The call is for deciding. Not for getting the price.
By Paul Taylor · Written from inside live campaigns, not from a content calendar.
When a brand replies to us and asks which creators we had in mind, we send the creators. Each one goes with the reason it fits, the deliverable and the price. We do not ask for a call first.
That became a written rule in our playbook this month, after a review of our own messages turned up details we had promised buyers that were still sitting in drafts. A buyer had asked a simple question and was waiting on us. Nothing about that wait helped them decide.
Why the call comes second
A call booked before the information arrives turns your first question into the agency’s leverage. You asked something simple and got a calendar link. Some buyers book it. Others go quiet, and I would too: the agency has just shown you how it behaves when you ask for something.
Sending the information first lets you decide whether a call is worth your time. If none of the creators fits, you have saved an hour. If one does, the call starts from something concrete instead of a capabilities tour.
We send only the detail you asked for. If a creator’s availability is not confirmed yet, the message says it is pending and gives a real date for the answer. One question back, not a questionnaire.
What the call has to settle
Once there is interest, a short call earns its place. Ours has a fixed list of what it has to produce, and it is the list I would hold any agency to:
- The objective, and how you will judge whether it worked.
- The audience or market, and the format.
- A budget, or at least a band.
- The campaign date.
- Who decides on your side, and how.
- The next step, with an owner and a date.
Until each of those is written down, neither side has an opportunity yet. A friendly reply is a good sign. It is not a brief, and the proposal that follows can only be as precise as that list.
When the price looks high
When a buyer tells us a price is high, we ask what it is being compared with. A creator’s own video, a cut for your paid ads and a package of several pieces are different purchases, with different rights attached. Comparing one against another tells you nothing about either.
If the number still does not work, we change the scope: format, usage rights, number of pieces. We do not cut the price without taking something out. A discount with nothing traded tells you the first number was not a real one.
What we will not promise to get the meeting
Some buyers only work on performance terms. That is a fair position, and we will tell you plainly what our model covers and what it does not. We will not promise a cost per acquisition or a return on ad spend to win a meeting, and we will not buy at a loss to make a first campaign look cheap. An agency that promises results it does not control is pricing that risk somewhere you cannot see it.
How to use this
The next time an agency offers you creators, ask for the names, the fit and the price in writing before you agree to a call. Then use the call for the list above.
The agency that answers in writing before it asks for your time is showing you how it will work once the campaign is live.