Before You Hire Another Marketing Agency…

The Crucial Step Everyone Skips—and Why It’s Killing Your Results

I had a call yesterday that I've had a hundred times before.

A great entrepreneur with an innovative product, frustrated after working with multiple marketing agencies that promised the world but delivered... well, not much.

"I've worked with six, maybe seven marketing companies over the past three years," she told me. "None of them have panned out. It's becoming very discouraging."

Sound familiar?

Here's the brutal truth: Most agencies don't care about your business — they care about getting your business.

Every agency has their specialty:
"You need influencers!"
"Google Ads will drive sales!"
"Content is everything!"
"It's all about the billboards!"

The entrepreneur I spoke with had tried them all:
→ Meta ads
→ Billboards
→ $50K NBA partnership
→ PR companies
→ Influencer campaigns
Some were expensive. Others were cheap but ineffective.

But here's what every single agency missed: her story.

During our conversation, I noticed something telling.
She had all the pieces: → Great product → Passionate customers → Celebrity endorsements → Strong in-person sales

But when I looked at her Instagram bio versus her content? Two completely different brands, talking to two completely different audiences. The missing piece? A cohesive brand story.

Yes, most marketing strategies should include social content, paid media, and PR. But none of these work in isolation. It's like building a house and starting with the roof. As my mom would say: "you're just throwing spaghetti at the wall."

So What Should You Do?

Before you spend a dime on ads or hire another agency:

1. Define your story

Not your product features → Not your technical specs → Your actual story - why you exist, what you stand for.

2. Know your audience

Not "millennials aged 25-35" → Real people with real pain points and desires

3. Determine what they need first

Education about why they should care? → Trust that you're credible? → Proof that your benefits are real?

The Bottom Line: You don't need another agency selling you their specialty.

You need someone who will:
→ Actually listen to your business goals
→ Audit what's already working
→ Build a cohesive strategy first
→ Then execute with the right tactics

Stop letting agencies pitch you their services. Start demanding they understand your story first.

Because until you get that foundation right? You're just throwing very expensive spaghetti at the wall.

(Disclosure: the image below is obviously AI, but a good representation of how business execs feel when hearing pitches.)