Suggestions Hiring a marketing company?

[Stacey K]

What ever happened? What did you end up doing?

I always had excellent luck getting local business using Facebook. I post a few pics of jobs and tag the business. That person then shares on their page. The last year I started doing reels, they get WAY more views. Anything involving students, senior banners, school signs, school apparel - big view numbers because the mom's share the posts. Businesses love to see themselves in the spotlight, tag them or send to them and they always share it, their mom shares it, their wife, etc. I won't lie, mine are a tad cringy, flames, 80's music, things like that, but boring gets you scrolled. I had several businesses reach out to hire me to make reels for them, I did some for one guy but I don't have the time to do them.

I started a Tik Tok account and was posting business stuff on there but there's not enough local people on there so it switched over to a racing page for my son.

You can say what you want about FB but it's still the #1 way to market locally, IMO. Boomers are all over FB, GenX love marketplace and events, my kids don't really scroll on it but they use it for marketplace and to find events.

Newspaper - gag me
Instagram - never tried it
Radio - could work, as a family, we typically listen to Spotify vs. the radio

I always wish I had a better logo and made a bunch of swag to hand out over the years so my name would be plastered everywhere. But, my logo is lame and I have no decent swag.

 

[dcsage]

We've worked with three digital marketers - one was (and is) fantastic and the others were pretty meh.

Would love to visit with anyone on the hunt about what was, and wasn't, valuable for us and have no problem pointing you to the guys we liked either!

Biggest difference between them and the other two:

Do they care?
If they don't understand your business, what you're selling, who you're selling it to, and the best way to get in front of those people - you're just going to get someone who can set up a campaign, or do SEO, or whatever... but they won't really help your business much (ask me how I know).

Will they match the right tool with the right problem?
If you're selling something on the demand side (where a customer knows what they want and comes looking for it) like "exterior signage in Denton, Tx" - then google ads and SEO might be really, really strong answers.
If you're selling something on the supply side (look at this giant piece of art you didn't know existed!) then google isn't going to a dang thing - you need something that's getting it in front of people (probably instagram).

A lot of the marketing shops are really one trick ponies - they're a hammer looking for a nail, and if it doesn't work - you'll leave and they'll build their business on people it did work for. That works if you know what you need and can point them in the right direction, otherwise you need to find someone who knows (and cares) enough to get the right tool out and use it for you.

Can they say it so that it makes sense?
This was the biggest thing in the last group we hired. They spoke my language instead of hitting me with a bunch of jargon. I don't know if the other guys were bad at it, bad at communicating it, or just trying to look smart - but if they can't say it simply, I don't think they're the guys for me at this point.

 

[AES_TLS]

I’ve gone through the same thing with feeling kind of stuck at the “ground zero” stage when it comes to marketing, especially when your experience up to now is just doing good work and letting referrals carry you. Hiring a marketing agency seemed scary at first because I worried about costs and honestly wasn’t sure what the process would look like. But as soon as I started reaching out, a lot of my stress went down, their job really is to ask the right questions and help build that roadmap for you.

One thing I learned is not all agencies are the same. I picked one that worked with small businesses like mine and was able to tailor their plan instead of pushing cookie-cutter strategies. Some marketing companies can definitely be overpriced or not really understand your specific industry, so it pays to dig a bit and maybe have a few discovery calls. If you’re worried about spending, there are actually firms that focus on affordable, personalized marketing and are transparent about what you get for your money.

I've noticed places that are upfront and specialize in custom strategies, especially ones that let you start small and scale, tend to deliver better results. I got a lot of info about how these guys run things from https://www.marketing1on1.com. You might find their approach to personalized marketing and transparent pricing worth checking out while you do research.

 

[AES_TLS]

I would love to get others what have experienced so far.

 

[lenard912]

Came late to this thread but I want to share my honest opinion, I’ve had the best results working with PR agencies, traditional marketing firms etc. One that really stood out for me was MB Adv, they helped gain visibility throguh Google ads campaigns, I just couldn’t pull off on my own.

The thing is, when you’re basically starting from scratch online, having experts handle strategy, messaging, and outreach is worth the cost. I’d still do your discovery calls, but in my experience, a good agency can make a bigger impact than throwing random ads out there or trying to DIY social media.

I leanerd one lesson: make sure whoever you pick understands your specific market, some agencies are super broad but don’t get niche industries. That’s where you see wasted time and money.

 

[Ybucitash]

I’ve found that breaking the workload into small chunks keeps me from feeling swamped, and sometimes outsourcing just one piece is enough to get momentum. For example, I tried music PR for a side project, and it showed me how helpful it is when a service gives clear updates and guaranteed results. You can look for a marketing company that offers the same kind of transparency so you’re never guessing what you’re paying for.