Chances are your media agency is using 'Microsoft Dynamics 365', its how they report back to you on what you have spent, what happend, the ROI, and chances are they're charging you a hefty part of that retainer for giving you campaign insights that you could access yourself. 

I know many companies that have also bought 'Microsoft Dynamics 365', but its a bit like when we buy Microsoft Office 365 which includes 'Word, PowerPoint, Excel etc, so, if your crap at spreadsheets like me then they don't see much action, so a lot of the hidden value just sits there not being utilised, and as we say a 'fool with tool, is still a fool'.

On balance we all use a variety of media agencies to be able to tap into talent and resource not readily available in our teams, they're also great when it comes to helping with something we marketing folks like to call 'ideation', and the more your company is plumbed into the agency, the longer the retained relationship, ergo its in their commercial interest to keep you 'plumbed in'. 

Most agency meetings (and I've been in a few) I've attended are all about the campaign 'review', what happened, did we hit the numbers, what could we do different next time, Oh, and 'here's the next great idea' designed to move your budget further into their media buying pot. 

The problem with this traditional 'agency' approach is its all a bit latent and reactive, its 'campaign focused' and the opportunity for you to 'influence it has gone long after you had the opportunity to maximise things. 

No one, and I mean no one, especially your agency, no matter how great the relationship can know your business, your products, and your customers better than you and your employees, they simply don't have resource tied up 24/7 babysitting your campaigns so they can 'react'. 

It simply isn't in Agency lands business model to serve just you as the doting client, they're also juggling numerous demanding clients, associated budgets, and eager to get the next idea for the ' paid reach' campaign going.

Sure, they can give you SOV (share of voice) and how you benchmark against your competitors, what keywords worked, which ones didn't, which ones your competitors are bidding against,but even with that information there's a huge time lag in knowing and then acting on it in a dynamic way. 

So yes, I'm pretty sure that your agency is using 'Microsoft Dynamics 365', and its not in their interest for you to have access to the same product suite, because that's how they keep you plumbed in.

In the world of social media, people don't think like this, they're not focused on being part of a 'campaign', they just want to be social, and being social is in itself a fluid and dynamic space. Which is why its important that you are constantly 'listening' and consider bringing this key tool inside your business.

In the 'dynamic' world of 'social media' having the ability to 'listen' is one thing, being able to react in a timely manner, and in context can make the difference between you, or your competitor winning out. 

Well, all that is about to change, we are 'exclusive' partners with Microsoft for an awesome new 'Social Listening' tool, we will be providing a few select 'live' demo's in the coming weeks, and would like to talk to you if the above sounds familiar?.

#AskMeHow