Working with a big brand is an exciting opportunity. However, it can also be high-risk business, depending on the size and experience of your company. When given the opportunity, every marketing company should ask themselves what they are in it for the most – the reputation or the money.
Reputation marketing is the idea of working with a brand purely to improve one’s own reputation. A music PR company may agree to promote a world-class band for free, simply for the prestige of doing so. This company can then boast to other potential clients about having worked with so-and-so, which makes their company seem all the more alluring.
When pursuing this kind of marketing strategy, you must be carefully of the resources you are using, as usual costs of running a campaign are not going to be made up for. Staff must be aware that they are effectively working for no money and must be equally working purely for reputation. Take into account that failing to get results for a brand could result in them openly criticising your business, damaging your reputation – in essence it’s all-or-nothing.
The opposite approach is to be money-driven. This may be more suited to working with a brand that is big in worth but not so recognisable by name, such as a site for specialist expensive machinery or a precious metals assets company for investors. The best strategy in this case is high paying affiliate marketing. This involves only getting commission on results and can vary (a company may pay per visitors, per customers, or perhaps only after a certain amount of sales have been made as a result of your marketing). In this respect, affiliate marketing is also an all-or-nothing approach.
Before going down this route, it pays to research top affiliate programs, and find the one that you’re most likely to succeed in. It is possible to work with a big brand and earn a colossal profit, whilst also gaining reputation points. These are the types of clients that you really want to run a successful campaign for, or all is lost.
Such a gamble can put many marketing companies off, as the pressure to create good results is more than the pressure when already paid up front. Ensure that you have a good team who can deal with the potential high-stress levels of big brand marketing. Alternatively, continue to run regular clients alongside a big clients. This will give you a secure and steady source of income, so that if the big client you’re working with refuses to pay up (or if you are pursuing a reputation marketing campaign), you will still be able to pay your workers and bills.
In fact, such ventures should generally be seen as exciting bonus projects, still receiving a lot of attention, but not sole focus of your business. When approached correctly, they can be a great way of motivating you and your team by adding variety to the everyday projects you might otherwise be working with.
