Finding and hiring a digital marketing agency is never easy.
Is it a good match for your business, possibly leading to a solid and strategic partnership? Or is it not working out, leaving you frustrated and dismayed over the lack of results?
Selecting the right digital marketing agency is more challenging than you think. The availability of so many options is confusing and overwhelming. You may ask around or go here to find the top marketing agencies in London. And you'll see that the market is full of agencies of different sizes and specialties.
You need to ask the right questions to choose the best one for your business. Once you've narrowed down your list of potential candidates, here are eight questions you should ask a digital marketing agency to determine if it's the perfect fit for your needs.
1. How Big Is Your Company?
Bigger doesn't necessarily mean better. However, you need to know if the digital marketing agency has adequate resources at its disposal. Assess what aligns best with your business's primary initiatives and goals.
A bigger agency can have a broader range of digital marketing services with a larger team that can provide comprehensive solutions. However, you may not want a company so big that you get lost in the shuffle or become less prioritized. You want an agency to have a closer and more personal understanding of your business goals.
2. How Long Have You Been In Business?
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The length of time a digital marketing agency has been in the industry can indicate its success. Since today's digital technology is rapidly advancing, agencies may come and go. However, an agile digital agency with a strong talent base will continue to thrive and evolve.
3. What Services Do You Offer?
The most effective digital marketing agency should have various service offerings. They should be versatile and well-rounded in all major proficiencies, including web design and development, social media strategy, branding, paid advertising, SEO, and more.
A full-service agency can put together the necessary marketing tactics you need in a single cohesive strategy to give your brand the success and growth it needs. Plus, you don't have to hire multiple agencies, which can cause a lot of inconsistencies and frustrations along the way.
4. Have You Worked On My Industry Before?
Every business sector has different themes, customer behavior, terminologies, regulations, and more. Thus, it can help if the agency you're considering has worked with other clients in your industry or at least a closely related one. This helps ensure that the agency can implement your niche's most effective marketing strategy and provide better results.
However, having no experience in your specific industry shouldn't disqualify a prospective digital marketing agency outright. You may take your chances with an experienced agency with a strong and skilled team accustomed to working with clients from various industries and who knows how to thoroughly research your specific industry to execute great work.
Then again, it would be better if you could find an agency with experience in your specific business sector. It can be reassuring to know that you're hiring an agency that knows the ins and outs of your industry. For example, if you are in the fintech sector, you should work with a fintech SEO agency for better results.
5. How Long Will It Take To See Results?
Will it take a week or a year? If you don't ask this question, you might get stuck with a digital marketing agency waiting for the results to happen.
You don't want to hire an agency promising skyrocketing conversions within a short time. You should also be wary of companies giving you overly vague timelines. It's a given that you need to understand that it will take time to set everything up. However, it would be helpful to set clear expectations when results will be evident.
That said, the agency should provide realistic timelines for deliverables. You also want them to break down the factors that could impact the timing and results. This gives you an idea of when you can expect to see progress.
6. How Do You Measure Success?
You want to know what you can reasonably expect regarding analytics and reporting on progress. Asking the digital marketing agency for quantifiable indicators of success is critical because data never lies. And an agency that's genuinely interested in helping you produce good results can report on these numbers and analyze them to adjust their digital marketing strategies accordingly.
A detailed report with supporting data from an agency helps justify your company's expenditure on such marketing initiatives. In addition, it proves that you're attaining the results you want and need to thrive in a competitive business world.
These reports should be easy to understand, exhaustive, and relevant to your business, whether delivered via an analytics dashboard or spreadsheet format.
7. Who Will Work On My Account?
It's important to know who'll be working on your business. You may love how a company's sales team makes an instant connection with you, only for the relationship to fall apart with your primary point of contact.
By meeting the team handling your business's digital marketing initiatives, you can get a sense of the people you'll be working with daily. It also allows you to vet their competence, creativity, and alignment with your goals.
8. Will I Own The Creative Assets You Make?
Before hiring a digital agency, you'd want to clarify what you'll own in this partnership. Once they're paid for, you want full ownership of your brand assets—graphic designs, logo, written content, and website. Otherwise, you may be bound by your partnership contract and may not have the rights to your own branding assets.
So, check the terms and conditions in the proposal. If this is not addressed in the contract or proposal, ask them about it and request them to include it. You don't want to ask your agency for permission to use your logo once you've paid for it.
Takeaway
When you hire a digital agency, you're entering a business relationship. And just like any relationship, it should be a mutually beneficial and cooperative partnership that lasts for years. After all, if you invest your time and money in an agency, you want to make the most of those valuable resources.
And asking the right questions can help you evaluate a digital marketing agency's capability. Ultimately, this helps ensure the selection of an agency that can help drive your business growth and success.