Skyword Digital Agency of the Future Full Report

The Digital Agency of the FutureNew Organizational Structure, Skill and Technology Infrastructure

Industry Report: Insights from 15 Digital Agency Thought Leaders

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary .........................................................................................................................01

About This report ............................................................................................................................02

Strategy: Embrace the Converged Media Model .................................................................03

Operations: Build a Customer-Centric Organization ...........................................................05

New Talent: Strategy, Community, Content and Analytics .............................................07

Technology: Tech Stack for Marketing Insights and Workflow Efficiency ................10

The Content Opportunity: Cultivate New Markets and revenue Streams ...............12

The Digital Agency of the Future: Conclusions ....................................................................14

Insights from 15 Digital Agency Thought Leaders .............................................................15

Agency Contributors to This report .........................................................................................17

Additional Industry resources ....................................................................................................17

Endnotes ..............................................................................................................................................18

About Skyword ..................................................................................................................................19

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The rise of ‘content marketing’ has also been fuelled by the realization that actually a lot of the success of, say, SEO or Social Media or Email Marketing or most forms of marketing isn’t about ‘doing more SEO’ or ‘investing in social’ but is about creating great content that people

will want to read, link to, talk about and share”

– eConsultancy

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Today, brands are looking to their agencies for help in navigating the new, ever-changing realities of marketing online. In our digital and consumer-driven world, where the customer’s

pathway to purchase is more fragmented than ever, marketing channels can no longer be addressed, executed and measured as separate entities. Brands will expect agencies to embrace a new media model where the planning and managing of paid, owned and earned channels is integrated. By taking a converged approach, agencies will help their clients drive audience engagement, build brand credibility, and accomplish their business goals.

Digital advertising will continue to drive a significant portion of agency revenues; however, this alone won’t sustain agency value, ensure future growth or drive marketing traction for brands. In order to survive and thrive, digital agencies need to invest in content marketing. According to CMI1 , 33 percent of marketing budgets for business-to-business (B2B) companies are now spent on content marketing, making content the new digital currency. By offering content services as a core capability, agencies will become the fuel for their clients’ marketing programs across the converged media continuum, empowering brands to meet their target audiences at each junction in the information discovery and buying journey.

There is no doubt that consumers claim the driver’s seat. Consumers now solve their own problems, researching products and services, with the help of search and social media. In 2011, consumers consulted an average of 10.4 new media or traditional sources2 before purchasing — a two-fold increase from the year before. As brands aim to

increase their digital authority, the agency of the future cannot afford to plan and execute digital campaigns in silos. Beyond deeper channel integration, agencies will be expected to create more than brand awareness and recognition. They will need to define and drive relationships for brands by developing content that will engage audiences and motivate them to return. In addition, agencies must rework traditional metrics, such as eyeballs and impressions, and monitor performance across channels to identify opportunities for growth.

As digital agencies increase their investment in earned and owned media services — with content marketing at the core — they need to rethink their organizational structure and technology tool kit. Agencies will increasingly rely on the skills of new converged media specialists (converged media strategists, planners and buyers, content marketers, community builders and analytics gurus) to plan, execute and optimize social and digital campaigns. The technology setup for the digital agency of the future will disseminate content assets across channels, provide real-time performance analytics to optimize efforts, and drive effective audience development for brands.

With more than 80 percent of companies3 investing in and growing their budget for content marketing, This report provides insight into how the agency of the future must embrace a new content-driven model and providing content strategy, execution and analysis as key services to continue to play an integral role in helping brands meet their business objectives.

Executive SummaryThe Digital Agency of the Future

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About This ReportThe team at Skyword interviewed marketing and advertising experts from top digital agencies, asking them about how agencies are adapting to media convergence and the evolution of search and social media. These contributors offered best practices on how digital agencies can fine-tune their thinking, offerings, talent development, and technology infrastructure to support brand engagement and relationship-building along the new consumer journey.

Agencies that contributed to this report include Omnicom’s Resolution Media, allen & gerritsen, CP+B, Mindjumpers, iProspect, Voce Communications, Likeable Media, Raidious, The Search Agency, Beehive Media, Pappas Advisors, Magnitude Media, McLellan Marketing Group, Digital Influence Group, Scratch Marketing + Media and King Content. They provided insights on the following topics:

Strategy: Embrace the Converged Media ModelConsumer audiences are increasingly difficult to reach, and increasing demand for content across channels poses a systemic challenge for agencies seeking to create and distribute branded content.

Operations: Build a Customer-Centric OrganizationAn overview of the delivery model, capabilities and service offerings that agencies will need to provide in order to compete in the future.

New Talent: Strategy, Community, Content and AnalyticsAn exploration into the new skills and talents needed to provide clients with integrated marketing services based on audience insights.

Technology: Tech Stack for Marketing Insights and Workflow EfficiencyInsights on the technology that will enable agencies to provide clients with scalable content marketing and production.

The Content Opportunity: Cultivate New Markets and Revenue StreamsBuilding new content service offerings will be crucial for all agencies to ensure they remain both relevant and profitable.

2013 – “The Year of Original Branded Content”A discussion on why the ability to support consumers as they evolve between paid, owned and earned media channels will correlate directly to the success and effectiveness of agency-brand relationships.

Insights from 15 Digital Agency Thought LeadersDigital agency experts discuss why the ability to innovate and collaborate will be the cornerstones of success for the digital agency of the future.

Embrace the Converged Media Model

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Strategy

The agency of tomorrow does not necessarily have to offer paid, owned and earned media

services, but they have to know how to integrate these marketing channels effectively.”

– Jamie Pappas, Principal, Pappas Advisors

E mpowered consumers are changing the way brands reach and engage with them. However, brands require consulting in integrated strategy

and expertise in user experience, creative services and media buying. An agency’s ability to apply integrated solutions is directly tied to its effectiveness in growing existing relationships and winning new clients.

real-Time ConnectednessToday, 2.4 billion people have access to the Internet globally. 4 Growing numbers of people access the Internet

through mobile devices, with half of American adults now owning a smartphone. 5 With the Internet in their pockets, Americans have become voracious consumers of audio, video, social media and gaming content. Sixty-two percent of Americans access news content on their mobile phones6, making it the most consumed type of media content on mobile devices .7 Therefore, news and educational content creation has become imperative for agencies, brands and traditional publishers looking to capture the attention of the consumer on the go.

The Era of the Empowered ConsumerThe reality is that brands no longer sell to customers. Consumers choose to buy products and services based on what they learn from online communities, online content and their social networks. This holds true for both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) brands. According to Google’s Zero Moment of Truth Macro Study8, consumers consulted an average of 10.4 new media or traditional sources before purchasing in 2011 — up from 5.3 sources in 2010. The Marketing Leadership Council report titled The Digital Evolution in B2B Marketing 9 reveals that today’s business customers have their first engagement with a company representative after they are already 50-60 percent through the purchasing decision-making process.

Brands Looking to Content to Engage the New Social ConsumerSocially empowered consumers are pushing brands and agencies to reconsider their engagement model and to focus budgets on creating original content across the entire buying cycle. By providing a seamless dialogue, from first touch and initial sale to brand advocacy, agencies can guide brands in building prospects and customer trust. As Drew McLellan of McLellan Marketing Group points out, brands need to “stop selling and start sharing and helping.” Agencies with the know-how and resources to cultivate content that shares their clients’ unique perspectives on breaking news and trending topics will find success. .

Media Convergence: The Blurring Lines of Marketing ChannelsIt used to be that marketers could focus the majority of their budgets on TV or radio ads to get the attention of the consumer – but not any longer. Consumers are now exposed to over 3,000 brand messages each day, with 75 variances by customer touch point10 , often referring to more than two content sources or screens at the same time. While traditional media still plays a role in reaching and engaging the consumer, leading marketers are leveraging content across multiple channels to effectively broadcast brand messages.

This trend, known as media convergence, represents the blending of tactics across channels to reach and engage the social consumer. A converged media model — applied to growing brand awareness, engagement, sales and customer service — is the only way brands and agencies can align their marketing efforts to attract and retain the attention of the new social consumer.

Jeremy Cornfeldt, President, iProspect, confirms the need for agencies to embrace integration:

The Converged Media Opportunity for Digital AgenciesBrands are looking to digital agencies to navigate the era of the empowered consumer, seeking help in leveraging content to create better online experiences and engage with consumers across an array of channels.

Agencies are now expected to provide both the strategic guidance and the comprehensive buyer and channel understanding to help brands engage customers during each stage of the consumer journey. To that end, agency professionals are facing a number of opportunities and challenges as they align with brand partners to deliver converged services.

By creating an approach that focuses on a client’s overall business health, not just channel performance, agencies will position themselves for long-term partnerships centered on helping to grow their clients’ businesses”

- Jeremy Cornfeldt, President,

iProspect

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Strategy

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Marketing and advertising agencies are undergoing a massive transformation. The ability to understand the fluid value from leveraging paid, owned and earned media is a must.”

– Jonas Nielsen, CEO & Founder, Mindjumpers

Build a Customer-Centric Organization

Operations

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F or digital agencies to survive and thrive, they must figure out how to provide content services to their clients through internal capabilities and strategic

partnerships. A stronger understanding of the relationship between audiences and the content they engage with is critical for agencies striving to provide value. The agency of tomorrow will offer digital advertising, audience insights and engagement and content marketing to create and sustain authentic, compelling experiences across channels. Understanding how to operate converged media campaigns while driving business value for both brands and consumers is important for larger integrated agencies as well as smaller digital specialists. This operational knowledge is crucial for building audiences and driving growth for agency clients.

Adapting to a converged media model is easier said than done for the majority of today’s digital agencies. Growth has been the historic result of their ability to offer highly specialized services, such as public relations, search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), social media marketing and digital advertising. Originally thriving as “centers of excellence” with separate departments and offerings, agencies need to rethink their model. In this new model, agencies must foster open collaboration, reduce costs, and jointly drive results for their clients.

The successful agencies of tomorrow will require both a change in operational structure and a shift in cultural mindset. They need to evolve their approach from what Bob Collins, Content and Digital Strategy Director at Beehive Media, explains as “brand-centric to customer-centric.” This transition to consumer centricity requires agencies to evolve centers of excellence, so that they foster expertise across all channels and functions, recognizing that customers aren’t searching for particular brands or companies, but looking to solve a problem, address a need or engage in an experience of interest or passion.

For agencies, sustaining growth requires strategy and resources that best suit their own needs and the needs of their clients. “We can’t all be good at everything at the same time,” says Dave Kerpen of Likeable Media. To continue promoting a multifaceted approach, Kerpen invests in employees with diverse backgrounds and builds strong partnerships with outside firms, as well. Changes in operational structure alone will not ensure the smooth transition from specialized to integrated services. The agencies that succeed must also move away from the stand-alone campaign mentality, instead focusing on integrated, ongoing programs to support each stage of the buyer’s journey.

The agencies that help brands become content powerhouses and reap rewards in 2013 and beyond will leverage talent, technology and an integrated operational structure.

Operations

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Strategy, Community, Content and Analytics

New Talent

Agency teams will need generalists, who understand the new world order of marketing, and specialists (e.g., strategists, content creators, writers, SEO specialists), to get it all done.”

– Lora Kratchounova, Principal, Scratch Marketing + Media

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W ith increased focus on generating compelling content to fuel earned and owned media channels, agencies are expected to become “always-on”

service providers, and create a consistent customer engagement across all channels. By equipping teams with the following roles, agencies will build and sustain a complete skill set to support evolving media and marketing trends:

The Data-Driven Account OwnerAgencies will rely on the “Data-Driven Account Owner” to drive lift for individual clients across all service lines. To grow into trusted consultants for their clients, agencies must report on the holistic benefit of integrated service delivery. Thus, performance data is central to reporting on brand lift across different service lines, providing the insights that drive future success. As brands continue

to depend on the integration of multiple channels to spread messages and connect with consumers, their employees will be skilled across multiple areas, including social media, SEO, SEM and public relations.

Agencies will rely on their Data-Driven Account Owners to carry a solid understanding of emerging marketing trends, technology and tool kits. The account services leadership group will expand its core competence, generating a new content strategy that ensures that specialist teams launch each element of the strategy effectively. Through channel integration, agencies will help brands build and sustain both prospect and customer relationships.

Simultaneously, these corporate entrepreneurs will be the audience champions, using content to help audiences before selling to them. Using audience insights, the agency Data-Driven Account Owners will help brands publish the right content at the right time and on the right channels to expand brand reach and turn prospects into customers.

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The Conversationalist Engagement is the ultimate new agency value. Today’s consumers want to interact with the brand and voice real-time questions and concerns, making it crucial for agencies to offer clients audience engagement services. Understanding consumers and knowing how to engage with them is both where the money is today and where it will be tomorrow.

“The Conversationalist” brings a mix of deep audience understanding and storytelling ability. Inherently, this person is a consumer champion — advising clients on how to position assets for maximum traction, engagement and brand loyalty. The Conversationalist is a digital native, keenly versed in adapting agency creative and content for the web and social platforms. The person in this role is also comfortable measuring all aspects of marketing, and is willing to adapt with evolving industry and technology trends.

“Customers only come from audiences,” says Taublee Jackson, President and CEO at Raidious. “You can either buy them with paid media, borrow them with earned media or build them with owned media.” The Conversationalist will be able to sustain audience and customer growth using all channels. To that end, the Conversationalist will also act as the content amplifier – skillfully adapting and distributing content provided by a team of talented storytellers.

New Talent

Customers only come from audiences.”

- Taublee Jackson, President & Ceo, Radius

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The Agile Content Creator

The “Agile Content Creator” is a brand journalist – creating educational and engaging content that supports the buyer’s journey without rehashing corporate marketing materials. “The more complex your story is, the more you need to break it down into tangible bites of engagement,” says Bob Collins. This is where the skillful storytellers come in: Simplifying complex information, and creating lasting relationships with prospects and customers in the

process, they inspire and support customers along every touch point for a more rich, rewarding brand experience

Data-Driven Account Owners and Conversationalists will look to Agile Content Creators to provide them with authentic, relevant and timely content – key for connecting directly with consumers. Mike Schneider, formally of allen & gerritsen, confirms, “If a brand is ready to have a conversation with its audience, the appetite from that audience for content is endless.”

The importance of understanding how to engage the increasingly mobile consumer is another important skill set within this role. Having robust mobile capabilities – from knowing how to design and create content for the mobile screen, to understanding how to effectively participate in relevant conversations in real-time — will prove critical.

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The Customer Insight Specialist

There is no doubt that brands and agencies have more data on prospects and customers than ever before. This massive amount of consumer information, including demographic, website interaction and purchase history, presents enormous opportunities for brands to better understand their audience and tailor the delivery of communications to meet buyer needs.

However, as Doug Haslam of Voce Communications points out, “Data is useless without people who know how to prioritize it and pick out the trends.” To prove itself a trusted partner, the agency must recruit employees who can turn data into actionable insights.

To help brands grow, agencies will need to leverage data signals from social media and the web to determine what the brand’s audience wants and then create content accordingly — often on the fly and at scale. “Agencies need people who can digest analytics and understand the science behind their marketing efforts,” says Leslie Poston. The Customer Insight Specialist will interpret the large amounts of data from multiple sources to equip the agency’s Data-Driven Account Owners, Conversationalists and Agile Content Creators with the intelligence they need to drive effective content programs.

Since the digital agency of tomorrow will need to be nimble, creative and responsive, it will increasingly rely on its Customer Insights Specialist to connect the customer touch point “dots” for the rest of the agency team on a daily or even hourly basis. Finding the people to fill this role will be a challenge, as analytics capabilities will continue to be one of the biggest talent gaps for agencies. While agencies can easily find business analysts and statisticians with a deep understanding of numbers, finding people who can grasp the new world of communication, and the way that data impacts the brand and the business, is rare.

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New Talent

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Tech Stack for Marketing Insights and Workflow Efficiency

Agencies’ analytics resources and technology resources need to be hyper-connected.”

– Kevin Green, SVP of Strategy & Analytics, Digital Influence Group

Technology

The build versus buy debate will play out differently at each agency, but for paid media the imperative will always be to link tools and information into a dashboard that is intelligent

enough to inform account strategy. And as agencies creep toward real-time delivery models, workflow technology will also be vital to remaining efficient and profitable.

Technology

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A s agencies creep toward real-time delivery models, workflow technology also will be vital to remaining efficient and profitable. Innovative agencies see

technology solutions as enablers and extensions of their capabilities. Increasingly, agencies are relying on outsourced technology solutions to help scale their efforts, gain the insights they need to guide initiatives and optimize the performance of in-market programs.

Driving Digital StrategyEffective technology solutions for social listening and monitoring will help agencies better understand the customer while supporting both real-time decision-making and program optimization. The imperative will always be to link tools and information into a dashboard intelligent enough to inform and guide account strategy across all channels.

Aiding Workflow and DeliveryAs agencies move toward real-time delivery models, workflow technology will be vital to remaining efficient and profitable. Expect that agencies will continue to outsource a large portion of their underlying technology infrastructure, as they simply cannot build all they need to sustain an integrated marketing program. The agency marketing technology stack will continue to merge best-in-breed monitoring, content planning and production, content dissemination, customer relationship management (CRM) and analytics solutions. A comprehensive solution will help agencies leverage their resources and talent to generate optimal results for their clients. .

Also important for agency technology will be content planning, including cloud-based services for content creation and dissemination. This core of agency technology will be built with client data and tools in mind. Integration with client-side tools — such as marketing automation, CRM and analytics systems — will help to aggregate the audience insights required for campaign optimization and reporting.

And beyond developing for the front-end (client user- interface) and the back-end (agency user-interface), Ivan Perez Armendariz, Chief Digital Officer at CP+B, suggests that the agency of tomorrow will also see itself adding physical computing to its technology stack. This includes open source hardware such as Arduino and 3-D printers such as Maker-Bot, as well as: integrated communications; document, project, creative asset and time management tools to complement social listening; publishing; and analytics. “Agency technology stacks will include software development across the front-end, back-end and native operating systems,” says Armendariz. The industry will also see the growth of internal and external collaborative applications housed in the cloud to help agencies ideate and work more closely and productively with clients.

Technology

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We’re going to see an influx of ‘content marketing’ roles added to agency teams, as well as a ‘newsroom’ approach and mindset within all agency operations.”

– Dave McAnally, Content Team Director, Resolution Media

Cultivate New Markets and revenue Streams

The Content Opportunity

$43.9 spent on custom content production and distribution last year.

- ContentWise

82% of brand and agency marketers expect to increase content marketing efforts in 2012.

- Outbrain

61% of online marketers worldwide use content marketing on a weekly basis.

- eMarketer

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2013 will be the year of the content strategist.”

- Craig Hodges, CEO, King Content

The Content Opportunity

s2 013 will be the year of the content strategist,” says Craig Hodges, CEO at King Content. Brands and agencies alike will value this expertise as the

demand for content increases. The market for branded content is already strong, and will continue to grow stronger. Consequently, the ability to build new content service offerings will be crucial for all agencies to ensure they remain both relevant and profitable.

While content is at the core of many emerging lines of business, each agency will move toward developing content services in a way that aligns with its core competencies. Accordingly, services will vary among agencies such as Digital Agencies of Record (AORs), Search Engine Marketing (SEM), PR and Social Media agencies (representing the digital services continuum). Agencies will differentiate themselves with content services that are true to their heritage.

To engage clients in content conversations and win their content business, agencies must first learn to communicate and sell the value of their emergent content offerings. That messaging will need to fit in with agencies’ existing value proposition, as follows:

• For AORs: Mapping out content strategies and roadmaps

• For PR: Creating branded content to feed conversations

• For the SEM and Social shops: Optimizing content for discoverability

However, the brand dollars with the largest profits will be reserved for the agencies that embrace content as the foundational layer of their marketing. The new talent at these “always-on,” agencies will support brands on-the-go and on-the-fly through the creation and distribution of content at scale.

The new agency talent will embrace and know how to navigate the evolving world of media convergence. Recognition and reward will be given to the Data-Driven Account Owners, Conversationalists, Agile Content Creators and Audience Data Insight Specialist, helping brands deliver real business results across digital and mobile channels

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Media convergence is a disruptive force affecting all aspects of agency life and operations. Strategically, agencies can prepare for this convergence by planning and synchronizing service delivery across the user experience, content creation and media buying.

Exploring an alternative operational model is a major part of adapting to the changing media and consumer landscape. A key aspect of this new model is the need for customer focus — delivering sustained value through client-centric organizational structures.

No organizational transformation goes without challenges. Attracting the right talent is one of the major pain points for digital agencies of all sizes. Agencies are struggling to bring in the needed talent and skills to address the proliferation of channels and customer touch points. These touch points are generating growing amounts of collectable and targetable marketing data, which in turn requires robust statistical and technological sophistication for its analysis.

To that end, there are two major talent gaps agencies will need to address — both driven by the need for robust audience insights. Media-buying agencies need these deep insights to plan, execute and optimize campaigns. These same insights need to be leveraged by creative teams that are responsible for building brand experiences and interacting with customers on social platforms in real time. These are two distinct competencies, and to bring them together, the agency of the future will likely evolve from a merger of the deeply data-driven and extremely creative-led agency.

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Another key challenge faced by agencies lies in their ability to identify, embrace and leverage technology as a service — for insights and as a profitability enabler. Aside from implementing workflow and tools to improve operational efficiency, agencies will be expected to be fluent with both predominant and emerging marketing technologies. Successful agencies will emerge as technology consultants, helping clients select, deploy and leverage the best marketing technologies to meet their specific needs.

In conclusion, while we have outlined the pillars of the changing agency landscape, we acknowledge that the path to becoming the agency of the future will vary greatly. We welcome digital marketers to partake in the conversation and offer their insights, advice and predictions for agencies in 2013 and beyond. To follow the conversation on Twitter, use hashtag #futureagency..

ConclusionsThe Digital Agency of the Future: Conclusions

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Insights from 15 Digital Agency Thought LeadersThought leaders discuss why the ability to innovate and collaborate will be the cornerstone of success for the digital agency of the future:

• “In 2013, mobile will become a primary owned channel that requires the same level of investment and attention we’ve seen deployed against social networks the past 3-5 years. Agencies that can assist organizations in bringing together marketing, public relations, customer service, etc. to support macro programs will find greater success across all marketing disciplines – including driving in-novation and improving brand preference.” - Kevin Green, Digital Influence Group

• “We are going to see an influx of ‘content marketing’ roles added to agency teams – just like brands have added in-house content marketing talent over the past few years. You’re also going to see the ‘newsroom’ model built out within agencies. SEO engagements are going to shift to include elements of content creation (strategy, development) as part of the standard offering. It will no longer focus simply on traditional on-site SEO and social SEO.” - Dave McAnally, Content Team Director, Resolution Media

• “Delivering valuable content for your consumers is essential for all brands – it will be key for agencies to have both the ability to understand data and the targeting to deliver the right content in the right format to users on their desired device, while also connecting experiences across devices.” - Jeremy Cornfeldt, President, iProspect

• “2013 will be the year of the content strategist – brands and agencies will clamor to employ them.” - Craig Hodges, King Content

• “The innovative agencies will be about the combination of social, interest, commerce and aspiration to create a rich profile that delivers better content on mobile. Agencies that get people to opt in and who learn to nimbly analyze and use the data [that] people offer brands daily are going to be the winners.” - Mike Schneider, formally of allen & gerritsen

• “Building out the ‘always-on’ service model, not just talking about it, but creating relevant and interesting stories on a daily bases that tie the context of the ‘now’ into what’s relevant for the brand, will be crucial. Piggybacking on trending stories alone won’t cut [it] in 2013 – it will be about making meaningful brand connections with those trending stories.” - Jonas Nielsen, Mindjumpers

• “2013 will need to be the year of the collaborative agency – agencies will need to either work with cousin agencies in other media (paid, owned, earned) or build out aspects of all three media offerings in their own services.” - Doug Haslam, Voce Communications

Insights

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• “Engaging with consumers, understanding what they want, listening to feedback and leveraging data and analytics will make agencies successful in 2013.” - Dave Kerpen, Likeable Communications

• “Successful agencies will move beyond the ‘Big Idea’ – in today’s media environment, you can never generate enough weight behind a single ‘Big Idea’. The future is all about a thousand little ideas that can be executed in real time and on the fly.” - Taulbee Jackson, Raidious

• “2013 will include less telling stories about your brand and your company and more celebration of the passions and needs of your customers – increasingly via visual means. Owned and paid media will strive to become earned media. CMOs will have to overcome the current divide between digital marketing, brand marketing, PR & Social programs to successfully develop and implement compelling brand experiences. We are entering a world where digital innovation is merging with traditional marketing fundamentals to create new approaches, new brand leaders and new models for success.” - Bob Collins, Beehive Media

• “In order to find success in the coming year, agencies must be able to tie the results of earned media back to business goals and objectives, and to common measures of success. Agencies must stop describing the value of earned media in terms of a soft or qualitative ROI – in earned media, engagement with the brand and the brand’s content is the ‘Holy Grail’. So, place engagement at the top of the list when it comes to measuring the ROI of integrated marketing and communications initiatives.” - Jamie Pappas, Pappas Advisors

• “The things to look for in 2013 are almost all happening behind the scenes – the most innovation will come from the products that make the marketing engine work, whether it’s your CRM tool or your analytics.” - Leslie Poston, Magnitude Media

• “The successful agencies in 2013 will know how to start with their clients’ business goals and create long-term strategies that weave online and offline tactics – they’ll know how to play in the old school world and how to capitalize on the new world’s opportunities.” - Lora Kratchounova, Scratch Marketing + Media

• “Mobile is going to have a central seat at the marketing table – mobile search queries on both smartphones and tablets will continue their dramatic growth. Mobile display ads will start to take off – the game changer will be mobile display retargeting innovations. There will also be a dramatic increase in the number of mobile optimized sites, with user experience improving dramatically too.” - Mike Solomon, The Search Agency

• “Content marketing will be key for agencies, expressed as the ability to fluidly move from owned, to paid, to earned, [helping] companies garner tangible, immediate business results.” - Jeremy Cornfeldt, President, iProspect

• “This is the year that physical computing makes the Internet of Things the Internet of Everything. Products and devices connected to the Internet will hit critical mass. The sharable content that arises from this connectivity will deliver the most compelling and relevant brand messages and digital advertising.” - Ivan Perez, CP&B

Insights

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Agency Contributors to This report

Ivan Perez Armendariz, Chief Digital Officer at CP+B, @IvanPA, http://www.cpbgroup.com/

Bob Collins, Content & Digital Strategy Director at Beehive Media, @robertcollins, http://beehivemedia.com/think-it-do-it#

Kevin Green, SVP, Strategy & Analytics at Digital Influence Group, @KevinMGreen, http://www.greenmatterthoughts.com/

Doug Haslam, Client Services Supervisor at Voce Communications, @dough, http://doughaslam.com/

Craig Hodges, CEO at King Content, @King_Content, http://www.kingcontent.com.au/blog/

Taulbee Jackson, President / CEO at Raidious, @raidious, http://www.raidious.com/news/

Jeremy Cornfeldt, President, iProspect, @iProspect, http://www.iprospect.com/blog/within-iprospect

Dave Kerpen, CEO, Likeable Local & Chairman at Likeable Media, @davekerpen, http://www.likeable.com/blog/

Lora Kratchounova, Principal at Scratch Marketing + Media, @ScratchMM, http://scratchmm.com/blog/

Drew McLellan, CEO at McLellan Marketing Group, @drewmclellan, http://www.drewsmarketingminute.com/

Dave McAnally, Content Team Director at Resolution Media, @ResolutionMedia, http://resolutionmedia.com/

Jonas Nielsen, CEO & Founder at Mindjumpers, @mindjumpers, http://www.mindjumpers.com/blog/

Jamie Pappas, Principal at Pappas Advisors, @jamiepappas, http://pappasadvisors.com/resources/blog/

Leslie Poston, Founder & Emerging Media Director at Magnitude Media, LLC, @leslie, http://magnitudemedia.net/

Mike Schneider, former SVP, Director Incubator at allen & gerritsen, @SchneiderMike, http://www.schneidermike.com/

Mike Solomon, SVP Marketing Strategy at The Search Agency, @thesearchagency http://www.thesearchagents.com/author/mike-s/

Additional resources

Skyword (2012). “How to Kick-Start Your Content Marketing: A Seven-Step Approach Delivering Success” - http://www.skyword.com/kick-start-your-content-marketing-program/

Google/Shopper Sciences (April, 2011). “The Zero Moment of Truth Macro Study”. Retrieved from: http://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/insights/library/studies/the-zero-moment-of-truth-macro-study/

IBM Corporation (July, 2012). “2012 State of Marketing Survey”. Retrieved from: http://www-01.ibm.com/software/marketing-solutions/campaigns/surveys/2012-marketers-survey.html

Marketing Leadership Council (2012). “The Digital Evolution in B2B Marketing”. Retrieved from: http://www.executiveboard.com/exbd-resources/content/digital-evolution/pdf/Digital-Evolution-in-B2B-Marketing.pdf

Rebecca Lieb, Jeremiah Owyang (July 2012). “The Converged Media Imperative: How Brands Must Combine Paid, Owned and Earned Media”. Retrieved from: http://www.slideshare.net/Altimeter/the-converged-media-imperative?ref=http://www.

web-strategist.com/blog/2012/07/19/altimeter-report-paid-owned-earned-converged-media/

18 www.skyword.com

Endnotes 1http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/b2bresearch2013cmi-121023151728-phpapp01-1.pdf

2http://www.zeromomentoftruth.com/

3http://www.toprankblog.com/2012/11/100-b2b-content-marketing-statistics-for-2013/

4http://www.businessinsider.com/mary-meeker-2012-internet-trends-year-end-update-2012-12?op=1

5http://www.journalism.org/node/31038

6http://www.journalism.org/node/31038

7http://www.businessinsider.com/state-of-internet-slides-2012-10?op=1

8http://www.google.com/think/research-studies/the-zero-moment-of-truth-macro-study.html

9http://www.executiveboard.com/exbd-resources/content/digital-evolution/pdf/Digital-Evolution-in-B2B-Marketing.pdf

10 http://www.slideshare.net/Altimeter/the-converged-media-imperative?ref=http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2012/07/19/ altimeter-report-paid-owned-earned-converged-media/

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