Shaved by the Gel - Carney
The Daily Carnage

Shaved by the Gel

We figured you could use a pun on a Monday. Get in here to get the full scoop.

Questions to Ask When Hiring a Digital Agency

Hiring a digital agency isn’t easy. Well, hiring an agency is easy, there are a ton of them out there, but hiring the right one ain’t easy. You’re probably going to spend some serious cash with that agency. So you gotta be sure that you’re going to a get a great return on that money.

A big part of hiring the right agency is asking the right questions before you hire them. If you’ve ever been unsure what you should ask potential agencies, we’ve got the 5 best questions right here:

  1. (6:08) Ask them how much experience they have. But not just general experience. All agencies will tell you they’ve been around since [insert random year], but that doesn’t tell you much. It’s better to ask about total experience and the range of that experience. Have they worked in your industry, worked in digital or traditional marketing, worked with mainly small businesses or large ones? Etc, etc.
  2. (9:25) Where did they get their training? Do they have certifications? If you’re looking to hire an agency to manage your Google Adwords, check to see if they’re Adwords certified. It’s not vital, but it certainly shows initiative.
  3. (11:22) How many campaigns have they revamped? Or, to rephrase, how many winning campaigns have they created that started with a losing campaign? Basically, this is trying to get at the question, “Can you help us?”
  4. (16:25) Do they focus on the right numbers? So when you’re talking to that agency, what numbers are they talking about? If they’re talking about percentages, that might not mean anything. Example: If they say the increased monthly leads for a company by 100%, that could just mean the difference between 1 and 2 leads per month. Take the numbers in context.
  5. (20:37) What’s the strategy scope? Where do the responsibilities of the agency end, and yours begin? Are they just optimizing ads in Adwords, or are they going to be focusing on the bigger picture? Either option is fine. You just have to know where the handoff happens.

Agency marketers: this podcast is good for you too so you can plan your answers to these questions.

4 Ways to Shift Your Thinking to Truly Focus on Your Audience

Thinking about your audience is rule #1 for marketers. A lot of marketers think they’re putting the audience first, but a closer look may reveal that their strategy is still about themselves. It’s hard to know the difference honestly.

Today’s Read is helping us rethink how we focus on our prospects, by re-phrasing questions marketers ask themselves everyday—with glowing examples galore.

Here are four twists in perspective to truly make sure your audience is at the center of everything you do. So they can look less like this and more like this.

Instead of saying: “We’re going to target this audience.”

Ask: “Who are the people we can help?”

Once you have this frame of reference in mind, it’s easier to see how you can create content that can help them.

Instead of saying: “We’re going to ‘do content marketing because everyone else is doing it.’ ”

Ask: “How can we help people in a way no one else is?”

Creating content with a differentiated point of view is crucial to getting noticed through all the noise. No one wants more #basic content on topics that are repeatedly covered.

Instead of saying: “We need more leads!”

Ask: “How can we focus on building an audience which wants to hear from us?

Not only do you need to shift your mindset to think about subscribers instead of leads, but you also need to make it easy people for people to subscribe.

Instead of saying: “Look at our shares, ‘likes,’ and traffic.”

Ask: “How can we measure the impact of the audience we’re building?”

Forget social engagement for right now. A better way to measure the impact of your content marketing is to look at the impact your subscribers are having on your brand. How? Robert Rose’s Audience Valuation Engine is a great tool for calculating the value of your subscribers.  

Even more tips and insights below →

Shaved by the Gel

Bet we’ve all seen the Dollar Shave Club ad by now—this bad boy that skyrocketed them to marketing stardom. And, per a conversation in our Facebook Group, seems they kill the subject line game, as well.

You could say their marketing really…”razors”…the bar. ::Booooo!::

Well, their most recent advertisement is another winner, boasting some seriously quirky (see also: ridiculous) storytelling that leaves a lasting impression. And in today’s ad-inundated world, that’s really the best any brand can do: stand out. That, and having the product to match, of course.

Ready to get weird on a Monday?

“Creativity is more than just being different. Anybody can plan weird; that’s easy. What’s hard is to be as simple as Bach. Making the simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity”
Charles Mingus

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