If you’re a small business owner, you’re likely familiar with the world of marketing. It can be overwhelming, confusing, and downright frustrating when managed on your own. Is Clever Punch any different? Here is an honest take (good and bad), on what it’s really like to work with us.

The Good: We are Fast (without sacrificing quality)

Everyone’s first question … when can we have this done? We aim to strike a balance between quick and quality. When we work with new clients, our goal is to have their branding and website work done and launched in eight weeks. That work includes coming up with everything that’s on the website, so our clients have less to do. The following four weeks is dedicated to onboarding, online account audits, and graphic design needs. On the third month of working together, your marketing is up and running with content going out. In cases where it takes longer, it is because the client needs more time, more rounds of revision etc. We think that’s fast, especially when we hear of businesses taking 6-9 months to get their website built and launched.

The Good: We Care About Our Clients

If your marketing team doesn’t “get” you, it will be obvious once they start writing and designing on your behalf. We mitigate this risk by investing in learning about our clients during our kickoff meeting. We come prepared, with a list of soul-searching questions to uncover what makes you and your business unique. That way, everything we write and design from there on hits it out of the park. The more passionate our clients are, the better job we can do.

The Good: We are Consistent (no micro-managing needed)

This is a KEY component of successful marketing. There are lots of great ideas out there, but the execution is lacking. When business owners try to manage marketing themselves, the efforts are stop-start. It’s exhausting for them to stay on their team and to make sure the work is getting done. Consistency is key when it comes to marketing. We’re great at strategy, consistency, organization, and taking ownership. We are accountable. For example, if we haven’t heard back from a client, it’s up to us to follow up or find another way around the barricade. Many of our clients can only devote 10 minutes per month of their time to speak with us, and yet their marketing doesn’t skip a beat.

The Good: We are Affordable

Our pricing has always been transparent, with monthly plans that start at $1750, less than it would cost you to hire a part-time junior marketing person. (Keep in mind, you would have to manage this person, and they would need to be able to execute all the tasks you want done in a month.)

The Bad: Here’s the Truth

Here is some honest feedback we’ve had from past clients…

• We are too slow — but didn’t we just pride ourselves on being fast? Yes, but for some, it’s not fast enough.

• We don’t understand the industry well enough — if this is one of your concerns, look at our portfolio and read our client’s websites and articles to decide. Our goal with every client is to wear their “hat” every time we work on their marketing. We want everything to feel like it was written by you! However, some business owners are extremely technical, and it’s important to them that the verbiage be perfect. If you feel nothing gets done unless you’re the one to do it, we might not be a good fit.

• We can’t be available last minute — marketing is creative, and some business owners love to work on marketing when they are in the mood. Because we work with many clients at one time, we can’t be available at a moment’s notice. Additionally, a healthy work-life balance is important to us, so, for businesses that need content going out on-the-fly, at night, and on the weekends, we aren’t a good fit.

• We can’t promise that your new business will be a success — we have seen new business owners rely too much on marketing, assuming the more they spend, the more successful their new venture will be. The truth is, even if you hire the most expensive branding and marketing team available, you still need sales. Yes, marketing can rustle up the pipeline, and convert curious viewers into clients, but the quality of your service or product is beyond our control. We recommend new businesses wait until they have consistent sales before they delegate out their marketing.

• We work on a monthly service fee — “retainer” scares some people. However, we don’t want to waste anyone’s time or money. If it’s not a good fit, we ask for 30 days’ notice. Our proposal is straightforward, and you won’t need to hire a lawyer to understand it. The monthly fee model works for our clients because we agree on what will get done and don’t nickel and dime how long it takes.

The truth is every business decision you make will have pros and cons. If you higher someone in-house, you will have more control, and they can give you more of their time. It also means you will need to higher, train, and manage them, and possibly other “experts” to come in depending on which marketing channels you feel make sense. You will also need someone to decide on the big-picture strategy (maybe that’s you?) If you are good at marketing and delegating, an in-house employee might be a better decision. If you hate marketing or just don’t have the time, and want a professional to take over, Clever Punch makes more sense.

We walk the walk by consistently delivering on our promises and exceeding our client’s expectations. Whether you're looking to increase brand awareness or generate leads, we have the expertise and dedication to help you achieve your goals. If you're ready to talk through your marketing ideas, let's talk and see how we can help your business grow.