Buying marketing can feel strange. You pay for work you may not see, judged by reports you didn't define, from people you may rarely talk to after the pitch. Few owners would buy plumbing that way.
This guide is what we'd want every owner to read before signing anything — including with us.
Common ways to get marketing done
- Doing it yourself: no invoice, but it costs your own hours; often fine early on.
- Freelancers: real talent for specific jobs, though you may end up coordinating several of them.
- An agency on a retainer: broad capability; worth asking how the fee is split between coordination and the work itself.
- A managed monthly service with defined work: published plans and quantities; a good fit when your needs are recurring and well defined.
- Custom managed marketing: a scope built around your business; a good fit when the work spans several channels, suppliers, or a launch.
We offer the last two. Each has limits, and we'd rather tell you up front.
Where ipixx fits
Optimus is our managed monthly service for your website, articles, social posts, and search visibility work. You choose a plan with set monthly quantities, we prepare the work, and you approve it before it goes live.
Managed marketing is for work that needs more than a monthly content plan. We scope the strategy, creative, campaigns, and coordination around your business, agree fees and responsibilities in writing, and manage the agreed work with you.
Both are managed services, not software you are left to operate. In both, you supply business information and approvals.
Why the box stays black
Opacity isn't always deliberate. But when work can't be seen, it can't easily be questioned, and a monthly deck full of "momentum" is easy to renew. Agency math looks at what a retainer can pay for and the questions that make the split visible.
The reporting standard
Whatever you choose, hold it to the same reporting bar: what shipped, what it cost, what was decided, and what's needed from you. If a report can't answer those, it isn't telling you much. The full checklist is in What a marketing report owes you.
Choosing what fits
The decision usually starts with one question: is the work recurring and well defined, or does it need a plan built around it? Our guide to ongoing website and content work versus custom managed marketing walks through it, including when the honest answer is neither yet.
Not sure whether you need Optimus or managed marketing? Tell us what needs attention and we'll help you work out which fits.