Does the size of the Internet marketing company matter?

Does size matter? In Internet marketing and online promotion, not as much as you might think.

Does firm size increase quality of work? Often, quality drops or remains the same.

There seems to be three types of exceptional* web marketing companies.

1. Huge firms that do all types of marketing, including television, direct mail, the works. Often they work with companies that are known worldwide, such as Ford, Exxon, Toyota, … you get the idea.
   
2. Big firms that work in places like New York and Los Angeles that are expensive, sometimes worth it, and have many specialists working within their consultancy. Often they’re running multi-million dollar campaigns, and very large companies work with them for their marketing skills.
3. Smaller firms that do exceptional work, but have smaller teams.

We’re #3 (and proud of it). And after running a successful online marketing firm for over 11 years, we still can’t see the difference between us and big firms in terms of work, but we can see the difference in price.

* Note the focus on ‘exceptional’ online marketing firms. There are dozens of types of firms that aren’t worth anything.

What do big firms have that smaller firms don't? Well, they certainly have more people. Oh, and larger expenses. Well, that and they're also higher priced.

What do big firms do that smaller firms do not do?

Let’s ignore #1: Huge firms for now. If you’re reading this, you’re probably not a multi-billion dollar company that needs our help.

Now, big firms sometimes have advantages that smaller firms don’t have. For instance, they have larger marketing budgets to get in front of you. They also might have a sales team. That’s all fine and good, but does that mean they produce better work?

No, it doesn’t.

Big firms do not often produce better work than smaller firms. The difference is in perception; many companies, especially ones that have larger budgets for online marketing, perceive big firms as the only solution to their needs, because they don’t think smaller firms can do the work, on time, under budget, or have the expertise that big firms have. Absolutely not true.

What big marketing firms suffer from.

Pricing. You pay more, sometimes just to cover the size of their firm. After all, they have many employees to pay, big personal marketing budgets, fancy offices, etc.

Big firms might ‘back the school bus up’. You might sign with an expert but are often given ‘underlings’ to work with – kinda like backing the school bus up and letting all the kids out to play. Often those low-level employees don’t know the nuances of Internet marketing like we do, which affects your bottom line in terms of cost, time to completion, or direct  quality of the work they perform. Do you really want students of the craft testing their ideas out on your project?

That means that only a few in the big firms know Internet marketing. Sure, they have more people. But do they have more qualified people for your project? Rarely.

Hard to get in touch with. They can’t be bothered by you. After all, they already got you in their pocketbook. Sometimes this is just plain arrogance or not budgeting in time with client.

Overquoting. We’re not saying all big firms practice invoice stuffing, but some do. And how would you know?

You pay for every single change, call, or report. Every time you call them on the phone, will they bill you for it? Big firms are crazy about billable hours. And yes, we are too, but at least we have some compassion about it. Plus, since we’re working directly on your project, we always know what the heck is going on. Which leads us to our next point.

They often don’t know what’s going on. Due to the large number of employees working on things, coordination is a factor. We’re small, we’re fast, and we can change directions faster for your benefit.

So what are you paying for, really? Infrastructure. The number of qualified employees that can do professional online marketing is about the same as us.

Why we’re just as good as big firms (and sometimes even better).

In smaller firms, you have more personalized attention, which means many things.

We’ll provide more personal ‘high touch’ service than bigger firms. When you work with us, you work directly with the Internet marketing experts that will be performing your work. That means better service, and intimate understanding of what you need.

We’ll fight like crazy for your business. Our bread-and-butter is referrals. If we don’t perform, we know you won’t refer us.

We have more direct experience with more projects over time. We understand current trends, and apply those directly to your projects. When did the larger firms ‘top guys’ cut out and become CEO’s? Perhaps their knowledge is lacking or outdated. In contrast, we’re current on all Internet marketing trends, because we have to be. (Plus, it’s fun to know this stuff).

We have just as much knowledge. Big firms are structured this way: the people at the top have our level of expertise, the others don’t. All they’re doing is fielding your calls.

We answer the phone. Every time you call us, you’re talking to the experts. So, you get your answers faster. We also have a standing rule to call you back within 4 hours (we usually get back to you within 30 minutes, if we don’t answer immediately.)

We take on less projects at any time. By definition, we have a smaller firm, so we can take on less projects than bigger firms. That means more personalized attention for you. And better relationships. And faster turnaround. We’re sure you get the point.

Your education doesn’t stop at the signing of a contract. We don’t shield ourselves behind ‘our expert knowledge’. Sure, this is complex stuff, but it’s not rocket science. If there’s a chance for us to teach you more about what we’re doing, we do. You’ll understand what we’re doing better, and make better decisions in the future.

Above all: We are personally committed to helping you achieve your goals! We wouldn’t be in business for 11 years if we didn’t care about our clients.