Who Does It Better?
Some would say you’ve been working events under a rock if you haven’t heard about either of these companies. Popbookings and TrustedHerd are in a league of their own fulfilling a need only a few have dared to service.
If you haven’t heard, these two companies are like the Glassdoor of the experiential marketing industry. Both sites have released an app where promo marketing companies can post gigs like a marketplace and anyone with a profile on each platform can submit their availability for the gigs they want to work in hopes of getting booked. The mission of these apps is to smooth out the process on both sides of the fence and centralize everyone's needs in one place. Kinda like the Salesforce for the promo world. Well, today, I have decided to do a comparison of the two companies. Both apps are set out to create neutral grounds of fairness, transparency, and less hassle to resolve major problems that happen all too often in the industry.
MAJOR PROBLEM #1:
MAKING SURE A PROMO COMPANY IS LEGIT
BOTH APPS HAVE THEIR OWN WAY OF RATING PROMO COMPANIES. When accepting gigs from promo companies, you take a big risk trusting if the promo company will be on the up and up especially with paying you for your work. And although there are plenty of Facebook groups where there are discussions about which companies to be beware of, sometimes it’s not enough input being given. Promo companies are not usually listed on the Better Business Bureau or on various job board sites so it becomes difficult to navigate through who is legit let alone polished. However, between these two apps, TrustedHerd is the winner for me.
TRUSTEDHERD: Winner
TrustedHerd has a huge listing of over 2,000 promo companies rated by those who have worked with that company. The filter feature for this list is awesome. The best part is that you can rate the company even if you hadn’t booked with them through TrustedHerd. This is a great tool to use to feel more secure in how legit or polished a company is. The only issue is for small promo companies who don’t book as much as larger companies do, those companies may have fewer reviews than others. This can make some workers feel that the company isn’t legit because there aren’t many reviews. My suggestion when you see this is to do more due diligence.
POPBOOKINGS: Honorable Mention
Popbookings does not have a ranking page of the promo companies that use their platform to book staff, however, Popbookings does have badges that will appear on certain gig postings. As you can see, the yellow icon indicates that this company is a regular for the Popbookings platform. To me, this icon tells me that Popbookings hasn't had issues with the companies they've given this badge to and that's great to know, so it's a different way of looking at things. You're basically trusting Popbookings word about their work relation with the client vs the word of mouth that TrustedHerd provides. What it really comes down to is how you want to access the client on these platforms.
MAJOR PROBLEM #2:
FINDING GIGS THAT FIT WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR WITH MORE EASE
When searching for gigs on Facebook, for example, it is such a to-do trying to use keywords to result in event posts you're looking for. With these apps, after you make your profile, you then have to either be invited by a promo company to submit to their events or you may be able to submit your interest for an event in hopes of getting booked. But each app goes about this process a bit differently from the other. Nonetheless, searching for the gigs to submit to is the first hurdle to tackle. The filter features are what determined my winner.
TRUSTEDHERD: Winner
TrustedHerd allows you to search their database of gigs that were made public. With the filter features you can select elements that matter to you to eliminate seeing gigs you may not be as interested in; but the game-changer with TrustHerd when searching for gigs, the rating for the promo company is included in every gig posting. This helps you in your decision to submit for the gig or not if a promo company's reputation matters to you. From distance, pay rates, to the company's name, these filters make it a smoother process to see the kinds of events you were looking for.
MAJOR PROBLEM #3:
COMMUNICATION, COMMUNICATION, COMMUNICATION, Huh?
#GetYourLifeTogether #HelloIsThisThingOn Allow me to step out of promo perspective, allow me to step into Staffer perspective. An app that centralizes all the information that needs to be communicated for an event from conception to execution is a DREAM. Both of these apps resolve the issue of event detail communications and centralizing those conversations for each event you get booked for. This capability alone eliminates having to dig through your emails looking for the vital information you need at your fingertips. Issues about keeping up with updated information traditionally meant another email being sent and making sure everyone actually got the email, but with apps like Popbookings and TrustedHerd, that is no longer a big issue. It's easy peezy. Group messages during the event are accessible once booked, when you clock-in there's a geo-tag being recorded to prove you are where you are supposed to be, and so on. Your pay is being calculated as you go including your pay status updates. Confusing emails are now limited. There's so much evidence that organization and fairness are a priority for these companies. So who do I think is the winning app when it comes to the communication tools?
POPBOOKINGS: Winner
Popbookings has a game-changer feature that I haven't seen in other promo gig marketplace platforms. Popbookings gives you the ability to message the staffer BEFORE you submit your interest to their event (let alone after you're booked, and so forth). You have the opportunity to ask your questions or even negotiate your personal rate if you're skilled in the art of negotiation with this feature that you will not find on TrustedHerd. To boot, these pre-convos are private and not on a wall for others to see. The communication within the Popbookings app is more rounded.
MAJOR PROBLEM #4:
WHERE'S MY MONEY?!?!?!
This is probably the issue I should have listed first, but so what, we're here now. Money! We are not doing this for free. We want our checks and we want them on time! I worked my booking and I don't know about you, but I want my money to paid as agreed. One of the biggest cons of working in the promo industry is the 30-60-90 day payout schedules (let alone companies that take longer than that to cut you your check). Promo companies can get sloppy when the event has ended and it’s time to cut the check. Magically they don’t know when the paycheck will be paid out. All of a sudden no one can give you a direct answer as to where your money is. It’s hard mapping out when you’ll be able to pay bills dealing with these kinds of conditions.
Now, in efforts of playing devil's advocate without making any excuses for why promo companies uphold these crazy delayed payouts, but hear me out. For some companies, the reason is usually because the promo company is actually billing the client. Meaning the promo company isn’t charging the client upfront for their services. Instead, the payment is due after the fact. When the event is over, the bill is sent to the client and the promo company then waits for the client to pay what is due. Once the invoice is paid, then the promo company processes your paycheck. Unfortunately, the client is liable to take their sweet time to pay the invoice depending on their working rapport with the promo company. As a result, the promo company makes you wait to be paid even though the payment arrangement between the client and promo company has nothing to do with you. But anyhoo ... although both apps have their own way of tracking hours and making sure you get paid, one app sticks out to me. Take a guess who won my vote.
POPBOOKINGS: Winner
Then Popbookings has the "R"-badge which means if you're booked for this gig, your payout is eligible for payout within a few days of each completed shift. Unheard of right! Perks for sure. I, personally was booked through Popbookings for a gig and my payout didn't come on time. I reached out to someone at Popbookings, they looked up my account and had my issue resolved by the next day. That also attests to the well-rounded communication Popbookings fosters.
IN CONCLUSION:
Both apps have things to love about them, that is a fact! Both apps encounter what many apps encounter with updates to the software and improved features. Yet, what it really comes down to is which apps serve you better. I have a profile with both apps and that is my suggestion to you. Both apps are hustling to secure as many reputable promo companies as possible on top of becoming the go-to CRM system that the industry uses. In the meantime, if you haven't already, create your profile with them both and see for yourself what you think.
If only these two companies got together and had a baby, it would be the perfect app. I hope to encourage us to use apps like this because it keeps you from having to update so many profiles we've had to create with each individual promo company. It is my prediction that apps like these are the future. Get on the boat and stack your gigs up.
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