First and foremost, the thing you can expect when you're expecting to hire a Mailchimp partner is excellence. Our 1,000+ partners are all credentialed professionals with stellar resumes. Located in over 40 countries, they can accomplish just about every marketing task, including working wonders with the Mailchimp platform as well as other feats like graphic design, copywriting and overall strategy. That aside, there are lots of ins and outs when it comes to hiring a freelancer or marketing agency to improve your marking results. How does payment work? How do you ensure your partner stays on task? What exactly is a SOW? Here, 8 things to expect when you’re expecting to hire a Mailchimp partner.
Do: expect to search your marketing soul
Our 1,000+ partners have lots of solutions. What they often need is a clear picture of your pain points and goals. Before searching for outside help, it can be invaluable to do an internal audit to understand exactly what you need help with and where you want to go. By asking for the right kind of assistance, you’ll be ahead when it comes to ensuring successful results.
Don’t: think that because you’ve met one partner, you’ve met them all
Typically, a business will speak to two to three partners before they find the expert they want to hire. And some businesses prefer to hire multiple partners depending on the specialties they need for their projects. By talking to multiple partners, you can get a sense of which personalities and backgrounds are best for you.
Do: expect to go through a discovery phase with your partner
Before launching into work, it’s important to ensure that you and your Mailchimp partner are a good fit. To do this, set aside a few minutes for a short phone call to talk about your business, what you hope to achieve and to give a sense of your budget. If you agree after this, chances are you are a match.
Don’t: expect every partner to have the same rates and payment processes
Mailchimp has over 1,000 partners in 40 different countries. They are all either freelance workers or independent marketing agencies. Each one sets their own rates, and has their own billing process. Because they are international, there are often conversion rates to consider when establishing a budget. To better understand their fees, it’s essential to talk to them directly. Don’t assume all partners charge the same rates even for similar tasks.
Do: expect to write a statement of work
One thing just about every Mailchimp partner can agree on is the value of a SOW or statement of work. This document details all the critical information for a project: the scope of the work, the budget, the timeline and the key deliverables. This type of brief is something you should expect to write if you move ahead with a Mailchimp partner and is a great way to ensure all expectations are met.
Do: expect to work alongside your partner
Marketing is a long-term investment that pays back over time. The same is true for professional relationships. Your Mailchimp partner is here to help you, not make your life more difficult. Even still, the more effort you put into ensuring success—checking that they understand your objectives, pains and aspirations, and meeting with them as needed to answer their questions and give them feedback—the better the results will be.
Don’t: expect that no one will be interested in smaller projects
Sometimes, a project lasts as little as an hour, if that, and still provides good value. Not all partners are available for such quick tasks, but some are. It’s always worth talking through the options with our experts, because they might be able to provide insights about the best way to get the job done. Scope can also change over time, and you might find that the partner relationship you started on a seemingly short endeavor grows into longer, bigger collaborations.
Don’t: expect to be the same after working with a partner
Among the joys of working with a Mailchimp partner is discovering their insights and ideas. Our 1,000+ Mailchimp partners are leaders in the field, and many offering coaching and tutorials to better help you with Mailchimp and other marketing tasks. This knowledge can help you grow well into the future, so be open and see where the partnership can take you.
Now that you’ve learned what to expect when expecting to work with a Mailchimp partner, it’s time to choose one!
Discover how to find the perfect partner for you, or jump right in and check out the Mailchimp experts directory.