Marketing & Advertising Services

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  Where ROI should be measurable but rarely is.

THE SPEND

Marketing and advertising typically consume 7–10% of revenue for small and mid-sized businesses, with some growth-stage companies spending considerably more. For a $10M business, that’s $700K–$1M annually flowing to agencies, digital advertising, content production, PR, event sponsorships, print, and marketing technology platforms.

The challenge is that marketing spend is often managed by marketing teams who are experts in creative and strategy — but not in vendor negotiation, contract structuring, or competitive sourcing. Agency contracts, media buys, and martech subscriptions frequently go years without competitive review.

RISK FACTORS WHEN UNMANAGED

• Agency entrenchment: Long-term agency relationships that haven’t been competitively reviewed, with scope creep and rate increases baked into each renewal.

• Martech stack bloat: Overlapping marketing technology platforms (CRM, email, analytics, social scheduling, SEO tools) with redundant functionality and unused features.

• Unclear ROI: Significant spend on channels or campaigns without clear attribution or performance measurement.

• Media buying inefficiency: Digital ad spend managed without competitive bidding across platforms or vendors, leaving money on the table.

• Event and sponsorship spend: Commitments made based on relationships rather than measurable return on investment.

SAVINGS OPPORTUNITIES

• Conduct a martech audit to identify overlapping tools and consolidate platforms, reducing both licensing costs and operational complexity.

• Competitively bid agency relationships every 2–3 years, benchmarking rates and scopes of work against market standards.

• Renegotiate media buying agreements to ensure competitive rates and transparent fee structures.

• Establish clear KPIs and ROI thresholds for all marketing vendor relationships, tying contract renewals to performance.

• Review event and sponsorship commitments for measurable impact before renewal.

WHY OUTSOURCED PROCUREMENT MATTERS HERE

Marketing teams are focused on driving growth — not on negotiating agency contracts or auditing martech invoices. That’s where a procurement partner adds value without stepping on the marketing team’s creative autonomy. Stillwater focuses on the commercial side: ensuring contracts are competitive, scopes are clear, rates are benchmarked, and renewals are earned rather than assumed.

The result is a marketing budget that works harder — same strategy, better commercial terms, and more dollars reaching the market instead of leaking to overhead.