In today’s day and age, the internet is the very fabric that holds our world together. We live, breathe, and spend significant chunks of our day online. People of all backgrounds constantly consume online content, shop, and type in search terms into Google to solve their daily needs. Therefore, you need a well-established digital marketing strategy, regardless of the type of business you have or the industry you are in.
Teaming up with a digital marketing agency is a key investment that yields immense returns, provided you invest in the right agency and in the right campaigns that match your specific business needs.
Contents
- 1 Get your own business needs aligned first
- 2 The agency set up – Full-service agency or domain specialists?
- 3 Ask to see the work of existing clients related to your industry/function
- 4 Communication skills of the digital marketing agency
- 5 Search for value, not price.
- 6 Do they offer clear pricing and full transparency?
- 7 Credibility of the digital marketing agency
- 8 Hold a meeting with the digital marketing agency team. What are they like?
Get your own business needs aligned first
The first step in the process is to align your own business needs with your marketing objective. Have you established your brand positioning? Reaching out to an agency that does SEO blog posts and content marketing can lead to negative consequences if you have not yet established your brand positioning and target audience.
If you do not have a well-defined brand strategy, it is time to reprioritize. Does the agency in question specialize in marketing, branding, and logo design?
If yes, then this can be a tremendous value add, as you can rely on the same team of specialists to handle all aspects of your marketing (brand to digital marketing) to ensure consistency across the board.
The agency set up – Full-service agency or domain specialists?
A good agency typically offers a range of services that encompass the entirety of Digital Marketing. This is a superior alternative to relying on agencies that focus on specific functions.
For example, utilizing a social media agency can be great for maintaining current customers. However, prospective users use Google Search. This means you must rely on a separate agency just for SEO, another agency for Google Ads, and the list keeps going.
This sets you up for more problems as you try to scale, as different agencies need time to understand your brand. Your disjointed digital marketing effort becomes inefficient to manage as several cooks start to crowd in the kitchen.
Having an agency that handles the entirety of your digital marketing, from web development and web design to SEO and pay per click online advertising, can be a major advantage. This is because the same team of experts, who are well in tune with your brand, can seamlessly fit the different pieces of your digital marketing together. As a result, you are set to produce an outcome that is greater than the sum of its parts.
Looking to develop and then undertake digital marketing for eCommerce? Ask to see their work samples for clients in eCommerce. Looking to execute an SEO plan? Ask them to send you a plan that clearly demonstrates how they can take you to right to the first page of Google when your target audience is typing in keywords related to your business.
Communication skills of the digital marketing agency
A good agency is one that clearly makes sure you understand the overarching process of how they are carrying out their work. The must be able to convey things to you in simple, plain terms.
A lot of agencies can confuse you as they continuously rely on industry specific jargon and fail to calibrate to you and empathize with your needs first.
Search for value, not price.
Agencies that charge exceptionally low prices often cut corners and use tactics that are detrimental to your online presence in the long-term. They also fail to push themselves and go the extra mile for your business.
However, this does not mean you must overpay for your digital marketing services either. An Ideal scenario is when an agency is clear, precise, and upfront about their pricing for different scopes of work within the different domains of digital marketing. This leads to our next question.
Do they offer clear pricing and full transparency?
In many agencies, projects start, but then extras pile up, leading to additional costs. How are the contracts structured? Is it on a retainer? How much does the agency charge for a pay-per-click campaign on Google Search? How much percentage of your monthly ad spend does the agency charge you in fees?
A high-quality agency that values honesty and integrity is fully transparent about their pricing for various projects. Run far, far away from an agency that does not offer clear, in-depth pricing structure upfront.
Credibility of the digital marketing agency
Who are the professionals and leaders behind your digital marketing campaign? Do they have a track record of success? This goes even beyond their successful track record with clients and case studies.
What is there overall ethos and thirst for achievement? Which alma mater did they attend? What is their educational background? Academic excellence and a track record of elite level success from an early age is a terrific indication of character, work ethic and ability to deliver within timelines.
Hold a meeting with the digital marketing agency team. What are they like?
Digital marketing takes time, and optimal results are achieved when there is a great synergy between the agency and your organization. You reap the most when you develop a successful long-term relationship.
Have a meeting with the team in-person (or in our post-pandemic world, a face-to-face video conference). Human to human contact is essential to gauge chemistry and form a bond of trust. This is the very foundation of a productive long-term partnership.
Are you looking for a creative digital marketing agency that can help you scale? Contact us today.