If you’re in the market for a marketing agency to help with your business, you’ll find a wide range of prices and promises. Today, we will look at marketing companies that provide nicely packaged “products” vs. working with a marketing agency that wants to consult before offering services and why you might want to hear out the latter. This is an expansion on some of the questions asked and answered in the enVisioning Success podcast episode, Vetting Marketing Services: Essential Questions for a Solid Start, by marketing veteran co-hosts Julia and Laura.
Marketing Products vs. Marketing Services
When you’re looking at what a marketing agency says it provides, how do they talk about it? Is pricing provided? Are the services general or specific? Are they packaged into fixed tiers? Do they ask you to call for a consultation? This represents a sliding scale between most to least rigid in terms of scope, pricing, and meeting your needs:
- Marketing Packages: A fixed grouping or multi-level tier of marketing products (see below), usually with an increasing cost. Most common with monthly services or DIY tools, and often scale up in costs with multiple brands, users, or needs (such as the number of social media posts or connected accounts).
- Marketing Products: Marketing that is offered as a self-contained product, often with a fixed price associated with it. These often have very rigid parameters; for example, a website might have exactly five pages with all written content and images needing to be provided, and your ability to consult with the agency or get support is limited.
- Marketing Services: In opposition to a product, marketing services provide a range of options for types of marketing (social media management, website design, etc.) as a starting point, to be narrowed down and price quoted after consultation. Most things— scope, depth, monthly amount, etc.—can be negotiated.
- Marketing Plans: Instead of having the type of marketing you want, you instead meet and consult with a marketing team who develops a marketing plan—a strategic overview of your business in the market, shortcomings and strengths, and the suggested type of marketing that will have the most impact on meeting business goals.
A marketing plan is more in-depth than a consultation and has a cost associated with it, as it takes many hours of work to assemble a working picture of your business in its industry and target customers. To know if it’s worth it for your business, check out our blog, Does Your Business Need a Marketing Plan?
About the enVisioning Success Podcast
This article is based on topics discussed in enVisioning Success, our weekly podcast hosted by Vision CEO Laura DiBenedetto and COO Julia Becker Collins. In it, they discuss all things business and marketing, from lead generation to leadership. Find us on PodBean to download from your platform of choice, or subscribe to our mailing list to get new episodes and other news delivered directly to your inbox. Interested in working with Vision? Learn more about our services and contact us today.
