Dear Farillio member,

On 16th March 2021, you asked our brilliant expert Louis Grenier on the Go Far Fast Show:

“If you’re starting out, should you work with a marketing agency and how much should it cost? I’ve got a bit of investment and my investors are telling me I have to get some marketing support, but I’m being quoted mad amounts of money and I’ve got no idea whether I’m being spun a line… also, I don’t think the agencies I’m talking to are really listening to me.”

And Louis said:

Be mighty always, Farillio

Transcript:

“Follow your gut. From the question it sounds as though you don't feel it, so don't go for any of the agencies you’ve talked to. You are already doing marketing whether you like it or not, so your investors are not telling you to invest in marketing, they're probably telling you to invest in advertising. The marketing that you must do as a founder is to absolutely obsess about your customers. That's your unique advantage and your number one job. Do what I mentioned a few minutes ago, and check out the episodes of my podcast where I talk about the questions to ask in-depth. Do talk to your customers, obsess over who they are, why they bought from you, what they like most about you, and double down on that. Excellence always implies a trade-off – meaning you need to focus on a few things and do them really well – then you can scale. Focus on your customers. Once you have a deep understanding of your customers; where they hang out, where they don't hang out, what they say, and the words they use, put that all on a one-page strategy document as we described before. Once you have that, and only then, decide what channel you want to test out. Think about whether you should do SEO, or if you should do some paid ads on Google because a lot of people search for services there. Are your customers all on Facebook and Instagram? Or do they hang out in communities and are quite fearful of Facebook? I don't know, but once you have those answers, you will know which channel to focus on. Double down on it, see if it works, and then move on to the next one. Marketing agencies are going to claim that they understand your market better than you do, and they're going to make you do things that might not be the best choice for you. You need to do your due diligence yourself and that can't be outsourced.”

Ask your question:

If you have any questions that you'd like us to ask in a future Go Far Fast Show, send us a DM on Twitter or on LinkedIn. We'd love to hear from you!

Want more from Louis?

You can also find Louis’ answers to other questions being asked by you and your community in our Dear Farillio Expert section on our blog site, and Louis’ great guidance on marketing here.

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