Paid acquisition agency
Talcoe vs Hibu
Full service local advertising agency. Builds the website, runs the ads, takes the call. Long contracts, percentage of spend fees.
Who Hibu is for
Multi location franchises and operators who want to outsource the whole marketing function and don't mind not owning the ad accounts.
Who Talcoe is for
Single location to mid market service businesses who want to keep ownership of the ad accounts, the lead data, and the response pipeline, on a flat fee instead of a percentage.
Side by side
| Dimension | Hibu | Talcoe |
|---|---|---|
| Ad account ownership | Agency holds the billing entity | Client owns both Google and Meta ad accounts, MCC access only |
| Fee structure | Percentage of ad spend | Flat retainer, scales with operator complexity not spend |
| Lead response time | 2 to 4 hours typical | Under 60 seconds, SMS plus email |
| Creative refresh cadence | Quarterly at best | AI generated variants weekly |
| What happens at end of engagement | Campaigns sit on agency infrastructure | Campaigns stay with the business, full export |
Hibu pricing: Roughly 15 to 20 percent of ad spend plus $500 to $2,000 onboarding
When Hibu is the right call
If you have multiple franchise locations and zero desire to ever touch the ad accounts, Hibu's full service model can be appropriate. They are not the wrong choice for that profile.