Yeah, we know. It’s one hell of a blog title. But that’s fine, because we’re one hell of an agency.
If you aren’t familiar with how we do things around here, you might not know that we religiously follow our five core values. We broke down our first value for you, and we’re excited to loop you in on the rest.
Our core values are these little things we keep tucked in the back of our minds that tell us how to do, well, everything. Think of them as the defining statements that make us who we are. (Shockingly, we haven’t included a statement about dogs, but we’re getting there. Probably.)
We embody our core values so no matter who you’re talking to at 8THIRTYFOUR, you know our brand. So, in keeping with that idea, we’re going to walk you through our second core value: “We Know Our Shit.”
We Know Our Shit
When it comes to our industry, we’re convinced that everyone on our team should be experts. It only makes sense, doesn’t it? Why would you hire an agency that didn’t know what they were talking about?
We do a lot of internal work to make sure that we keep up with all things digital, advertising, public relations, social media, marketing, communications, etc., etc…et freaking cetera. When you think about it, there’s a lot that’s constantly changing, so it takes essentially constant effort to make sure we’re on top of our shit.
Did you know that we score ourselves each week on how many new things we’ve learned? We also host weekly meetings where everyone has to come with at least one article (some of us overachieve and bring 2 to 3 articles – kiss asses) to share with the team. If that wasn’t enough, we also keep track of how many events we’ve gone to each week, including workshops, seminars, and networking events. The best way to stay informed, after all, is by getting out there and learning. And we love learning.
We Know Your Shit
So, on top of learning everything we can about our ever-changing industries, we make sure to know everything we can about our clients. After all, if we don’t know who we’re helping and what we’re helping them with…then we can’t call ourselves experts.
We keep in contact with our clients so we can know everything that’s going on with them, including new hires, events, and when their strategic marketing goals change. Our client kickoff meetings are where we learn who our clients are, from brand identity to marketing goals to what their favorite drink is. These meetings have been known to push to almost two hours. There’s just so much for us to learn!
But knowing your shit also means that we’re tracking things our clients might not even have an eye on. Our digital team, for example, kicks ass recording, tracking, and analyzing data and trends about how users interact with the client’s brand. It’s that sort of specialized knowledge that we use to come up with new suggestions for our clients’ goals. Basically, it’s our job to know everything our client knows, and then some.
But Why “We Know Our Shit?”
This value might seem obvious, but when you dissect it, there’s a lot of layers to it. It’s not just that we know our shit. It’s that if, for some reason, we don’t know the answer to a client’s question…well, we go out and learn it!
We like to brag around here from time to time, but we aren’t about to pretend like we know everything. Like we said, we’re in industries that change constantly, and when new technology hits the world, it’s possible for it to get missed.
What do have, is some serious hustle. If something new is happening in our industry or our client’s industry, we go back to the office, and we start learning. We are always crushing it, it’s just who we are.
Do you need a team who knows their shit? Connect with us today. We’d love to learn about you and your business.