To hire a Brand Agency or not?

[Leecha14]

Hey everyone!

I've created a new product in the pet industry, it is first of its kind, there isn't anything in the market like it, pretty exciting.

Having said that, I'm reaching out to marketing agencies to essentially take over the social media content creation, video, website, build the brand, work with influencers.

Of course, I will be doing this as well however, this isn't my area of expertise and I own another business that is full time and I'm having a challenge finding time for everything. I wish I could run on 4 hours sleep and just work all day but that isn't me.

• So my question is, does anyone have a marketing agency they can recommend with expertise in the pet industry?
• Who else partnered with an agency to do this?
• If so, were you able to negotiate payment terms that work with you?

I'm a little nervous of the cost however, I feel this is a smart investment.

All tips and advice is appreciated.
Thank you - L

 

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[sparechange]

Hey everyone!

I've created a new product in the pet industry, it is first of its kind, there isn't anything in the market like it, pretty exciting.

Having said that, I'm reaching out to marketing agencies to essentially take over the social media content creation, video, website, build the brand, work with influencers.

Of course, I will be doing this as well however, this isn't my area of expertise and I own another business that is full time and I'm having a challenge finding time for everything. I wish I could run on 4 hours sleep and just work all day but that isn't me.

• So my question is, does anyone have a marketing agency they can recommend with expertise in the pet industry?
• Who else partnered with an agency to do this?
• If so, were you able to negotiate payment terms that work with you?

I'm a little nervous of the cost however, I feel this is a smart investment.

All tips and advice is appreciated.
Thank you - L

If you decide to go this route, do some homework on the companies they've worked with and even call up said companies to see if they would recommenced ____ agency.

The vast majority of online marketers are money chasing bozos that have no idea what they are doing and will gladly dump your cash into some simple ads you could do yourself with barely any effort.

 

[samtrivedi]

Hey everyone!

I've created a new product in the pet industry, it is first of its kind, there isn't anything in the market like it, pretty exciting.

Having said that, I'm reaching out to marketing agencies to essentially take over the social media content creation, video, website, build the brand, work with influencers.

Of course, I will be doing this as well however, this isn't my area of expertise and I own another business that is full time and I'm having a challenge finding time for everything. I wish I could run on 4 hours sleep and just work all day but that isn't me.

• So my question is, does anyone have a marketing agency they can recommend with expertise in the pet industry?
• Who else partnered with an agency to do this?
• If so, were you able to negotiate payment terms that work with you?

I'm a little nervous of the cost however, I feel this is a smart investment.

All tips and advice is appreciated.
Thank you - L

This is great. If you want to go with a marketing agency then play smart. Understand this - If your industry is pretty innovative and new then marketing agency will not be able to commit much. They prefer playing safe as marketing is all about getting results based on awareness. Here is what you can do:

- Go to yelp and filter the best possible options for a marketing company based on reviews and work experience.
- Fix an appointment with them and talk to them about your product, needs, and requirements. Meet in person if possible.
- See if they are open to offering a trial.
- Ask for references if needed or in doubt.
- Once everything is clear - finalize a company and start small. Go with small goals and see the progress.
- Gauge based on the results and proceed in either direction.

Hope this helps.

 

[spraybottle]

There are a lot of agencies that don't really know what they're doing they just blow smoke. Vet them like the others mentioned and align exactly what you're looking for with your social media. and what they'll be doing Are you trying to gain followers x amount of followers? Are you looking to run paid ads? You should be if you're trying to do it seriously because your biggest bang for buck will come from retargetting ADs.

One thing to note about social media is that yes, you can go ham with social and build traction there, but if you don't have a few core things in place (namely, your website) that is just as nice as the campaigns you run on social, you'll lose a lot of visitors and sales in the process if they don't like what they see on the site. This is especially true for pet owners because they want to see that you're legit and not some fly by night company. I'm talking ~30 - 60% in missed sales opportunities. I personally like to think social media is more like a limb of the body, and the body is your website.

Going back to social, a good agency will sit down with you before the campaign and ask you some critical questions about what you do, what makes you different, who your target audience is, what your goal is, if there's any social media platforms you think has some potential for traction in your industry, who you think is killing it in the industry that you what to emulate, etc. If the peeps you hire don't ask these kind of qualifying questions that's a red flag. After all, do you really think they know all the intricacies of what makes you and your brand different than you do?

What sucks for social media is that in order for you to hit it out of the park, it will take a lot of planning and effort on your end to put campaigns together. These days with social media, and i imagine especially in the pet industry, you have to win them over with a lot of charm without being overtly salesy.

Pet's tricky. You have a lot of people that are doing some catchy stuff on social so you have to come at it with a unique angle.

 

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