I’ve never had a good experience with a marketing agency. And I’m not alone. Chances are you’ve worked with several bad ones and maybe, if you’re lucky, found a good one.
This reality shaped my approach when I founded Hawke Media. I wanted to create something different—not just another agency that promises the moon but delivers disappointment.
What makes us different isn’t primarily our pricing model. Yes, we operate month-to-month retainers, giving clients flexibility without long-term contracts. But the real difference comes down to three core principles:
- We do what we say we’re going to do
- We build our team around execution, not sales pitches
- We bring real-world business growth experience to the table
These might sound like simple concepts, but they’re surprisingly rare in the marketing agency world.
Building a Different Kind of Agency
My background isn’t in agency life—it’s in building companies. Before Hawke Media, I founded, grew, and sold Swag of the Month, and grew the sales of Ellie.com to a million dollars in just four months. This hands-on experience building businesses shapes everything we do.
My executive team has been with me for years. Together, we’ve built a company filled with people who know how to grow businesses, not just talk about growing them.
There’s no snake oil in our approach. We’re completely transparent about what works, what doesn’t, and what you can expect. Our goal is simple: we want our clients to succeed.
The Truth About Marketing Success
Here’s something most agencies won’t tell you: marketing a really good product is easy if you follow best practices. It will work. On the flip side, marketing a terrible product is nearly impossible, no matter how clever your campaigns are.
This means we won’t be the sole reason a company succeeds or fails. But we also won’t be the reason marketing fails. When you hire us, your marketing gets buttoned up and performs well. We can say this with confidence because:
- We’ve proven it thousands of times across various industries
- We’ve collected extensive data on performance
- We’ve built AI systems that show how we compare to market standards
The data consistently shows we outperform market averages. Not by accident, but because we’ve refined our approach through years of practical application.
The Client Relationship Difference
Beyond performance metrics, we’ve built our agency to be flexible and easy to work with. This matters more than most people realize. Marketing isn’t just about tactics—it’s about partnership.
When I talk with potential clients who’ve been burned by agencies before, I hear the same complaints: agencies that overpromised and underdelivered, that locked them into long contracts with mediocre results, that communicated poorly and blamed the client when campaigns failed.
We’ve structured our entire business model to address these pain points. Our month-to-month approach means we have to earn your business every single month. Our transparent reporting means you always know exactly what’s working and what isn’t. Our team of experienced business builders means we understand your challenges from the inside.
I didn’t create Hawke Media to be just another marketing agency. I created it to be the agency I wish had existed when I was building my first companies. An agency that treats your business like its own, that executes rather than just strategizes, and that delivers on its promises.
In a world full of marketing agencies that disappoint, that’s still a surprisingly radical approach.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What makes Hawke Media different from other marketing agencies?
While our month-to-month retainer model offers flexibility, our main difference is cultural. We prioritize execution over promises, bring real business-building experience to our work, and maintain complete transparency with clients. Our team has been built around people who know how to grow businesses, not just talk about marketing theory.
Q: How do you measure marketing success for clients?
We’ve developed proprietary AI systems that compare our performance against market standards. This data-driven approach allows us to confidently show clients that we consistently outperform industry averages. We focus on tangible business outcomes rather than vanity metrics that don’t translate to growth.
Q: Can marketing save a poor product?
No, and we’re honest about this. Marketing a great product using best practices typically works well, but marketing a poor product is nearly impossible regardless of the strategy. We see ourselves as enhancing your business potential rather than being the sole factor in your success or failure.
Q: Why do so many people have negative experiences with marketing agencies?
Many agencies overpromise during the sales process, lock clients into long-term contracts, communicate poorly, and lack accountability. They often focus more on acquiring new clients than serving existing ones. When campaigns underperform, they frequently blame external factors rather than taking responsibility for results.
Q: What types of businesses work best with your agency model?
We work with companies across various industries, but we’re most effective with businesses that have solid products or services and need expert execution of marketing strategies. Our flexible approach works well for growing companies that need specialized marketing expertise without wanting to build an in-house team. The month-to-month model also appeals to businesses that have been burned by agency contracts in the past.
