Why if you are a startup you don't need an agency | minimalism

Before starting this post, we want to make it clear that we do not intend to throw stones at communication or advertising agencies . All we want is to put some common sense on this issue.

We are going to deal with a question that we are always asked in talks or at events:

"Who takes your communication and who manages your advertising campaigns?"

The answer is simple. We do it . As a general rule, Víctor is in charge of advertising campaigns on Instagram, Facebook, Google and Amazon and I focus on the content of the blog and communication on the networks.

When we started the project we had some knowledge about the subject, we knew just enough to try and we wanted to learn in the process and so we have been learning for almost two years .

Every day we find companies in our environment that are considering hiring someone to manage their networks, add value to the brand, position them in the media or manage their campaigns ...this is neither good nor bad, it can be useful for a certain moment of the company but not for an initial phase of the project.

To explain it, we are going to deal with a key point:

• The message must be clear and must come from within the company : What you transmit to the client must come from within the company. In this post we talk about what to consider when launching the brand, take a look. There is a phrase that I love about branding and branding. "Branding is what the company communicates and marks what the client or consumer interprets from what the brand has communicated" . With this statement, would you let someone outside your company communicate for you without being clear about what, how and to whom you should communicate?
• You need to learn these channels : Many times we hear the phrase: "I can't learn that, I have other more important things to do" . Well yes, surely you have other things to do, but you need to understand how they are done. We started with some basic knowledge and gradually learned. Surely there will come a point where we cannot give more of ourselves and we have to hire someone, but at that moment we will be fully prepared to know what and how we want it.
• You can't afford it : It's a fact, an agency to use is a paste. Perhaps the monthly rate is higher than your own salary if you have . Be careful, if you are recovering or making a return on this investment, there is no problem, but please, measure the results you are having, you may be throwing money away.
• You are going to have to spend money : Both in branding and in recruitment you are going to have to invest. In branding the return is difficult to measure, in deposits you can know the performance of almost every cent. In both one and the other you must invest a lot of money. Here the term spending or investing is relative . For many, investing €2,000 in Instagram is spending, but investing €2,000 in an agency is investing. Have you tried what would happen if you put €2,000 into Instagram, Facebook or Adwords? Do you know what the return is?

And you will say, ok but what is the solution:

From our point of view, the first campaigns, communication and management of the brand, at first, must come from the core of the company. Once there are limitations there are several options that can be considered :

1- Hire a freelancer/self-employed person : There are freelancers who manage 3-4 brands at the same time for a salary between €400 and €700 per month. They are involved in the project, they understand the brand or company and they will provide the value and knowledge that you are looking for for your project. Really, they exist, you just have to put on linkedin: "I'm looking for a freelancer to manage brand and campaigns" and someone will surely recommend someone who understands your project and your company. A recommendation, do not choose only by price, look for experience and work done.

2- Hire a person : it can be full time or part time. With this you will get them to understand the brand or company from the core of it and EVERYTHING that comes out of it will be in tune with the values ​​of the company or brand. This option is still cheaper than hiring an agency. Here could be a trainee with the possibility of hiring in the future.

3- Hire consultants : You can hire a freelance, agency or company to train your team for 1, 2 or 3 months and thus assimilate knowledge within the team.

4- Hire an agency : Yes, it is another option, and perhaps, if you are a large company or brand, it is your option. The monthly cost ranges from 1500 to what you want to pay. There are good and less good ones, there are those that understand your company and others that will only collect at the beginning of the month, make a good filter and look for references.

In summary, at first try to do it yourself, be aware of how, when and to whom you are communicating, when you think you have reached the limit, look for one of the options that we propose . We feed on quality freelancers for those things we don't know how to do. If we continue to grow, we will possibly include someone in the team to help us by adding value and knowledge, but based on what we want to convey as a brand and company.

Honestly, there is no single path , but in the first steps of a company, time and money prevail due to their absence, we try to invest it well, we do not always get it but we are working on it.

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If you have doubts or want to ask us something, you can write to us at hola@minimalism.es, we usually answer within 24 hours.

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