The Benefits of a Boutique Agency

Our objective isn’t just to work on a project. We’re there to work together for a purpose.

FACTEUR PR is a boutique PR & marketing studio for lifestyle brands and businesses? But what exactly does ‘boutique’ mean in this case, and why might that be a benefit to a company looking to hire an agency? Reena S. Goodwin, founder + director of FACTEUR PR, weighs in.

Photo: Sharon Hughes Photography

bou·tique

/bo͞oˈtēk/

1a : a small shop dealing in fashionable clothing or accessories. b : a small shop within a large department store. 2 : a small company that offers highly specialized services or products

When I started FACTEUR PR in 2016, I set out to create what’s called a boutique agency, serving a select type of client that I had a lot of passion for. I knew in my 13 year career that when you speak to everyone, you’re really speaking to no one. And while boutique can sound ultra exclusive and almost fastidious, FACTEUR PR is anything but. Instead, our effort to be a highly sought-after boutique PR and marketing studio is strategic. We strive to be the best at what we do, which is supporting lifestyle brands through creative communication. While no, we’re not for everyone, we’re right for some – perhaps you! If you’re curious about the benefits of hiring boutique, this post is for you.

1. Boutique studios are highly specialized.

   The biggest reason a company may consider a boutique PR and marketing agency is because of its specialization. As I mentioned earlier, FACTEUR PR is not for everybody. This is not unintentional. Again, this isn’t an active effort to exclude anyone, but let’s face it: who is really great at everything? Especially in an industry that is incredibly relationship-driven, we strive to maintain and cultivate relationships in the key industries we serve, which include beauty/personal care, home, and wellness. By focusing on these main realms, our clients that come to us with needs in these industries can feel confident our relationship and expertise is a match.

2. Boutique teams tend to be small.

   But we don’t play small. Nope, no way. While our core team is definitely smaller than other agencies (at the time of this post, we have seven members on the FACTEUR team), what’s most important is our dedication to our clients. Larger agencies boast 10-12 accounts per team member. Quite frankly, we take on fewer clients so we can give them our undivided attention.

3. Boutique agencies are agile.

   Another nice thing about working with a boutique agency is scalability. This isn’t necessarily true across the board, but when companies come to FACTEUR PR, we want to help them grow. And ultimately, we want to grow alongside with them. Therefore, we’re able to scale our team to meet the needs of our clients. Rather than expecting clients to fit into our agency, our agency strives to be an extension of our client’s team.

4. Boutique firms are well-connected.

   While we are always willing to scale up, we’re not always able to scale sideways. An example: a client asks us for SEO assistance with the new website that we just helped them launch last year. While we’re always there to lend a hand with optimizing SEO organically (hello, blog posts like this one!), we maintain a network of talented consultants and contractors that can step in to assist at a moment’s notice.

5. Hiring boutique can be cost-effective.

   Boutique does not mean cheap. In fact, it can often mean the opposite because they are highly specialized in their field. But what our clients are not paying for is the high cost of unnecessary overhead, meaning we can keep our fees as purposeful as possible, which goes mostly to support our team working hard for you. We’re also creative with our activation budgets, often considering grassroots or organic and authentic opportunities.

6. Boutique agencies are passionate.

   If you head to our Testimonials page, you’ll notice a common theme. You’ll see that we not only garner impressive results for our clients, but we give them our dedicated support. They feel like we care about them and their businesses. Because we do care – deeply. We are our client’s biggest fans. Each one is a priority – not a number. Our objective isn’t just to work on a project. We’re there to work together for a purpose.

If you’re curious to learn more about working with FACTEUR PR, we invite you to drop us a note! We’d love to take the time to get to know you and your business and see if we might be the right fit for you.