New West Palm Beach offices for Ryan William's Agency

After months of using our creative juices for something other than advertising (some of our art department staffers got to unleash their latent interior design skills), our new West Palm Beach offices are finally completed.

We showed off our new digs with an Open House for clients, vendors and friends. Over 100 people joined us for a backyard barbecue complete with a smoker cooking chicken and ribs, potatoes, salads and desserts courtesy of agency owner, Val Staggs. (While lacking in design expertise, Val was happy to show off her latent Julia Child skills). We even had a signature drink - CreativiTEA.

Check out more pictures of the party. Thanks to party guest, David R. Randell for capturing all the fun.

Ryan William's Agency adds Social Media Marketing to advertising agency services

We're thrilled to launch a new division of Ryan William's Agency. Our Social Media Marketing division will assist clients in promoting their brands and driving sales through Social Media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Blogs.

With more and more sales being driven by the internet, every business should have a social media presence. If you don't, your competitors will so get out there and socialize.

Or, call us.

Are you missing the no-brainer things in your business marketing strategy?

The grand pooh bah of television advertising is just one week away. What business wouldn’t like to see their name and image displayed during half time for the biggest viewing audience of the year? Now that would get the phone ringin’ huh?

When you float back down to earth from your Big Game Pipe Dream you might want to take a second look at what you’re doing to market your business. There are probably a number of small things you’ve overlooked that could cause your phone to jingle for a whole lot less than a 30 second halftime spot.

On January 1st, Inc Magazine launched a feature on their website entitled “31 Days to a Better Business.” Reading through the short daily tips business owners may find themselves mumbling “Well, that’s a no-brainer!” to themselves. Take a hard look at your business and you might find that these no-brainers are non-existent.

Among the smart tips for business owners are some smart marketing pointers too including: Going Online to Engage with your Customers, Writing Big Picture Blog Posts and, our personal favorite, Writing Thank You Notes.

When was the last time you used THAT form of direct mail?

Ryan William's Agency now broadcasting on YouTube

Ever wonder how the creative minds at RWA work? Take a peek behind the curtain of Palm Beach's advertising agency scene. Imagination lives here!

“The Sunglass Guy” gets a new look online from Ryan William's Agency

Shades of Time, a Lantana-based sunglass retailer, went live today with a new website created by Ryan William’s Agency. The fun, colorful new look is designed to reflect the store’s unique atmosphere and equally unique owner.

Dubbed “The Sunglass Guy” by his loyal customers, Alan Ross operates Shades of Time from a small storefront on the off-the-beaten-track locale of Ocean Avenue in Lantana. For over 16 years “The Sunglass Guy” has helped customers find the perfect look for each person’s unique style and facial dimensions. His upfront manner has earned him a reputation blunt honesty.

“If Alan doesn’t like the way a pair of sunglasses looks on someone, he will rip them off their head,” laughs Karen Nehiley, a loyal customer of Shades of Time for over a decade. “I’ve seen him do it too.”

Alan has used his persona as “The Sunglass Guy” in his radio commercials for years, talking just as bluntly over the airways as he does in person. His regular comments about how “parking sucks” in Lantana have become the talk of the town.

“People come in and say ‘You’re right, parking sucks,’” says Nehiley. “They made the extra effort to come there to buy sunglasses just to meet this funny guy from the radio.”

The new website takes “The Sunglass Guy” persona online. Visitors to the website can check out new products, listen to the latest radio commercials and read the latest ramblings from “The Sunglass Guy” on the store’s blog. Pics of customers with their new purchases will also be displayed on the site.

Check out the new online home of Shades of Time.

Behavioral targeting: Innovative marketing or invasion of privacy?

In the quest to get more targeted with advertising messages, behavioral targeting seems like the answer to many frustrated marketers’ prayers. Some consumer groups disagree, though, calling this new targeting method more like Big Brother than the next Big Idea.

Behavioral targeting mediums track consumers’ habits and then offer advertisers the ability to serve up messages that correlate to these habits. Imagine that you are thinking of buying a new car. You fire up your computer, go online and start surfing websites with information about the car you are interested in buying. All of sudden you start seeing ads for car insurance. How did that insurance company know you were looking for a car? Well, little did you know you were leaving a trail of breadcrumbs for a behavioral targeting company to follow.

Most consumers don’t realize their online behavior can be tracked and used for marketing purposes. Needless to say, a fair number of them might be a bit uncomfortable knowing their habits are being cataloged.

Behavioral targeting is now getting even closer to home. Not only are behaviorally-based ads being served up on your Facebook page and in your e-mail, banks are now offering advertisers the ability to target their customers based on their purchasing habits. The next time you use your debit card at McDonald’s, don’t be surprised to see a coupon for the McRib the next time you log on to your online banking page.

How far behavioral targeting will go before consumers or the government takes a hard look at the privacy issue remains to be seen. For now it offers marketers a great way to get more specific with their ad messages and their target markets.
And, hey, if you can save a buck on your next drive thru order, who’s complaining?

Just how big a deal is social media? Check out the new statistics on social web use.

Lately it seems like everyone is Tweeting or Blogging or posting videos on YouTube. Even the people who have held out until now – the unsocial – the late adopters – are now converts to the social movement.

Just how big is the social media audience? The new social media statistics for 2010 are now in and, no surprise, they’re big.

So now that you know how big the online audience is for your product or service, all you have to figure out is how to get them to notice you.

Check back for more tips on turning social media into sales.