I hired Targeted Marketing to manage email. Very disappointing experience — significant delays and constant follow-up required
I hired Targeted Marketing to manage email marketing and Klaviyo for my e-commerce brand. Unfortunately, my experience ultimately became extremely frustrating and I would not recommend the agency based on the services we received.
One of my biggest issues was how much follow-up was required from me. I hired an agency because I expected them to proactively manage our email program, but I repeatedly found myself emailing to ask whether campaigns had gone out, whether flows had been updated, and whether projects we had discussed weeks earlier had actually been completed.
The delays with our Klaviyo flows were particularly frustrating. We began discussing a significant flow refresh early in the relationship, yet weeks later I was still asking when the work would be finished. In December, after nearly two months of working together, I again raised the fact that I kept being told the flows were being updated. A member of their team acknowledged one of the delays and apologized, taking responsibility for it.
I also felt that I was generating far too much of the marketing strategy myself. I regularly forwarded examples from other brands and suggested campaigns, promotions, loyalty ideas, store-credit reminders, review flows and other concepts that I thought we should implement. I expected considerably more proactive strategic input from an agency we were paying thousands of dollars per month.
There were also execution problems. During one promotion, customers contacted us because an advertised 40% discount was not applying properly at checkout. My staff and I repeatedly raised the issue and forwarded examples of customer complaints while the promotion was running. That was particularly upsetting because these emails were being sent to our customers under our brand name.
By January, I had become concerned enough that I told the owner in writing that performance had fallen and was no longer covering the cost of the retainer, and that I had sent numerous emails regarding problems.
After ending the relationship, I had another email marketing professional review the account and identify additional issues with the setup and work that remained incomplete or needed correction.
There were certainly individual campaigns that performed well, particularly around BFCM, and I want to acknowledge that fairly. My problem was the overall experience: the delays, the amount of management and follow-up required from me, execution problems, and the lack of the proactive strategic partnership I believed I was paying for.
For a business owner hiring an email marketing agency specifically to take this work off their plate, my experience was the opposite. I spent far too much time managing the agency and chasing work that I believed they had been hired to manage.
Based on my experience, I would not hire Targeted Marketing again.