CHOOSING AN AGENCY 10 QUESTIONS

• In-house team. The people who know the brand best and are always available, but it brings hiring, management and tooling costs. Each area of expertise needs a separate person.
• Agency. Gives access to several specialties (shooting, content, ads, web) in one place, but transferring the brand’s inside knowledge takes effort.
• A mix. The in-house team holds strategy and brand knowledge, and the agency adds the missing specialties and production capacity. For many growing brands this is the most balanced model.

• 1. Who will actually do the work? The person in the sales meeting, or someone else on the team?
• 2. Which services does your own team do, and which do you outsource?
• 3. Have you worked with a similar brand or sector? Can I see example work?
• 4. What exactly is in the scope, and what is charged separately? Are items such as ad budget and large productions outside the service fee?
• 5. How does the process work? What are the brief, approval, revision and delivery steps and timelines?
• 6. How many revisions do I get?
• 7. How do you report results, and how often?
• 8. Is there a minimum working period, and what are the exit terms?
• 9. Who owns the rights to the visuals and accounts produced?
• 10. If something goes wrong, who do I contact and how quickly?

• A scope that is written down and measurable: how many pieces of content, which formats, which platforms.
• Delivery times and revision terms.
• What the fee covers and what is out of scope.
• Reporting frequency and what the report contains.
• Contract length and exit terms.

• Guaranteed results: “this many followers”, “this much in sales”. Results depend on many variables, and an honest agency says so.
• A vague scope.
• No previous work shown.
• Ownership of accounts and visuals staying with the agency.
• No reporting, or reporting based only on likes and follower counts.

To be transparent, here are our own answers: we run shooting, content, web, social media and advertising in one team. The visuals belong entirely to the brand. Two revision rounds are included in content deliveries. We recommend at least 3 months for social media management and at least 6 months for a marketing partnership; the ad budget is separate from the service fee. We share a report at the end of every month and, in a marketing partnership, also hold a quarterly strategy review. For the details of the model, see our marketing partnership page.

How is a marketing partnership different from an agency service?

Instead of taking jobs one by one, we plan and run your entire marketing together with you. Regular meetings and a quarterly strategy review are part of this model.

Is there a minimum working period?

We recommend at least 3 months for social media management and at least 6 months for a marketing partnership. It takes time to see healthy results.

Can you work alongside our in-house team?

Yes. We work in the same plan as your in-house team and take on the areas that are missing.

Who owns the usage rights to the visuals?

The visuals belong entirely to the brand. We only produce and deliver them.