Key takeaways

Small businesses can order a range of marketing tools from new online store AdWorks Shop including websites, digital marketing, logos and more.

Ad industry guru Greg Partington says advertising agencies don’t suit a lot of small businesses’ marketing needs.

Small businesses owners are constantly under pressure to be on top of their marketing to stay competitive and drive growth, whether it’s updating their website, making it e-commerce capable, or doing a rebrand.

There are many skilled marketing freelancers out there if you know where to look but for business owners it is hard to know who will deliver.

Ad industry guru Greg Partington felt there was a gap in the market and recently set up AdWorks Shop, to provide fast, affordable marketing support to SMEs.

The online marketing store has been launched by Greg's Waitapu Group, a NZ-based collective of creative and media companies including the ad agency, Stanley St, social media agency Culture, PR firm Hustle & Bustle and Film360.

The pricing for AdWorks Shop marketing products, which include designing logos and creating websites, will be dramatically different from ad agency rates, says Greg.

“It will be tiny. It was a really big decision I made to make products available at a price that will make a really big difference to SMEs.”

Ad agencies are not right for most small businesses, says the advertising entrepreneur.

“They don’t get the service and the care and maybe get directed to make stuff that they don’t need,” he says.

The pricing on AdWorks Shop

AdWorks Shop director Ryan Newton says products start at $192, which will buy a Full Social Set up (building a social media presence). It costs $260 for a new logo design or a social media audit while content creation is priced at $538.26. An SEO audit comes in at $694.78 and an SEO set up, $852.22. An express website package is $1299 and the most expensive product on the store at the moment is a website set up for e-commerce at $7000.

“An e-commerce website would normally cost $20,000 plus if done by a digital agency,” says Ryan.

The marketing experts working on the products for Kiwi SMEs will come from all over the world, says Greg. They are people he has worked with for the past year with his own clients so they are tested.

“As the volume increases, we can increase the number of people working on the products without dropping standards,” he adds.

For small businesses, they get a clear, defined affordable experience, explains Ryan.

A new logo will be delivered in three days, and each product’s time line will be different, he says.

“We are really clear on the time frame the product or service will get delivered.”

Sometimes a business owner may not know what kind of marketing help they need, says Ryan, and in that case they can book a call on AdWorks Shop.

How a small business owner has used AdWorks Shop

Monika de Neef, a Nelson based holistic business coach at Elevatia has used the AdWorks Shop.

“In the early days I tried working with freelancers through another company and also asked around for a brand strategist/designer,” says Monika.

The results were a bit hit and miss, she found.

“Some didn’t understand my vision, and others delivered work that just didn’t feel aligned with my brand.”

AdWorks bite-sized services were exactly what she needed, she says.

“There was no pressure to get everything designed at once. The service included a colour palette, typography and a logo. Suddenly my brand started to feel real and aligned with who I am.”

At the moment there are 30 marketing products available on AdWorks Shop. There is strong interest in using AI to help with marketing so products in this area will be added, says Ryan.

For the full article on Stuff go here.

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New affordable online marketing store AdWorks Shop launches for SMEs