Questions you Want Answered before Hiring a Digital Marketing Agency
If you’ve never hired a digital marketing agency before, there’s some basic questions that you will want answered before making any financial commitment. Digital marketing takes a lot of work and with so many different approaches out there, not every agency works the same. By deciding to outsource to an agency, ideally, you want to find the one that is best for your category of the marketplace and who are able to provide the right answers to your questions.
How they approach digital marketing and what their process is
This is the first answer you want to get from a digital marketing agency. Find out how they work, see how they approach specific aspects of digital marketing (i.e. social media), and how they intend to generate leads. This is their opportunity to sell themselves on why they’re the right fit for your brand.
Knowing who on their team would be assigned to you
When it comes to digital marketing agencies, knowing that you’re working with a team of individuals with specialized skillsets can be very attractive. By knowing what specialists would be assigned to your case, you know where priorities will like. Get a sense of who will oversee what and inquire about their experience in the area where you hope to grow.
Find out the communication process between agency and client
Knowing when an agency is scheduled to check-in with a client is key to knowing how campaigns are going. Find out when an agency intends to get in touch and what information they will provide when they do. Also, know what method of communication they prefer, such as email, conference calling, or video chat.
Get to know the marketing technology they have
Ask them what kind of software they will be using to accomplish campaign goals. This gives you insight into how they work and allows you to get a sense of if they’re compatible with what you might already be using. If you’ve not worked with marketing software before and/or have no preferences, the answer to this question still matters. Any digital marketing company worthwhile should be able to provide a short list of the kind of technology they use to accomplish their goals.
Identifying the analytics they will be using to track success
Success in digital marketing needs to be measured. When it’s not, an agency can claim success even if they may not be entitled to make such a statement. At the end of the day, it’s about sales and profit so be sure not to depend too much on other types of vanity metrics. Ask about what analytics are most important to an agency and how often they will be sending analytic reports.
The last question; what’s included and what costs extra
Don’t make a decision until you’ve assessed a digital marketing company on cost. This is when you want to outline what is included in their fee and what isn’t. Don’t assume anything. Always discuss in detail and evaluate anything you are signing. Identify what the monthly rate includes and ask them about what would cause costs to rise.
Being able to provide quality answers to these questions indicates an agency that is ready to work for your brand. Researching digital marketing companies is time-consuming, yes, but is well worth it when it comes time to reap in ROI. If you have any additional questions or concerns that you want addressed, don’t hesitate to bring them up when discussing the possibility of working with an agency.