we cut our $12k/mo content agency, saved 70% switching to a creator marketplace, here's what changed
Quick story for anyone weighing this decision.
We worked with a content agency for 14 months. they delivered mostly around 6 ugc pieces a month, hit or miss quality, 2 week turnaround on revisions. $12k/mo retainer plus usage fees on anything past the cap.
3 things finally pushed us off:
1- we hit a moment where we needed 10+ pieces in a week for a new product launch. agency said "we'll need 5 weeks." dead in the water.
2- our growth lead ran the numbers and our total cost per ugc piece was $2,200 after all the cap overage fees
3- one of our best ugc pieces ever (15 second iphone video, no scripting) was made by a creator who slid into our ig dms
We moved to a creator marketplace setup. last month we did 14 pieces for $3.6k total. roughly $260/piece. compared to $2,200/piece on the agency side, that's an 88% drop in unit cost.
but the actual savings isn't just the unit cost:
- creator pool is now around 40 we've worked with vs 1 agency
- we can match creator demographic to product (mom of toddlers for the diaper brand, gym dudes for the protein, etc)
- no more "we'll send revisions tuesday" it's done in 3 to 4 days
- we test more because every piece costs less
what we lost:
• the agency had a project manager who chased everything. we have to do that now. around 4 hours a week of our coordinator's time
• our first 3 creators were misses. had to refine our brief and our vetting
net for us: massively positive.
Anyone had a similar experience? How was your experience working with a content agency vs a creator marketplace for UGC?