Photo Credit: pexel
There are plenty of digital marketing agencies out there, each of them offering to handle some aspect of your marketing strategy. Some, for example, will offer to run an influencer strategy for you. Others will talk up the importance of crafting a content marketing strategy. But which ones are right for you? To help you answer that question, here’s a quick look at what you need to look for before hiring a digital marketing agency…
Track record of proven results
It’s easy enough to describe what a digital marketing agency hopes to accomplish in the future – but what sorts of results did they have in the past? Did they work with companies in a variety of different industries – or have they chosen to focus on a certain industry or sector?
By getting answers to these questions, you’ll have a better sense of what to expect when – or if – you choose to engage them. For example, let’s say that you’re a restaurant business looking to raise your profile in the Philadelphia area. You’ve noticed that other competitors are using Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat to bring in new customers, so you’re interested in doing the same. As a result, you should check that any digital marketing agency you hire is going to have experience working on these same kinds of accounts – and that they have the metrics to back up the results.
Creativity and innovation
It’s also important to understand what type of digital marketing or social media campaigns they specialize in, as well as their overall level of expertise. For example, just about any college intern can post a series of tweets and Facebook updates for you. But is there any evidence that the digital marketing agency is at the forefront of what’s happening on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook?
You want to be assured that you are getting fresh, new and innovative social strategies, not just those that have been recycled from previous clients. Trends on social media tend to change at least every six months, so you want to make sure your new digital marketing campaign will be fresh and engaging. Nobody wants to get a “me-too” campaign that’s been carved out of a template.
Quality one-on-one interaction
Many digital marketing agencies are headed by one or more individuals who get all the attention on social media – they’re the ones who are tweeting all the time, writing posts on Medium, and becoming “the face” of the agency at events. But that doesn’t mean that these individuals will actually be working on your account. It’s important to realize that, unless your account is worth a significant amount of dollars, you might not get any quality one-on-one interaction with the “guru” or “thought leader” at the top of the agency. Instead, you’ll be working alongside more junior marketing team members.
By considering these three factors above, you’ll have a much better idea of the types of questions you should be asking any digital marketing agency. Try to look beyond all the slick graphics on the presentation slides to see what kind of value they can really offer your business.
