Ryan Keys’ Post

Here's why you should never hire the cheapest marketing agency. You may have experienced marketing agencies that over promise and under-deliver. Sometimes it's not just laziness, it's often bandwidth and financial scalability issues internally. People who work in marketing agencies are often under the gun to deliver to many different clients across many verticals and services which can cause fall-throughs and product delivery issues. When an agency is operating on thin margins, they have to push employees to cover more clients which leads to inappropriate bandwidth distribution and reduced quality of work. On the flip side, if you hire an agency that charges more money, but the employees can commit more time to your account, you will get a FAR better result and a more successful partnership. Don't go cheap, spend the money, pick the right marketing partner.

Over the years I've heard my fair share of concerns around marketing. 📢 Every founder or director, at some point in their life, has thought to themselves: "How do I market my company and services effectively without taking up valuable time?" Then you have marketing managers who have most likely thought: "Things would be more efficient if I had extra support with marketing." In such instances, it would be a great idea to outsource to an agency...but what are the benefits? 🤔 At Crush, we've outlined several benefits to hiring an agency to support you with your marketing goals. Read them below! 🙌🏻 #Marketing #Agency #Business

Marketing is a crucial aspect of any business's success. With the ever-evolving landscape of digital and traditional marketing, keeping up can be daunting. Hiring a marketing agency can be the game-changer your business needs. Here are five compelling reasons why you should hire a marketing agency. https://bit.ly/45jL0mR

It’s a hugely important decision that many leaders wish they could opt out of. Should you do your marketing in-house or hire an agency? Our founder Chuck Rees explores the pros, cons, and costs to make it a decision you feel confident about. #marketingagency

Your marketing agency probably sucks. Don't get me wrong. There's a lot of top notch agencies out there who are ready to become strategic partners who grow your revenue and objective demonstrate that with clear reporting. Those guys are great. I know some of them. I'm talking about the other guys. You know, the ones who sign you on with pricey retainers and are always late on their deliverables. The ones who send you either obtuse or underdeveloped monthly reports that you can't make heads or tails out of, and then just ask you to trust them because they're the experts. The ones you meet at an industry conference who are four whiskeys deep, promise you the world, and you wake up on Monday realizing you've lost their business card and that's probably for the best. Okay, maybe less of the last one, but they're all probably terrible. Fortunately, a lot of them speak the same language, share the same lingo, Here's a couple of things terrible marketing agencies often tell you (and what they really mean).

If you've hired a marketing agency and been disappointed by the results, you're not alone. 90% of our Clients had the same experience before working with Ninety Five Media. Marketing agencies who can't deliver results are unfortunately more rampant than ever as this industry continues to expand I am a big fan of doing your due diligence as a consumer, and always encourage our prospects to interview other agencies so they can compare services and their connection with the service providers. If you're in the process of vetting marketing agencies, here are 🚩 5 red flags 🚩 to look out for: 1. GUARANTEED RESULTS - no one can guarantee results from marketing, if they do run the other way 2. BRAGGING ON BIG BRAND NAMES - always ask for receipts to show what they've done for brands they mention. Crazy enough I've seen some wild claims with zero proof 3. NO CASE STUDIES - these should showcase the ROI they were able to generate for their Clients 4. LOW PRICES - if their prices are too good to be true, they probably are. Extremely low prices typically mean they are offshoring their work or using AI to do all of the legwork for them and you're still paying a premium 5. NO MENTION OF OUTBOUND ENGAGEMENT - if they're not doing this, you aren't building a community and your longterm ROI will suffer I PROMISE there are good marketing agencies out there Just because you've had a bad experience in the past doesn't mean you have to do it all yourself to generate good results. You CAN find the right fit If you're looking for help, send me a DM. I'm always happy to support 

5 Green flags when hiring a marketing agency 🟩🏳️ I think we can all agree that there are many crappy agencies out there Promising you the world… But delivering nothing You are just looking for a partner that understands how to help you grow And know how to implement the inputs needed Let’s go through some things to look for: 1. They don’t rely on 1 case study from 3 years ago Case studies are probably the biggest indicator to judge whether an agency can actually walk the walk But it’s actually important to see the validity of these case studies And see if they are still relevant in today's market Vet the case studies 2. They view your brand’s growth from a bird's eye point of view Growing a brand has many, many variables Ad creative, landing pages, CRO, email, retention etc The best agencies understand how each variable affects performance And understands how to aid you in each variable Whether it be them doing it, or referring you to someone 3. Transparency and honesty when things aren’t going well There will inevitably be some dips in performance It is no good trying to make the bad sound better It warps reality, which means it warps your decision-making which then negatively affects your performance Understand that bad times will come, but respect the agency when they are honest 4. Always searching for ways to grow the business In my opinion, this is what separates the average from the invaluable They see themselves as an extension of your business Not just an external agency They give advice on things they have seen working with other brands This is a very underrated benefit of great agencies 5. Not fluffy, straight to the point The worst thing is when agencies talk fluff They tiptoe around the main point and are not efficient The most successful agency owners I have met are straight to the point. Cut-throat They are relentless in their pursuit of success A lot of the time fluff is a way of trying to show you are better than you actually are They need the corporate jargon to cover up for their inefficiencies Look at your agency right now and honestly ask yourself how they match up when comparing them to this list Keep moving forward!

This is your Marketing WAKE UP CALL ☎️: Marketing isn't really worth it… If you're not involved in the process. Working with a marketing agency is fantastic if you: • Actively participate and provide feedback • Are a great communicator • Love to share your team's ideas 💡 But, you become an agency's worst nightmare if you: • Send login credentials and say, "Run with it." • Never respond to communications • Don't approve or engage with content Don't be that client. 👎 If you're partnering up with a marketing agency, it’s time to get off the bench and into the game! Your marketing agency will love you for it 🫶🏼 AND your content and brand will shine brighter than ever. ✨ #marketing #marketingagency

The unspoken secret of the marketing agency space is that it’s extremely uncompetitive. (If you're a brand looking for a new agency you need to read this.) Everyone else says otherwise, but let me explain… The ability to make sales for whatever product you want is a super power. Most agencies CAN’T DO THIS. And I’m simply stating the ugly truth. I’m not saying only I can, I know a handful of agencies who have this skill. They’re very impressive, and their waiting list is long (and they charge a lot). But the issue with most agencies is that they don’t know how to even make 1 sale (and if they do they wouldn’t have a chance in hell at making 100). These agencies I like to call ‘(b)Lame Agencies’ because they blame everything but themselves… They blame Meta, they blame google, they blame the macro economic trends But they don’t blame their ads, or their bad research (and this isn’t malicious - They just don’t know any better!) These agencies will let you know the results were good this week. Sales up 2% week on week. Probably that new audience they ‘found’. This is a very dumb way to think about selling product. Would you really like to know what really separates a world class marketer from the other 90%? It’s nothing mysterious. In fact it’s really quite simply, you see, when it comes to any type of selling what really separates the pros from the bums is one simple ingredient. This ingredient is the willingness to become intimately involved with your market. You can’t learn what’s going on in the hearts and souls and minds of your customers or prospects by sitting around looking at your facebook ads manager or some data in a chart. And that’s the most important and often completely overlooked element in marketing in 2024. If your potential agency, or current agency is talking about only this - Run, and run fast! Because nothing is going to change.

Instead of just poking fun at the barrage of "guest post" emails we all receive, let's take a moment to ponder... why? Why is guest posting—whether it's offers for your business, offers to contribute to your site, or offers to assist you with it—so incredibly widespread? I mean, I don't receive spam offering help with literally any other marketing channel: not for PR, content strategy, influencer marketing, other types of advertising, brand marketing, email marketing, or even the other facets of SEO. Here's my take: Guest posting must work; or at least, enough folks buying those services think it does. Perhaps more people respond positively to those guest post requests/offers than we give credit for. Maybe there's more money in outsourced guest posting than in other outsourced marketing functions. Got any other theories? Let's chat!