As an entrepreneur, you have so much to do but with limited time. If you choose to outsource some of your departments, you’ll free up time to concentrate on the most crucial aspects of your business.
You can start by outsourcing some or all of the digital marketing department of your company. This is a significant decision, so don’t rush into it.
But this move can really help improve how you promote and grown your entire brand via digital means.
Every organization has a different reason for hiring a digital marketing agency. Perhaps your main goal is to free up your and your team’s time to focus on other priorities. Or maybe you really need the added expertise they can provide to supplement your internal team’s skillsets.
Keep in mind that all agencies differ in their core areas of expertise. Some agencies can significantly help transform your business and increase your business revenue. At the same time, other companies may fail to meet your expectations.
You may hire an agency that offers full service, but lacks in the digital marketing area specifically. Or perhaps you need more support and their team is too small.
How To Find The Best Digital Marketing Agency for YOUR Business
So what exactly do you need to look for when evaluating a digital marketing agency? Do thorough research on different agencies before you settle on any of them. The agency needs to tick a few of the following boxes:
Determine Your Business Needs
A content marketing agency is different from a social media marketing agency. Moreover, if you’re looking for marketing and advertising companies, it’s rare to find one that specializes in one area. You need to know your business goals before searching for a marketing agency.
Maybe you’re looking for social media services, email marketing, or a website revamp. Or sometimes, you want to improve your SEO, or all areas of your marketing strategy. You need to narrow down and understand your overall marketing needs before settling on an agency.
You want a partner that will operate from the same perspective as you, the same page as they say. If you diligently work to match your needs with their best attributes, you’ll get better results.
Do some soul searching for the top goals you wish to achieve, and consider which pieces of digital marketing can get you there. Set real, target goals that you want to achieve, using metrics and specific targets.
Then find the best agency to help you meet or beat those target KPIs. With this type of clarity going in, your odds of finding the best fit increase exponentially.
Focus on the Performance Results
Sometimes you may look at an offer and know that deep down, it sounds too good to be true. And this is also true with some of the digital marketing agencies’ offers.
An agency should offer tangible results for your marketing campaigns and back them up with data. TIDAL Digital emphasizes performance marketing based on growth and returns on investment (ROI), all verifiable by data. So, any campaign must scale your business to ensure value for money, whether it is through leads or sales.
Sadly, there are many unreliable digital marketing firms. Most of them will promise you outstanding results, but often they won’t fulfill them.
You have the right to ask for proof if you doubt their promising results. They should provide you with the golden strategy that makes them stand out from the others. And when in doubt, ask them for references who will vouch for them.
For instance, you need to review their detailed and proven marketing strategy. And also their unique selling point when it comes to your needs. Be extra careful if an agency promises you bottom-of-the-funnel results.
Customer acquisition is one of the main goals of any marketing effort. But increasing your bottom-of-the-funnel numbers shouldn’t be the first selling point of any agency.
It’s improbable that even the best marketing initiatives will guarantee a flood of new clients. So many factors impact the customers’ numbers, for instance, the number of lead conversions to paying customer every month.
These numbers rely heavily on sales efforts, so it’s tough for anyone to promise this unless they intend to get involved with that part of the conversion funnel.
The Agency’s Credibility and Experience in Your Industry
You need to check out the services any digital marketing agency provides. For obvious reasons, agencies with hands-on experience in your particular niche should be front of the line for you to evaluate.
You can discern whether or not they have experience in your industry using things like testimonials, client portfolio, and other social proof indicators.
So get to know:
- Who are the agency’s clients?
- How did they benefit, or what value did they get from the agency?
- Are the clients satisfied with the results or value they got from the agency?
In most cases, the agency will list its clients on its website. If not, request a list and enquire from them if the agency is credible, and whether or not they are satisfied with the services rendered.
So, the firm should understand your field better and have social proof of previous successful projects dealing with clients in the same sector.
Evaluate their website reviews and testimonials and see what people say about their services. Seasoned agencies have experience with various companies in the digital marketing world. Working with such an experienced firm, you can be confident they will execute an effective marketing campaign.
The best way to drive results is prior experience with the specific target audience. Nothing can compare.
Ensure you ask relevant questions when you find an agency with experience in your field. One to note is if they’ve achieved conversion goals similar to yours.
Because of their extensive knowledge in your industry, they will not only tailor winning marketing campaigns but also help you avoid ineffective ideas.
An Appealing Website
It’s essential to evaluate your prospective agencies’ websites carefully. You can only be confident with an agency if their website successfully reflects their work.
Be careful with an agency that has a boring website with incorrect information. This demonstrates that they don’t take their job seriously and may end up under-delivering.
But if their website is attractive with accurate and detailed information, especially social proof and KPI examples, you can be confident with the marketing agency. This shows that they value their work and can deliver top-notch services to your business.
The Tools They Use
Marketing metrics act as the backbone of any successful campaign. So it’s vital to know the type of tools an agency uses before hiring them.
When you’re doing inbound marketing, ensure that every campaign provides an end-to-end experience. They need to leverage appropriate tools for your potential client to enjoy the experience of working with you.
For instance, they can use tools like Campaign Monitor, Aweber, or MailChimp if they’re working on your email marketing. Or for SEO services, they need to leverage tools like SEMrush, RavenTools, or Ahrefs for keyword tracking, link building, and more.
Ideally, you will be able to familiarize yourself with practical communication tools in advance. You need to know the campaign status as much as you’re outsourcing.
Some businesses may prefer using email for communication. But platforms like Slack and ClickUps ensure everyone is on the same page with their open lines of communication.
These details are necessary if you want to work with the best digital marketing agency. They help to set apart amateurs from seasoned agencies.
Final Thoughts
Ensure the digital marketing agency ticks all your boxes before contracting with them.
You need to know your needs in terms of marketing expertise, agency size, and price. So the agency needs to line up with all of your needs.
It is vital to select the best digital marketing company. An ineffective company will be expensive with mediocre work. To have peace of mind, ensure you combine all of these tips when choosing a company. A little work up front will pay off many times over in the long run.
Daniel Martin
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