6 valuable things you may not have considered when chosing a digital marketing agency
We all know that there a million different choices out there when it comes to find a digital marketing agency to help your business with your online marketing but sometimes it is worth considering some different points than the standard ‘how much does it cost’
Do any old search on Google and you will get pages upon pages of results all making different promises about how they can propel you to greatness. Whilst any good agency will be able to help your business succeed, the difficulty can be finding the right agency for YOU.
Whether you want to find a company to take it all off your plate, or to find someone who can help and work with you on own efforts, here’s a few points that maybe you haven’t yet considered when choosing your new digital marketing partner.
Locality
Firstly, you need to consider whether or not you want to work with someone just down the road or whether you are happy working with someone a bit further afield or even based internationally. You need to consider that with a good agency, you will have a close working relationship with them so whilst having someone just down the road may not be that important to a lasting relationship, having people in the same timezone should be a much higher priority.
Complete approach to marketing.
Where looking for an agency to work with, it is always better to find someone that offers a complete and holistic approach to marketing. With a whole load of different tactics and key phrases like SEO, Inbound Marketing, PPC, Influencer Marketing ( the list goes on and on) it is never worth putting all your eggs in one basket. With a strategic approach to digital marketing, you are able to ensure that you have multiple channels and tactics at your disposal to increase your leads and conversions.
What tools are used?
Nearly all agencies use various tools to aid their marketing efforts. Whether this is an agency owned tool to allow reporting and monitoring or whether it is a tool that is owned by your business to manage your own marketing campaigns the right agency will always be able to demonstrate the benefits and advantages of either choice. A good reason for having a tool that is licensed by your own business is for marketing consistency. If whatever reason the relationship between you and your agency doesn’t work out, it is always possible to find a new agency to work with, but if you have to replace the tool as well then it can become a costly exercise.
What do they offer?
Are you looking for a company who can look after your website as well or offer you a complete package for marketing and web design. Are you considering website maintenance or have concerns about the security? Do you want complete branding and promotional material produced as well? Often it can be more cost effective to work with one company to fulfil all of your marketing requirements. This also allows a deeper relationship to be formed and for the agency to get a better understanding of your business.
Are they qualified?
And I don’t just mean having passed exams! Whilst we are HubSpot Certified Partners, this displays we have an in depth knowledge of Inbound Marketing the HubSpot way, this doesn’t automatically mean that we are qualified to deliver a marketing campaign for a road haulage business. When considering an agency, it is always worth considering if they have experience of marketing in your field of business. Test their ideas and their knowledge and if they don’t have much experience, this shouldn’t be a deal breaker, but instead see how willing they are to learn about your business.
Do their values match yours?
A business should have values and should be able to stand by them. Some businesses are looking for a purely professional relationship where a formal process is followed with set contact times and reporting. Other businesses are looking for a more personal service where they have frequent input into the marketing and with regular updates and informal chats and other businesses want something in between.
You should have an idea of what it is you are looking for and then ensure that your chosen agency can work with you in the way that you want them to.
Do you like them?!
This is perhaps one of the most important factors to take into account when choosing a new digital marketing partner.
DO YOU LIKE THEM?
If everything goes well, you are likely to be working with this agency for a long time and having a close contact with them while they learn and work with your business. If you aren’t comfortable with this person/ business then find someone else.
In short, there are so many digital marketing agencies around, don’t waste your time trying to get a good fit where there isn’t one. If you do a search for ‘Gold Coast SEO’ or ‘Digital Marketing Gold Coast’ you find hundreds of relevant results. Take your time looking through, find two or three that stand out and then get in touch with them. Most agencies will offer get to know you sessions or free evaluation sessions. Take them up on it as this isn’t just a time for them to find out about your business but also for you to find out about them and to ensure that the decision you make is the right one.
And when it comes to making the final decision, choose the one that feels the most right for you and your business.
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