We’re going to tackle a question we often get asked when a client is shopping for a marketing solution. First of all, be sure to shop. On every first call, we ask, “who else are you talking to?” That’s because we want you to be really clear about your options and what model fits your particular organization or challenge.
There’s nothing wrong with hiring a marketing firm or agency; in fact, those firms might be a much better fit than hiring us. But working with a team of freelancers (or one freelancer) is different.
Sourcing Talent vs. Allocating Talent
Traditional agencies have more traditional staffing requirements. That means they have project managers and creatives with a salary and a minimum allocation requirement. When a new client signs on, the account is resourced based on capacity, not fit.
For us, we hire the best person (usually fellow freelancers) for the work with the budget we’ve worked out together.
Luxurious Overhead
Some of the things I miss about agency life is the expensive lunches, beautifully designed office space, and the friendly admin team. It makes everything more pleasant. Those things might be necessary for you, but you pay for that stuff indirectly in your fees.
We’re pretty spartan here. We’re in and out of coworking spaces and working from home. We’d rather NOT go out for lunch (sorry!) but would rather put our time, money, and effort into producing the work.
Day-to-Day Strategic Support
The traditional model of most outside firms or agencies scales their business by passing you on to a cheaper, less experienced account person. That can be frustrating when you are looking for strategic support.
We’re not scaling like a traditional marketing business, so we can’t transition you to an accounts team once you’re “sold.”
What is Right for You, the Client
Like many creative industries, marketing and advertising people are constantly challenged to keep their egos in check. When working with a traditional firm, they’re balancing solving your problem, what their peers think, what wins awards, and what their competitors will think.
We’ll admit that we’re not impervious to this, but we feel like we’ve made very long strides to get past this (awareness is the first step, right?) It’s about guiding you so that your ideas and concepts come alive. We’ll provide inputs to the creative, but it has to be right for you in the end.
