail chain promoted Alicia Waters to the role of CMO. She most recently served as Crate & Barrel’s marketing VP after joining its CB2 brand as a marketing director in 2012. Her promotion leads to shifts in the company’s advertising strategy and is her first CMO role, replacing incumbent Suzy Cirulis.
Due to the pandemic, Crate & Barrel now promotes its eCommerce platform more than retail locations.
Per Pathmatics, Crate & Barrel generated 1.4b digital impressions in 2020 via Instagram (30%), desktop display (28%), Facebook (22%), desktop video (18%), and mobile display (3%) ads. This increased focus on paid social proves the company’s traditional “momvertising” target demographic currently skews toward Gen-Z and millennials. To reach this audience, it may also invest in OTT advertising.
2) Phil Cook: CMO, WNBA
In December 2020, the WNBA’s leadership team welcomed the brand’s first CMO, Phil Cook. Previously the senior brand director of Nike’s concepts and consumer go-to-market, Cook created commercial and branding opportunities for Nike Basketball and drove the evolution of the company’s dedication to the Female Basketball Athlete.
The WNBA is preparing for its historic 25th season, which will likely experience significant advertising spend.
Cook will spearhead the development of innovative marketing campaigns and brand messaging across platforms, connecting and engaging with fans and influencers. Additionally, he will assist with the execution of a growth strategy to drive the brand as a bold, progressive entertainment and media group focused on diversity, equity, social justice, and the power of women.
3) Roxy Young: CMO, Reddit
Reddit promoted marketing VP Roxy Young to CMO in November 2020. Young has been with Reddit for the last three years and served as marketing VP of Hipmunk prior to that. According to Pathmatics, Reddit earned 139m impressions through desktop display ads (56%), mobile display ads (25%), Instagram ads (15%), Twitter ads (2%), and Facebook ads (2%).
4) Suzy Deering: CMO, Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company tapped Suzy Deering, the former global CMO of eBay, as its global CMO to drive marketing modernization, deliver brand strategy, and create best practices. Specifically, she will use data and technology to develop advanced customer experience. Deering replaces Joy Falotico, who vacated the CMO role in October to focus instead on Ford’s Lincoln brand.
This appointment signals that Ford’s other leaders want to continue bolstering its tech to compete more with companies such as Tesla, Uber, and Lyft. It’s also a bit odd considering companies in the auto industry tend to hire top marketing leaders from within and considering Deering lacks significant automotive experience.
Ford dropped ad spend in 2020 because of how hard the global pandemic hit the automotive industry. The company’s focus on desktop display, paid social, OTT, and podcast ads signal its historically male target demographic skews heavily toward Gen-Z and millennials.
Download 25 Brands with New CMOs – Q1 2021 list
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Helping Agencies Thrive in 2021: Q&A with AffinityX
in Ad Sales, Agency New Business, Marketingby Samantha StallardLast year, businesses of all sizes and across industries, from bespoke shops and start-ups to international holding companies, were stretched thin. Then sweeping changes were implemented when COVID hit, especially at SMBs and agencies. As a result, their clients and customers reacted out of impulse and fear and halted spending to stop the bleeding. While recovery is well underway, the underlying lesson was that there’s no returning to “business as usual.”
As a result, and with every other facet of life, we had to build a new normal. The biggest realizations? Finding a niche will make you more desirable and you can’t go at it alone. Now, the most successful brands and agencies are those that work with valuable partners to fill the gaps.
To accomplish this, many SMBs are turning to AffinityX for their digital marketing solutions. AffinityX is unmatched in its experience, solutions, and technology. As a white-label provider for digital products, ad operations, campaign management, and creative works, the company serves a high caliber of clients. I sat down with Director of Business Development, Sara Droke, to discuss what drew her to the company, agency sector growth, and why they work with Winmo.
Samantha Stallard: First, tell me about AffinityX.
Sara Droke: We power some of the biggest brands and local media companies by acting as an extension of their team. This is done through digital product fulfillment, ad operations, creative design, website development, copywriting, and SEO, among others. AffinityX is a global company. We operate on three continents with offices in the Philippines, India, Serbia, and the US. Our current partners remind us that our use of people, processes, and technology allows them to deliver high quality, predictable performance with a 50% cost reduction.
SS: Describe your role within the organization. Beyond that, what drew you to this company?
SD: As Director of Business Development, I’m responsible for finding and creating new partnerships. Prior, I worked as a digital sales manager for a broadcast and print media newsgroup. While there, we built a separately branded digital agency that leveraged various white label partners.
Having that experience, AffinityX impressed me with their technology, infrastructure, and unique understanding of the challenges that local media and agencies face today.
When you look at our business development, client solutions, technical account, and project management teams, almost all of us came from a local media or agency background. That experience informs all of the decisions we make as an organization. You can trust that we are innovating to solve the everyday challenges that these organizations are facing.
SS: What are your company goals for 2021?
SD: Most importantly, we’re focused on growing in the agency sector. We’ve been talking to a lot of agencies and we’re finding ways to help them save money and grow revenue in a more efficient way. Economic conditions have been tough, but we’re finding ways to help agencies not just survive, but thrive, in 2021.
SS: You mention opportunity growth, how does AffinityX help agencies achieve that?
SD: Specifically, we empower agency resources to stay focused on activities that capture more of their customer’s spend with minimal risk and tremendous upside:
SS: What are the biggest challenges on the horizon for agencies today? How does AffinityX address those challenges?
SD: Today, as the world continues its recovery from the economic recession, continuing revenue fluctuations are perhaps the biggest challenge we see. In November, Forrester predicted a 23% decrease in total spend in the US marketing sector, with agencies taking the biggest hit.
Today, agencies must arm themselves with more technology, forecasting trends, and automation tools to make smarter marketing decisions. We all know that the market is constantly evolving. For example, 27% of cable subscribers plan to cut the cord in 2021 — almost twice as many as in 2020. And in fact, for the first time ever, advertisers can reach more households through Connected TV than traditional linear TV.
Agencies will need to adapt their marketing recommendations to fit the evolution of the market. Plus, invest in solutions that drive trackable results and ROI for their clients.
At AffinityX, we understand that cost management has never been more important for agencies. Similarly, we can dedicate resources, a team of any size, which the agency can control. As a result, the costs are variable without having to make an upfront investment. Our global infrastructure provides us the ability to be both highly responsive and extremely nimble in support of our agency partners. Ultimately, we empower agency resources to focus on activities that capture more of their customer’s spend with minimal risk. And tremendous upside.
SS: Why did you decide to implement Winmo?
SD: Before, we worked with ZoomInfo. Then, we got a peek at Winmo — the level of data and the types of data points that are in it are 100% applicable to the sectors we want to serve. Above all, to have a tool that’s populated with very sound data and ways to identify our clients and create efficiencies in prospecting is invaluable.
In fact, we’ve already begun our marketing outreach using the Winmo data and are excited to start our business development efforts with such a refined list of targets.
SS: Lastly, what are the biggest lessons from 2020 agencies should take with them into this year?
SD: First, agencies need to be nimble to maintain continuity in quality and service level agreements. Second, agencies need to ensure that they have a diverse product portfolio. They must be a continued resource to clients as market demand shifts for various products. For example, in 2020, we saw drastic increases in spend in OTT/CTV and Programmatic Audio as a result of a homebound audience due to the pandemic and a shift in viewership/listenership to streaming content.
Most importantly, we stand ready to partner with agencies in 2021!
Sara Droke joined Affinity Express in 2018 and serves as the Director of Business Development. She brings more than 15 years in strategic sales, digital marketing, and media with an emphasis in digital advertising.
At AffinityX, Sara pioneers partnership development across a multitude of agencies, brands, and local media companies. Prior to joining the company, she served as the Director of Emerging Media for a local media news company, where she drove significant revenue growth.
Sara holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration and Management from Bethel University in Tennessee and graduated Magna Cum Laude. She and her husband Geoff reside in Kentucky and have four children.
Find AffinityX on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
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Accomplishing Miracles Through Sponsorship: Q&A with The Spirit of Liberty Foundation
in Breaking News, Marketing, Sponsorshipby Samantha StallardTomorrow, the US will welcome a new president into the White House. After almost a year of COVID, a summer of social unrest and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, and seemingly endless political battles, many of us have looked to January 20, 2021, as a marker into a new era. And one Winmo client will have a special place in the celebrations.
The Spirit of Liberty Foundation, under the leadership of trustee, Richard Rovsek, was originally formed to raise funds and to assist in the restoration and maintenance of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. After the restoration was completed, and as a result of 9/11, the Foundation’s mission was changed to enhance the meaning and importance of liberty. Today, they also support the creation of meaningful jobs and incomes as well as aid first responders.
I spoke with Richard to uncover how the Winmo client discovers new corporate sponsorship partners, how they responded to the trials of 2020, and accomplishing miracles on a minimal budget.
Samantha Stallard: Tell me about the Spirit of Liberty Foundation.
Richard Rovsek: The Spirit of Liberty Foundation is a 501 (c)(3), nonprofit foundation. I founded the Statue of Liberty – Ellis Island Foundation and personally raised over $150 million from major corporations to be sponsors. There had never been a campaign that was that successful.
Fast forward to 2001-2002, Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, MD was filled with injured young men and women from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I convinced Macy’s to loan their Santa Claus to visit the hospitalized soldiers, bringing them gifts and messages from congress members, the president, and the first family.
Now we call it Operation Christmas Miracle – The Believe in Santa Tour, which just wrapped up its 19th year. Our Santas are all over the US and were even invited by the commanding general to visit a base in Iraq, we sent “America’s Santa” — a Vietnam veteran in a camouflage suit. There are several hundred thousand young men and women on bases around the world who can’t be home for Christmas, so we bring the magic and spirit to them.
SS: How does the Spirit of Liberty Foundation achieve its goals as a Winmo client?
RR: Spirit of Liberty is a small operation. We accomplish miracles with minimal money and modest staff and Winmo allows us great access. The world has changed, it’s more difficult to connect with the right people. I used to pick the phone up and call the CEO of IBM’s personal assistant to schedule a meeting. Now, when you call, they say, “go online.” As much as the world’s changed if we send 100 emails to 100 CEOs, we’re going to see a 20-30% response rate.
We give them a reason to respond to us and Winmo provides us that access that we wouldn’t otherwise have. Our goal simply is to generate corporate participation and funding for projects that make a difference.
Yesterday, one of our sales employees went through 150 corporations that I wanted to be identified. In a couple of hours, we narrowed down all the companies we hope to partner with, including the contact information for their CEOs, CMOs, and PR teams. Winmo is so critical to our success, because it gives us extraordinary, accurate access to decision-makers.
SS: What companies have Winmo helped you reach out to and partner with?
RR: We’ve connected with Ford Motor Company, Chrysler, General Motors, Texaco, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Eli Lilly, and Johnson & Johnson just to name a few.
SS: How did the Spirit of Liberty Foundation respond to the COVID crisis?
RR: The healthcare professionals in this country, whether they’re orderlies, nurses, or doctors, are today’s greatest generation. They’re in the trenches fighting a very evil enemy, just like our soldiers did in World War II. I don’t think we can ever say thank you enough.
I convinced the Pilots Association and private air crafts owners to participate in what we called Operation Thank You, The Relay in the Sky. We had over 100 pilots and private planes crisscross America landing at the FBOs, the private hangers, thanking healthcare workers as we crossed America. We did it in five weeks. Governors drove out with their staff and waited for the plane to land. Our last flight was in Washington D.C and had over 100 veterans and VA hospital doctors, nurses, police, and firefighters waiting for us, as our conclusion of Operation Thank You.
SS: What’s next for your team?
RR: Right before Operation Thank You, I asked governors to give us state flags and had them all sewn together on racing sailcloth, for boat yachts. In the upper left-hand corner is Delaware and the bottom right is Hawaii. It measures 25×30 feet. We unveiled it in San Diego then took it to the Capitol for Veterans Day.
I was absolutely elated, that without even saying it, we had headlines like, “America’s flag is the real flag. Bringing America together,” et cetera. It’s not just stars, it’s states. You can see their personalities. We’ve been asked to have that flag carried in the inauguration behind Joe Biden. And he made a statement, “There are no red states, there are no blue states, they’re all American states.”
We’re definitely going to stay on as a Winmo client because, frankly, it’s a bible. It’s a bible that’s so needed and you’ve done a great job of keeping up with the times.
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Emerging Industries Report: Q1 2021
in Ad Sales, Agency New Business, Sales, Sponsorshipby Samantha StallardAdvertising is a $100 billion industry that was rocked throughout 2020. According to Kantar, there were significant ad spending declines for the first half of the year in every medium. Print was the most affected, with year-to-year ad spending declines of 24.6% for magazines and 36.3% for newspapers. Even digital media fell 18% from 2019. Even though we were all stuck at home watching our average weekly screen time shoot up, cautious brands didn’t spend on advertising.
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Now, the advertising industry is piecing together lessons from last year. Executives responsible for budgets, specifically CMOs and CROs, feel the pressure to be even more accountable for every dollar spent. So look out for digital-first advertising and integrated communication strategies.
According to Gregory Aston, head of digital media research science, Kantar Media Division, in a November 2020 interview, “Brands need to focus not only on how paid media influences consumer behavior but how those paid media amplify messages across owned media — websites, apps, e-commerce, CRM,” said Aston. “And then, how the brand sustains and leverages consumer connections through user-generated content, earned mentions in social media or the press. The implications for agencies are that they’ll need to be able to engage across all these assets and deliver on a holistic strategy.”
Subtle trends emerged even before COVID hit that accelerated spending habit shifts, giving rise to fertile ground for ad revenue. Consumers wanted direct, digital access to goods and services. Convenience became king as we discovered everything from prescription reading glasses to dinner for the week could be delivered to our doorsteps.
Throw in a pandemic and we doubled down on our need for convenience and accelerated the desire for other emerging industries. Entertainment became top of mind while quarantining in our homes. Consumers required relief for anxiety and depression in response to health and financial fears. Then, with our constant focus on staying healthy, the healthcare industry had to pack years’ worth of digital transformation into just a couple of months.
Take advantage of early indicators to get in with these top four emerging industries ahead of major campaign planning:
Want to discover where smart sellers are spending now? Download Winmo’s Emerging Industries Report: Q1 2021 here.
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Updated: How to Build a Winning New Business Referral Strategy
in Agency New Business, Business Development, Marketing Techby Marilyn Mead BrutocoWe work with thousands of agencies – big and small – who come to us with the same question, how do I grow my business and add new clients? There’s no way around the need to prospect for new clients proactively, but add to that a fine-tuned, consistent referral strategy and you’ll be casting an optimal net. We’re not advocating making referrals the sole driver of your business, as that’s a recipe for failure, but we do have some tips on how to optimize this channel as one of several by which you’re connecting with clients.
When it comes to referrals, you might be wondering: How do you ask? When do you ask? What do you say? We’ll cover those points, and even give you a sample template, but first, let’s discuss the benefits.
Referral Strategy Benefits for Agency New Business
Quick tips to build your referral strategy
1) First, set your target
In business, we measure the results to improve the performance of any metric. Set clear goals with a timeline. For example, a 10% increase in referral business leads over the next 10 weeks.
2) Watch your timing
Conventional agency business development wisdom suggests the best time to ask for the referral is immediately after the close. This tactic is far too aggressive. Give your clients time to experience your expertise, build a relationship, and see real credibility before asking for a referral.
3) Make a top 20 list
Not all clients or LinkedIn 1st degree connections are referral candidates. Find the top 20% that would be advocates of your business and ask them for referrals. Make sure their connection that you request an introduction to is exactly the type of client you’re seeking – and be specific about providing a relevant reason as to why an introduction would be of value to their connection. More on that in a moment.
4) Give and get
Offer your top 20% referrals with extra service and follow-up support before asking. When you give willingly to your clients and prospects, they’ll return the favor. Before you ask, make sure your current clients are motivated to pursue referrals for your business based on their experience.
5) Be specific
Inform your referring leads of exactly who you’d like a referral from, why it would be of value to them to meet you, and have a sense of urgency built into the ask. A key component to your referral strategy is making sure your clients are aware you want referrals and being clear about how they can help.
6) Surprise and delight
Keep those who refer you in-the-loop on what the outcome is of their referral. Most agency business development people drop the ball here, and it’s a critical step to ensure additional referrals from that person. We all like to feel validated in the efforts we undertake. Then surprise them periodically, either with a referral, a personal gift, or just some industry intel of value.
7) Be consistent
To be successful, you must focus on making your agency’s new business referral program a prioritized aspect of your daily routine. Above all else, this will be the make or break of your referral campaign’s success.
Now what?
Well, the following email/ voicemail structure has proven to be successful (when made your own) for a number of our clients, as well as within our organization.
Sample referral strategy messaging structure:
Opening: Hello.
Paragraph 1: Ask for help, displaying trust, and vulnerability.
2: Confidently and specifically detail the type of help you’re looking for, and why.
3: Precisely how they can help you and how easy you’ve made it for them to do so.
4: Sense of urgency built into the closing.
Close: Thank you.
Example: Digital Agency – Expertise in Connecting Brands with Gas Powered Athletes
Hi Matt,
Good to chat last week. A quick favor to ask – I’m looking to add just one, highly specific client to our agency family this year who shares the same values that we do, and I find that the greatest way to determine a best-fit and filter is through existing friends – I’d look to you for ultimate guidance on this.
If you’d be open to it, I’d love the opportunity to demonstrate our horse-power to Megan Gillam who oversees Consumer Marketing on the Ford F-150 Raptor team.
Given our experience and expertise in the space with GMC Trucks and Honda Motor Sports over the years, I hoped that you’d be open to an introduction to Megan for me this week?
Specifically, she’d find value in an initial conversation with me on the “Gas Powered Athlete” communications platform; built on our expertise of building the brands that power and sustain them.
I’m hoping that you’d be able to introduce me before next Tuesday, the 15th, as we have some timely industry knowledge that I’d like to include in our conversation. Attached is an executive overview for her review.
Many thanks in advance for your help in introducing Megan and me.
Final thoughts and next steps:
There’s really no need for sweaty palms in agency new business. You can remove a lot of the anxiety by simply having a plan and prioritizing it as a part of your daily routine. If the rejection is a primal fear of yours, a consistently implemented referral program will ease you into a proactive new business, setting the stage for you to test and refine the way in which you position the agency, and find and engage relevant new relationships with marketers.
Finally, a word of caution: having worked in the agency new business space for 20+ years, we know that a good referral strategy is an important part of your new business routine, but it can’t be the only part. At Winmo, we see agencies become so reliant on referrals that they ignore the need to proactively prospect, and end up missing out on opportunities to work with their dream clients. So make it part of your mix, but not your sole solution, and you’ve got a winning plan.
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21 Sales, Media, and Advertising Statistics for 2021
in Ad Sales, Agency New Business, COVID-19by Samantha StallardAnnual goal setting feels a little more loaded now. 2020 shook us to our operational-budget-core and while 2021 already feels more promising than its predecessor, the rate of recovery is still unknown. Luckily, there are industry experts from McKinsey to Zenith who spent the year collecting data, sponsoring surveys, and calculating projected ad spend statistics based on the hellfire we survived.
Keep reading to uncover 21 statistics on the state of business in Q1 2021. From COVID recovery to small business insights, sales surveys to media spend predictions, here are the numbers you need to know to kick off your revenue strategy this year:
83% of small business owners believe their business will perform better in 2021 than in 2020. (McKinsey)
Consumer Products and Education are the industries with the highest close rates for sales opportunities, at 97%. (HubSpot)
Worldwide advertising revenue for media owners will jump 10.2% to a record $651 billion in 2021 after falling 4.1% in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic. (GroupM)
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Updated: Top Independent Media Agencies
in Ad Salesby Samantha StallardIn 2020, we all pushed our operating budgets to their breaking points. Brands were forced to eliminate unnecessary overhead for survival. Luckily, the demand to streamline actually gave a much-needed boost to many independent agencies. These smaller shops already operate on tighter budgets and aren’t beholden to a parent company. Independent agencies are scrappy and adaptable with the freedom to operate under an ask-for-forgiveness-not-permission mentality.
Download the Top Independent Agencies, Q1 2021 full list
However, with increased freedom, comes increased challenges. Independent agencies must respond to the always-changing ad world, especially shifts in media consumption and the emergence of new technologies. However, there are unique advantages.
According to Digital Remedy:
Keep scrolling for the top 10 list media agencies outside a major holding company, but still holding major client ad spend. Using the smart filters in Winmo, we compiled this list of independent agencies that handled at least $100 million in media spend over the past year. Access the full list.
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Winmo’s Top 5 Most Viewed Blog Posts of 2020
in Breaking News, COVID-19, Marketingby Samantha StallardNot surprisingly, the majority of Winmo’s most-viewed blog posts in 2020 centered around the pandemic. We spent the spring (and summer and fall) turning to content in record numbers. Our industry, rooted in a rich competitive spirit and seven-figure contracts, united to share knowledge and support each other in survival. Keep reading to be re-inspired by the information that pushed us through the hardest professional year to date. And cheers to 2021…
1) List of Agencies in the Omnicom Network
No company was immune from the trauma of 2020, even Omnicom. According to reporting from The Drum, the American global media, marketing, and corporate communications holding company slashed its operating profit down 89% to $62.5m and cut 6,100 staff of 70,000 at the beginning of 2020. The worst-hit sectors? Events, field marketing and merchandising, and media.
However, one thing the company did right, was act quickly and recover swiftly (an accidental rhyme, but let’s go with it). By canceling leases on over 1 million square feet of office space across the globe, Omnicom generated $500m in annualized savings. Then, they sped up digital transformation initiatives and won two big accounts, Peugeot and Air France.
Check out the full list of agencies in the Omnicom Group. Keep in mind, this list profiles each agency by headquarters. Want more information on satellite offices or regional teams across the country? Tweet us, send a LinkedIn or Facebook message, or join our Scoops group for access to even more agency information and contact, specifically.
Read more here.
2) 30 Sales Quotes To Keep You Motivated Through Quarantine
Bookmark this post and keep these 30 motivating sales quotes handy for the next month as you survive the quarantine:
Read more here.
3) 7 Business Development Trends for 2020
The digital transformation continues and technology will enable organizations to create personalized interactions to build deeper customer relationships at a higher pace than ever before. In addition, advancements in machine learning and the recent rollout of 5G around the globe are transforming capabilities across all industries. For help energizing your business development strategy, we’ve gathered the top new business trends that will impact growth through 2020 and beyond. Which business development trends are you incorporating for this fiscal year?
Consumers will demand more control over their data: Beginning with the CCPA in January 2020, there will be a continued interest among consumers to ensure businesses are better protecting their data. This state-level legislation is beginning with California, with interest from several other states who are likely to follow suit. This is just the start of data regulation and privacy evolution, and governments around the world will begin to change their approach to regulation.
Increased emphasis on personalization: In 2020, anything that can be personalized will be personalized. A supermajority of consumers prefer to work with brands using channel of choice communication and personalized experiences. Instead of showing every little thing to the customer, you can digitally cut the noise and show the options most relevant.
Read more here. (Even with an unexpected pandemic, we still saw many of these trends pull through!)
4) What Agencies Should Be Doing in This Downtime
“We’re too busy taking care of our clients” is the reason most agencies give for not investing time in their own brands. At the moment, things are different. While we’re all facing significant challenges, the current crisis provides an opportunity to work on the issues and opportunities that sit on the back burner of most firms. Now’s the time to marshal the time and brainpower of your key people to address these seven game-changing priorities.
Mend your website: Agency websites are notoriously a “works in progress,” and very few receive the time and attention they need to serve as a potent new business tool. Here are 10 ways you can optimize the effectiveness of your website right now.
Tighten up your positioning strategy: Now more than ever, marketers need expertise designed to solve business problems; they need heads, not hands. The thorny business challenges that will emerge from this economic downturn will require specialists, not generalists. Use this time to walk through this process to declutter your business strategy.
Read more here.
5) 6 Brands Targeting GenZ Through eSports
While some of these brands have hitched their wagons to eSports properties directly, others are simply known to target eSports gamers as a demographic. Ad sellers and sponsorship sellers catering to a GenZ audience should both take note of these opportunities, as should agencies and other service providers specializing in youth marketing.
Jones Soda launches new flavors and sponsors eSports race amid global pandemic. Jones has become a corporate sponsor of The Race All-Star Esports Battle. This virtual event was created in the wake of major motorsport cancellations due to the pandemic. The race’s inaugural week had a combined total of 12.1 million views on The Race’s YouTube channel.
Acer’s Predator brand expands partnership with Envy Gaming, ups digital spend. Acer has expanded its partnership with Dallas-based Envy Gaming, according to eSportsObserver. The Taiwanese computer-maker is known to the gaming world for its Predator gaming line, which was named the official computer and monitor partner for Envy Gaming’s Dallas Fuel. Future plans for the partnership include the Predator Gaming Lounge at Envy headquarters. It will be used for local watch parties, tournaments, and K-12 seminars covering esports.
Read more here.
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How Winmo Launches Publishing Giant Into New Verticals: Q&A with Future’s Jason Webby
in Ad Sales, Agency New Business, Marketingby Samantha StallardDuring last week’s Adweek Elevate: Publishing virtual event, Winmo’s VP of Sales, Ryan Wilkie, interviewed one of our newest clients, Jason Webby, Future‘s vice president of the Eastern region, for a Boardroom Breakout session. Future is a global multi-media platform that has 200+ brands and engages 400 million people across the US and UK (that’s one in three adults for those keeping score) through their websites, magazines, and events (hopefully we’ll see more of these in 2021).
Future is one of those unicorn brands that has found their stride during the pandemic — increasing their audience share, taking more number one positions, acquiring new businesses, and launching new verticals. With even more ambitious plans for 2021, Wilkie and Webby discussed Future’s growth momentum, new business philosophy, and powerful partnership with Winmo.
Ryan Wilkie: Tell us about Future and your role within the company.
Jason Webby: I’m the vice president of the Eastern region at Future. I oversee our advertising and also lead all of our programmatic strategy and development. Future, if you’re not familiar with us, is a global publishing platform of specialist media brands. Our formula is pretty simple. We create reviews and educational content that help people engage in the things they care about, and then ultimately help them figure out what they need to buy in order to live and experience those passions.
You might know us from some of our brands like TechRadar, PC Gamer, Guitar World, and Marie Claire. Over the years, we’ve amassed about 160 different brands and reach over 110 million US adults a month. So we’ve quietly become one of the largest publishers in the US that not a lot of people are familiar with.
RW: I know Guitar World and TechRadar, but not that they are under the Future umbrella.
JW: The decision in the past had been to really market the brands themselves. And then, as we started to get much bigger, we needed to be Future as a company. We especially needed the media community who buys advertising to understand that we’re not just a TechRadar, but this massive portfolio owner and there’s a lot more that we can do with different brands out there.
RW: 2020 has been a very strange year for all of us. How is Future fairing through it all?
JW: It’s crazy. I joined Future and at the end of June and still haven’t physically met anybody at my company, so it’s all been really strange. We just closed our financial year, posted record earnings, and closed our third acquisition that we’re really excited about, CinemaBlend. The website has 19 million unique monthly visitors, so the acquisition immediately makes us a top-five publisher in the entertainment space.
Concurrently, we launched the companion site WhatToWatch that recommends streaming options on services like Disney+ and Hulu. The one, two punch of these websites, on top of our 160 others, make Future a force to be reckoned with in the entertainment vertical. We have a legacy in the music industry with Guitar World, Bass Player, Louder, and a string of other niche music titles, but now we’re a player in entertainment. That changes the way we go to market and who we can do business with.
RW: To what do you attribute all of this year’s success?
JW: There are a few things at play. One, is our legacy verticals, tech, and gaming. During the pandemic, everybody’s working from home, had to buy new tech for their home office, and are playing video games. Our traffic in those two areas is through the roof. And because everyone’s buying tech and gaming equipment, those advertisers are spending.
Future is a leader in those categories and, on top of that, we create content that helps people make decisions. So, consumers read about the top 10 best Xbox controllers, then they can click to buy it. That implicitly means that people come to our sites with intent—either to learn something or buy something. Our campaigns tend to really perform well. We get a lot of repeat business.
One of the acquisitions we made in the past year was TI Media, which is a branch of Time Inc. over in the UK, and a number of different lifestyle brands over there that we’re now migrating over here as new launches, including Woman & Home.
We’ve also launched a couple of new ones, Real Homes, My Imperfect Life, and the fitness sites Adventure and Fit&Well. These are all very different than Tom’s Guide and Guitar World, so we’re still focused on our legacy categories while adding new ones.
RW: Are there any other new verticals you’re seeing increased value in right now?
JW: We have so much scale and we’re getting into new verticals that go beyond tech and gaming. We’re really going after automotive, women’s lifestyle, CPG brands, alcohol, home furnishings, fitness, and pets.
RW: How does Winmo help with your research and prospecting efforts?
JW: It’s a natural fit for what we’re trying to do. If we were just in tech and weren’t looking to grow, we already know everybody in this space and Winmo may not be as important for us. However, given that we’re entering into new verticals where we have very few relationships and don’t really know all the players. So having tools like Pathmatics and Winmo helps us understand how are these clients who we don’t know, spending their money and then who are the people we need to go build relationships with.
RW: A lot of clients come to Winmo for help to identify new opportunities, but it also protects and expands existing business. Does Future use the tool in both ways?
JW: Definitely for new verticals, that’s no question, but for current clients as well. Especially Pathmatics, which breaks up advertiser spend into different categories. If one of my top retail advertisers only does desktop display with us and we see that they’re spending thousands more on video, we’ve got a problem. We should be talking to them about our video offering. When we understand more about where our clients are spending their money, we can craft better proposals.
RW: What are some of the pain points your team experienced prospecting?
JW: The change in hand of people at different locations. We used to find a lot of out of date contacts. That’s definitely changed with Winmo. One of the ways we’re looking to use the platform more is actually in our onboarding. So, looking at market share data and really understanding our competitive space, the landscape, and how we’re doing. Are we growing our unfair share of that pie? And before we do that, we get to define what that pie is.
RW: How is Winmo helping to solve those problems? What are you using the tool to gain visibility into?
JW: As we enter into all of these new verticals, we have to be smart with our allocation of time and resources. We use it to really understand who the top spenders are, so we can prioritize our prospecting efforts accordingly and go after the biggest fish.
I also have an enterprise sales team that focuses on large accounts and a mid-market sales team for smaller accounts. That helps us identify prospects in both areas. I can say, okay, mid-market team, you’re going to go after these 5,000 accounts. Enterprise, you’re going to go after the top 500. It helps prioritize our efforts and quantify how we’re doing.
RW: Who else at Future is utilizing Winmo outside of the sales teams?
JW: Our creative solutions team uses Winmo because they can see the creative that people are using and have run. That’s helpful when we’re building custom projects. We also have our insights team that uses it to pull together data on what’s happening in the industry and for our board level that goes up to our CEO. That’s a new effort for us, so we will need to lean on you, Ryan.
RW: Awesome. We’re here, man.
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2021 Sales Prospecting Predictions: Winmo Experts’ Weigh In
in Ad Sales, Agency New Business, Breaking Newsby Samantha StallardWell, we made it (almost). To a pessimist, 2020 was the year plans and goals came to die (especially sales prospecting). However, what actually happened was a decade or more of progress was widdled down into a six-month span. While there were devastating losses for industries like travel, experiential, and hospitality, we should see a slow trickle of recovery begin. As we usher into 2021, Winmo’s expert advisors reflected on where our customers are seeing success in sales prospecting, which industries are emerging, what shifts to pay attention to, and what your revenue team can do to prepare for success.
Like other B2B companies, Winmo’s 2020 didn’t exactly go as planned. Luckily, we reacted swiftly and managed not only to survive but grow, even under extraordinary circumstances.
We tapped experts with a broad view of the advertising ecosystem, and insight into trends impacting buy-side and sell-side professionals alike, to share the view ahead from their unique vantage points. Here’s what they told us:
Joe Winter, Software Engineer
“We’re heading into 2021 with record turnover and job shifts, particularly in the CMO suite. The stakes are high, and CMOs will be looking for partners to help them make a demonstrated impact in a shorter amount of time. For sales prospecting, that means introducing yourself early, demonstrating how you will help them engage their target consumers, and how you’ve done that for other companies you’ve worked with before to inspire their confidence that you can do it for them. Help them see the opportunities instead of the roadblocks.”
Marilyn Mead, Head of Marketing
“I see a great opportunity for growth in 2021 for the cannabis industry. Every marijuana legalization ballot initiative passed this year, including in traditionally conservative states like Mississippi, Montana, and South Dakota. A number of states could follow suit in 2021, and with the pandemic fallout likely to have a lasting toll on the economy even after a vaccine is made widely available, there’s plenty of incentive for states to tap into the cannabis industry for much-needed revenue.”
John Zaldonis, Client Success Manager
“With the dramatic increase in the movement of decision-makers in 2020 and a laser-like focus of brands on marketing performance and attribution, the winners have been the sales teams who’ve kept up the pace, predicted these needs of brand teams, and adapted their sales strategies accordingly. They’ve told us that Winmo has been an indispensable partner and resource to accurately track these personnel changes in real-time and surface the most relevant sales triggers and media spend context all in one place.”
Dave Currie, CEO
“I could see a big eCommerce tech boom. 2020 posed a huge opportunity for internet-based retail companies to shine as their brick and mortar competitors dealt with other issues. Technology designed to help online and/or brick and mortar retailers run smarter (new online point of sale systems, augmented shopping, intent data-based recommendations) will reshape this industry moving forward.”
Shannon Hampton, Demand Generation Coordinator
“In 2020, we tweaked our sales prospecting messaging to be more empathetic, as we faced new objections like we can’t make payroll or we just had to lay off half the team. We decided to increase activity and turned it into a numbers game, having as many conversations as possible to increase our odds. My prediction for 2021 is that most sales teams will come to this same realization and there will be greater demand for sales enablement tools to help teams have more conversations with prospective clients.”
Ryan Wilke, VP of Sales
“We’ve seen a lot of channel shifts in 2020, with more emphasis on e-Commerce, digital, social media, and virtual experiences, but there’s also been massive shifts in messaging. Consumer expectations have shifted and they must continue to be the focus moving forward. This is doubly true now that ad spend has started to bounce back. Consumers don’t just want to know about your product; they want to know what is at the core of the company.”
Betsi Nelson, WinmoEdge Managing Editor & Lead New Business Analyst
“In 2020 we introduced a number of new features and functionality into Winmo. Users are really responding to Intent Insights – the ability to see topics and categories that their prospects are already interested in. The adoption rate of this feature proves that more companies will embrace actionable intelligence, and utilize intent data to intercept prospects who are already in the market for what they’re selling by taking a more proactive approach to selling.”
Rob Tursi, VP of Product
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