I am writing this review in the hope that it will help you solve the problem of finding the best marketing partner for your business. As I read through the comments, I can see that most of you have been struggling to find the perfect person: the quintessential marketing ‘guru’ who claims to have all the knowledge about how businesses work.
Let me start with this. I wasted several months, almost a year, dealing with these self-proclaimed gurus who seemed so good at giving the right sermons at the right time. However, it never went beyond that. Words – that’s all they had to offer. Sure, these people could sell dreams, but what I really needed was to sell my product and that certainly wasn’t happening. Interestingly, in the initial stages, I was lost in the game of impressions, visibility, posts, engagement, content, blogs, leads, etc. But then where were the sales? It still eluded me, ran away from me, like success. These self-proclaimed digital gurus, the freelancers, some digital marketing companies and their salespeople, some digital agency promoters and their theories still amaze me. Still, since there is no yardstick for performance and things take time, I wasn’t sure who to believe and who not to at this stage.
Regardless, I still decided to stick to the plan. I just thought I hadn’t found the right person. So I went from one ‘guru’ to another. Curse! I wish I had used that time and energy for better purposes. After 8 months of fooling around, I was disappointed and literally hopeless. I literally gave up using digital as a tool to get leads or sales. I thought dammit that the traditional method might work better and get more results, but then the digital dream and the fact that if not today, then in the next few years we would be completely on the digital platform, made me realize that it was important for me to understand these tools and to find a partner who could really anchor my digital ship in the digital word.
Finally, I decided to collaborate with an agency, and yes, I mean a real agency, not the kind that says “why do you need to come to my office? In any case, we are going to work digitally, so why bother get together”. “Let’s start the job.” Oh come on man, I get work happens digitally, but it’s not digital ghosts doing the work. It has to be someone. So why this hideout and why not meet with the client? A proper agency seemed the best option after a series of disappointments. Working with my first agency, I could definitely feel the difference. They had a team, the experience, and most importantly, they intended to work.
Although I would like to mention here that finding the right agency for your business can be a cumbersome task. There are so many options on the market today. Some are good at digital marketing but don’t have the necessary experience in offline marketing. Most of them do not take charge of the final results.
However, my experience with marketing ‘gurus’ had taught me a great lesson; so I was definitely going back to that abyss. I was desperate to find an agency that could deliver results and generate sales for my business. Yes my friends, the only thing that matters is that, at the end of the day, all the stories and theories about impressions, lead generation, visibility, branding, blogging, etc. If sales don’t happen, there’s no point in doing all this. I guess one always has a better way to spend. I was very clear that I wanted an agency that is willing to take responsibility for sales and actually speak to me in numbers, and the number that I understand is sales figures. Everything else will fall into place if the goal and vision are clear. My vision was clear: Sales.
Ready! I was ecstatic when I heard about AOB India. Now, these guys claim to offer services across the spectrum. They offer digital marketing, SEO, content, ATL and BTL engagement, MCM development, pre-sales calls, post-lead gen calls and provide a host of last mile solutions that really make a difference and what got me hooked was that secure sales for your business and don’t just stop at lead generation.
I mean it was like the goose that laid the golden egg for me. I did some more research and contacted a few companies they have worked with. The response made me even more hopeful and I knew that I wanted to work with AOB.
But here comes the negative part. AOB people are hard to crack. It’s like they’re too picky about the people they want to work with. At first, he left me thinking that they weren’t even interested in collaborating. These guys have attitude. I guess it comes from the fact that they know how to sell. I realized much later that what these guys care about is numbers, and since their revenue model has a large portion coming from commission on sales, they are picky about the project. Working with them is also very difficult since they don’t have a specific time to work. It’s like a 24x7x365 day job; night and day are as good as the same. These guys are pressing you for data, schedules, and deliverables. It’s amazing that you feel young again.
But I insisted and finally got through. On the contrary, they turned out to be quite flexible and ready to work based on my requirements. And believe me, in a matter of months, I could see my sales go up.
Today, it has been more than 8 months that I am working with AOB and I am very happy to have found them. So I would like to recommend them to anyone who is looking to move their business forward. But be prepared to deal with being the ‘picky’ part! And don’t forget, everyone in your office comes with an attitude: confidence and numbers. All the best. Hope my review helps.