Companies must stand out to prospective customers to earn their business, and agencies are experts at capturing consumer attention. To get noticed by their own target audiences and convert them into clients, some agencies use tactics that might seem “out of the box” or innovative to their in-house teams.
To leads, however, these same maneuvers can come across as overly promotional, confusing or even deliberately misleading. The members of Forbes Agency Council know that authenticity, openness and honesty are critical elements of any successful client pitch. Here, they explore some tactics agencies might think are savvy that prospects often actually view as salesy or sleazy.
Forbes Agency Council members discuss salesy tactics agencies may think are savvy but people find sleazy.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.
1. ‘Guaranteeing’ Coverage In Top-Tier Media Outlets
Some agencies “guarantee” a new client they will secure coverage in top-tier national media outlets. However, the only way to “guarantee” coverage is to pay for it. We frequently secure top-tier placements because of relationships, tenacity and pitching angles, but there are many variables that affect success, including the news cycle, reporters’ schedules and workloads and so on. Smart clients appreciate transparency. – Jodi Amendola, Amendola Communications
2. Constantly Producing Hard-Sell Content
B2B brands have a bad habit of being tone-deaf to the needs of their audience and not connecting with them on an emotional, human level. They forget that they’re speaking to people rather than companies, so instead of focusing on building strong relationships and starting conversations (what content marketing is about), they send jargon-heavy sales brochures. – Kathryn Strachan, Copy House
3. Relying On The Old Adage ‘Sex Sells’
The adage “sex sells” may be true for some audiences, but it’s as lazy as using puppies and kids in ad campaigns—if everyone does it, will it really stand out? Agencies must dig deep into what motivates the people they’re targeting. A one-dimensional view of the audience insults them and is a disservice to the client. Humans aren’t just primal beings. Appeal to their emotion, intellect and spirit, too. – Stephen Rosa, (add)ventures
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4. Posting Content The Agency Doesn’t Support Or Stand For
Posting content about cultural, societal and environmental issues and holidays people truly care about but the agency doesn’t actually support or stand for is not savvy. Sure, there is an element of showcasing internal company culture that may align with these moments, but far too many times, it’s done purely just to be featured in your feed, says nothing of value and doesn’t authentically align with company values. – Matt Miller, X-FCTR
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5. Sending Automated Sales Emails To Solicit Business
A lot of agencies don’t know how to get clients outside of the request for quotation/pitch process. Rather than focus on relationship building, it can be all too easy to send automated sales emails trying to solicit business. It looks unimaginative, needy and doesn’t showcase the value of the agency. – Dean Seddon, Maverrik
6. Working With Celebrity Influencers Who Don’t Fit The Brand
Agencies that aren’t specialized in the creator economy often make the mistake of working with celebrity talent for influencer campaigns without understanding the data behind an influencer’s audience or the brand-affinity “fit” that makes for a successful partnership. Gen-Z and Millennials are super savvy to advertising on social media, and they can spot that type of inauthenticity a mile away. – Mae Karwowski, Obviously
7. Violating The ‘Fourth Wall’ Of Online Anonymity
Agencies shouldn’t violate the “fourth wall” of perceived privacy/anonymity online. A person goes to an agency website to see content they’re interested in. They haven’t given their information but are identified by the agency through software. Minutes later the agency makes a sales call saying, “I saw you on our website.” This approach—being too familiar with a stranger—can be off-putting and creepy. – Megan Devine, d.trio marketing group
8. Creating Agency Reports That Have Zero Substance
I can’t tell you how many times I review agency reports that are all form and zero substance. In fact, a lot of these same agencies that are producing pure fluff position themselves as having sophisticated technology and data stacks. Hold agencies accountable for the business metrics that matter. – Gyi Tsakalakis, AttorneySync & EPL Digital
9. Touting Autobiographical Content
Agencies often talk about themselves and how many years they have been in business. Autobiographical content is really dated; instead, people want to hear about the value you bring. It really doesn’t matter if you’ve won awards or have been around for 20-plus years if you can’t meet customer needs. – Jonathan Franchell, Ironpaper
10. Using Technical Marketing Jargon With Clients
Agency professionals often use technical marketing jargon in an attempt to impress clients/prospects with their knowledge; but as Einstein said, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” It’s far more useful to replace technical terms with the most accurate layman’s terms so that the client has a full understanding of the work you’re doing for them. – Jeremy Jackson, SKY Marketing Consultants, LLC
11. Showing Off Useless Awards
Show off your best work and let people judge you by that, not by how many awards you have received. A close second is always claiming that they are the “best” at something. No one is the “best” at anything; it just comes down to whether they are a good fit for what you are trying to accomplish. – David Kley, Web Design and Company
12. Asking Cold Email Recipients To Schedule A Meeting
When sales people send a cold email and then ask the receiver to “pick a time on my calendar,” it cracks me up. You want me to set up a meeting on your calendar so that you can pitch me your services? Ha! Shall I fetch you some coffee too? – T. Maxwell, eMaximize
13. Not Disclosing Actual Service Fees
When an agency doesn’t disclose their service fees to run digital advertising campaigns under the guise of a lump sum, the client may be misled into thinking that the entire fee is going toward the actual ad spend (media vendor) when it’s not. This practice may make the agency more money, but it certainly hinders trust with the client and hides the fact that they will not yield a true return on investment. – Michelle Abdow, Market Mentors, LLC
14. Claiming Ownership Of Client Content In The Fine Print
We see a lot of instances where agencies, in the fine print, believe that they own the content that they develop for you. This means if you try to switch to a new provider, you’re basically forfeiting all of that SEO-indexed content and have to start over. Because successful SEO indexing takes time, the biggest asset you lose is not just that content but all the time it took to rank. – Christopher Carr, Farotech
15. Promoting Limited-Time Offers
Limited-time offers, to me, are often a bit salesy. Yes, they increase pressure, but that is what makes for a salesy/sleazy pitch. They can be effective if you really are only having a sale for the end of the month, but often, they have no correlation to actual time or limited quantities. They are just a method to get someone to buy now. – Peter Boyd, PaperStreet Web Design
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Author: Expert Panel®, Forbes Councils Member
