Hey guys! Today, I want to share a story with you as well as a question. Is your digital marketing team or agency giving you a piecemeal solution or holistic solution? Last Friday, I was driving to the office, and suddenly I had a flat tire. First time in 27 years that I have been driving here in the United States of America. I pulled over to the side of the highway and called a service company, which took some time to arrive. By the time they finished, I was almost 3 hours late to work.

That was how long it took. Placing the call, following up and getting the tire fixed. When the guy showed up, I was on the side of the highway because people were driving about 60 to 65 miles per hour and it’s not safe as there’s little space on the side. I knew my car had just a temporary spare tire which can cover not more than 50 miles. It was on a Friday, and I knew tire shops are usually busy because the weekend was approaching. 

So I left work early to get the car fixed. As I was driving, I searched on Google, and the first shop I saw was “Mr. Tire.” As I pulled over into their parking lot, a lady came out and met me with a book. I explained what happened to her and she told me my tire was damaged because there was this piece of metal in it. I was okay with the fact that I had to change the tire and was impressed with how the lady stepped out to attend to me.

She took the tire size and pulled out the tires recommended for my vehicle. She gave me three options; the first option was $55, the medium option which was about $75 and the third option about $99. So I opted for the medium one. Unfortunately, they were fully booked, so she asked me to drop the car and pick it later that day or the next day. I told her I needed my car the next day for a conference I am attending. She couldn’t work on it immediately, but the price was amazing because I thought I could not any better deal, according to estimates I got from Google.

So I told her I would check around, but if I am unable to get it done, I will come back because the price and customer service was amazing. I went to the next shop, they were fully booked as well and asked me to come back for my tire the next day. I proceeded to the third shop, and I was informed it was a 4-hour wait. However, they could fast-track the process. The attendant told me they would have to change all tires, but I informed her that I wanted only one tire changed. She said something interesting. The lady told me my car tires are stock tires and the trays won’t match. According to her, changing just one tire is not safe because it is advisable to change tires in pairs. I wanted to change one tire, and now she is recommending two tires. I agreed, even though it was more expensive than what I had planned.

So why are my sharing this story? A lot of marketing companies and agencies only give piecemeal solutions. For example, you tell them you need traffic, and they provide you with traffic without thinking of the downstream effects. We do not run campaigns at Awsm Digital this way. We always ensure that we take a holistic view of every campaign we run. We ask ourselves, Will this campaign generate the kind of result we want? Despite the fantastic service I got at the first shop, I still worked with the third shop because of the expertise, and the holistic solution recommended, even though it was inconvenient.

The first shop was ready to sell one tire to me and just let me face the consequences when it starts to snow. Marketing is the engine that drives sales for every business. Many businesses approach marketing agencies that provide a little bit of solution, and as a result, they are suffering. For example, in one of my videos, I showed how a marketing company did very little research about a company’s business and started running ad campaigns. They just created a big mess. When you are dealing with a marketing agency, make sure you are getting a holistic solution. 

After I left the tire shop, I researched on Google to confirm if the lady was truthful, and it turned out that she was right. I saw that it is safer to change tires in pairs and that gave me high confidence in their services. Now, I can use their services knowing that I will get the best price, best deal, quality and they gave me a handy tip which saved me much trouble.

If you are working with a marketing agency, make sure you reach out to others. You can talk to us; we will take a look at your current marketing plan and strategy and give you an honest assessment. Are they doing the right? Is there something they should be doing?