Page 135 - Duct Tape Marketing

119Chapter 9: Hiring Help for Your Marketing Program

ߜ Ad agencies, public relations firms, and design studios are set up to
handle entire jobs, from strategic and concept development through
design and copywriting, production management, and overseeing print-
ing, ad placement, and direct mailings. They have systems in place to
handle multifaceted tasks and they have teams of professionals they can
assign to your job. They also serve as brokers — screening, selecting,
and managing photographers, printers, and marketing specialists on
your behalf. Most assign a liaison, usually called an account executive,
to serve as your primary contact and advocate. As a result, you have a
team of people helping you, but you deal with only one person, who will
hold all the others accountable on your behalf.

ߜ Freelancers are specialists in particular fields such as strategic plan-
ning, copywriting, design, illustration, and media planning. Freelancers
work on an hourly basis and gladly accept project work, whereas agen-
cies often prefer longer-term client commitments. While most free-
lancers work independently, often they are part of a creative network
that can serve as a virtual team for your project. Minimally you can
count on one freelancer to recommend creative professionals for other
aspects of your project.

In deciding what kind of expertise to hire, follow these tips:

ߜ Hire professionals whose talents and fees fit your situation. If you want a
photo of a new employee to send with a news release to the local paper,
you hardly need to hire a photographer who charges $1,000 a day to
take the mug shot. And you don’t need a public relations consultant
whose fee is $100 an hour to write a two-paragraph news release.

ߜ If you have a staff member who is able to coordinate the various steps
of your production and ad placement process, you can hire freelancers
rather than an agency. But if you need management as well as creative
expertise, turn to an agency that is set up to offer full service and to
assume the coordination role.

Some general guidelines can help you select the best resources. For example,
a designer is your answer if you need a logo, stationery, or a design solution
for a brochure or ad. A copywriter can help if you need text for brochures or
ads. A media planner or buyer helps with media placement of pre-produced
ads. Public relations agencies are skilled at special event planning, promo-
tions, publicity generation, and crisis management. A full-service ad agency is
the best approach if you’re undertaking several of these activities as part of
your overall marketing program, or if you want an ongoing partner in devel-
oping your marketing image, message, and materials.