The not-so-secret problems of working with a marketing agency.
“We guarantee $20k in 30 days or your money back.” How many times have we seen this ad on social media? How many times have we been burned by it?
We all get excited because we want our businesses to do amazing things so our clients will be happier, therefore, we are happier, too. We can make more money and live a life we want to live.
Marketing agencies know this and use it to their advantage, so I want to address the good, the bad, and the ugly of working with one, and why taking an honest and transparent approach is the way to go for agencies, and why doing YOUR homework is the way to go for you.
3 problems when working with a marketing agency and 3 fixes”
1. Not getting the results that were promised in the ad and from the salesperson.
I think this is probably the biggest problem in the industry and could probably be the easiest to fix. The ad and the salesperson both have silver tongues. The only job they both have is to get the service or product sold. So they say whatever they have to, to get your attention and get your mouths watering with promises of riches and freedom. It rarely turns out to be the dream, and sadly, quickly can become a nightmare. But how can we in the marketing industry change this? Easy. Expectations must be stated clearly, loudly, and often. There is a common misconception when hiring a marketing agency that you will become a multi-millionaire overnight, without having to do any work. This quite simply is very untrue. Marketing in its purest form is simply getting more eyeballs on your company, service, or product, therefore giving you more opportunities to sell your thing.
The Fix- If the expectation is set that YOU will need to work YOUR leads and YOU have to sell YOUR stuff, a lot of animosity and resentment can be avoided. At Star Goop, this expectation is set early and often, and we do things to mitigate the risk of working with us, like providing you and your teams with world class training, coaching calls, and even appointment setters to maximize your results with us. One of our company core values is “Radical Transparency” and this is what we provide.
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The Price.
It is common knowledge that marketing can be rather pricey. And although I believe “affordability” is completely subjective, it should be noted that you don’t always get what you pay for. Have you ever hired a company and the value just wasn’t there? Marketing agencies can run between $500/month all the way to $10k/month and above, so how can you determine which is right for you?
The Fix- This is a simple fix for me. YOU need to determine what YOU and YOUR business’ needs are and do your research. And if you’re reading this, that probably means you’re doing just that. Marketing agencies all have different levels and tiers of value. Do you just need someone to run your ads and you can take it from there? Do you need appointment setters so you don’t have to do that and can focus on YOUR main thing? Do you need some coaching along with it? Maybe you need some accountability and someone to help hold you to your goals? For example: I KNOW Star Goop IS NOT the cheapest option. But I also know that we aren’t just an agency. We provide coaching, a vast educational library for our clients to learn from, World Class Customer Service, and a host of other things to boost your business’ performance. As you can see, there are a lot of factors that go into the pricing of an agency. Just make sure you are getting the right value that is right for you and your business.
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Fit.
Not every business you work with is going to be the right fit. For example- Some agencies only work with brand new businesses. Some only work with businesses that do a certain amount of revenue per month. Some agencies will only work with you if you do video ads, etc. The fit has to be right, and this isn’t a personal thing. These boundaries exist so the agency can best help you. Some agencies just take everybody they can on because they’re just trying to make as much money as possible. This is usually short lived, because they find they’re having to talk about too many things at the same time. For example: Talking to a business doing $100k/month is very different from talking to one that is just starting.
The Fix- Keep having conversations with agencies until you speak to one that is willing to take the time to understand the nuts and bolts of your company to see if they can help you, and more importantly, serve you to a very high level. Don’t jump on the first conversation you have, even if it sounds like a perfect fit. Speak to two or three and see if the vibe is right. For example: If you speak with Star Goop, you’ll find we ONLY will work with folks that share our values and understand that running ads isn’t a get rich quick scheme, but an ongoing process of testing, iterating, and working to grow your company to a point where you can be proud, scale it ethically, and best serve your customers. If you don’t align with that, we quite simply won’t work with you.
So as you can see, there are always problems that come with strategic partnerships. But there are also just as many solutions to the problems if one is able to do a little bit of research, decide what they really want for their business, and find some alignment with their partners.