For any business or company that desires exponential growth, digital marketing is a sure bet.
It will expose your brand to a bigger audience, bring in more sales, and increase revenue in the long run.
Traditional marketing is no longer relevant with the changing times, and most business owners are increasingly embracing digital marketing. There is, however, a dilemma when it comes to choosing the right digital agency to partner with.
So how do you choose the right marketing agency? Keep in mind that your partnership with the agency has to be mutually beneficial and should bring a return on your investments.
Here are ten questions that you need to ask before making the hiring decision:
#1. How Long Has Your Agency Been In Operations, And How Big Is Your Team?
It’s crucial to understand how long the digital marketing agency you want to partner with has been operating.
With the constant changes in technology, only agencies with a strong talent base and expertise can survive.
Therefore, working with an agency that has stood the test of time despite the technological changes not only assures you of a greater return on investment, but you can be sure that you are getting into a partnership with a dynamic expert and can adapt to your requirements.
The size of the team also matters greatly. You’ll need to factor in your immediate needs and goals. Can the team handle them effectively?
You want to work with a digital agency that is well equipped and resourceful enough to cater to your needs.
There’s no need to work with a small agency that cannot meet your needs, and you also have no business working with a large team that’ll make your requirements look so insignificant.
#2. Are You Knowledgeable In My Industry?
Sure, a digital marketing agency has expertise in several industries. You, however, will be more interested if they also have some knowledge and experience in your industry. This will make it easier for you to trust that they’ll do a good job.
Hiring a team that does not understand the dynamics of your industry means the entire project will be a trial and error, which can hurt the final results.
It’s also important to know how they keep up with the technological changes. Ask if they train their staff frequently.
What are some of the measures they put in place to ensure that their clients get value for their money? What do they do to remain relevant in such a dynamic field?
What are some of the fool proof strategies that will ensure that they deliver quality work despite the changes? This should give you a heads-up of what to expect.
If the answer they give is convincing and you can see that from their case studies, then that’s an agency that’ll deliver your expected results.
#3. Do You Have A Work History I Can Refer To?
When making a hiring decision, never underestimate the power of work history. A reputable digital agency will have no problem sharing its past case studies with you.
Please have a look at the businesses they’ve worked with before. What were the expectations of these clients versus the results? Were they satisfied?
It is not enough for them to tell you how good they are. What’s the need for a beautiful pitch with nothing to bark it up? Ask them to give you examples of some of the projects they are most proud of.
An agency worth working with should not shy from mentioning past projects whose objectives were hit or surpassed. What was their work relationship like during the project? How well do they incorporate the clients’ needs and suggestions?
If they have lots of positive reviews, then that’s an agency you can bring on board. You can be sure that they’ll deliver results based on their past work.
The beauty of reviews is that they are a great indicator of what to expect.
#4. Do You Understand What The Work Entails?
It’s essential to work with a team that understands your project and knows what’s expected of them. Share with them your brief and some of your expectations. An agency that’s passionate about its work will listen to you and give constructive feedback.
They’ll also challenge you, add more flavor, and even develop strategies that are likely to yield better results. Working with a team that understands the core business is a plus because apart from the deliverables, you can expect more insights on what you can do to give you a competitive advantage.
Depending on the size of your organization or business, work with someone who has a greater understanding of your sector and can quickly adapt to the changes you may incorporate during the project.
Since your primary goal is to grow as a business, it’s in your best interest to know if the agency you want to hire can handle the changes and still deliver as expected.
You don’t want a team that will be stuck with any new developments.
#5. What Are The Guaranteed Results?
Usually, when a company engages in any marketing activity, results are measured by conversion rates.
Numbers don’t lie, and the result is a sure indicator that the campaign was a success or not.
Don’t be shy of asking what results to expect, and how sure are they that they’ll deliver the promised results? What are some of the strategies they’ll employ for more conversions, inquiries, or even sales?
Please think of this relationship as a business partnership because that’s what it is. What are you getting in return for your investments? You should be, however, worried about an agency that guarantees you top ratings. They may do a good job, but it’s not guaranteed that you’ll always be top.
A good marketing consultant should be transparent and honest with the deliverables. Let them develop suggestions on improving your visibility and place you strategically for your target customers to find you.
Be wary, however, of those who promise you top ratings. If anything, don’t hire them.
#6. How Much Will It Cost Me To Hire You?
Just like any other business transaction, you are not going to enter into any agreement with a marketing consultant without first determining how much they’ll charge you.
The price they charge will help you decide on whether to bring them on board or not.
When making pricing decisions, it’s crucial to have the following factors in mind:
What’s the size of my organization?
What’s the scope of work?
What’s my marketing budget, and can the business afford it?
While marketing is an essential task in any organization, it should not eat into the profits. So whatever you allocate for the marking activities should be well thought of.
Be keen on how much the marketing consultant will charge you. A very high quote that’s way above your budget will do you more harm than good.
On the other hand, a very low quote indicates that the services offered are likely to be of low quality and hurt the results.
Settle for a consultant who’ll deliver results at an affordable rate.
#7. What Are Your Content Optimization Strategies?
An excellent digital marketing consultant should be able to improve your content for better visibility. Depending on the brief you gave them at the beginning of the project, they should be able to advise you if you’ll need new content?
Does the old content guarantee results? If it does, how can it be improved for even better output. How are they going to optimize your existing content? Are they able to create new content? And how will they merge the two?
These are some of the questions that a good marketing agency should answer confidently before taking up the job. Never rely on assumptions. Let them have a specific plan on how they intend to achieve that.
Do they outsource or have a team that creates the content? You’ll need to get a consultant who’ll get it right from the project’s onset so that results are not compromised.
They should also be transparent on how much time they’ll use to optimize the campaigns.
Don’t hire a digital consultant that doesn’t answer this questions satisfactorily.
#8. Can You Work With My Team Harmoniously, And is your Digital Marketing Agency Available For a Scheduled Call?
Since marketing campaigns are likely to run for an extended period, it’s essential to understand if the agency can work with your team concurrently.
What are their systems like? Are they able to offer deliverables on a weekly or monthly basis?
A good marketing agency should be flexible enough to adapt to your preferences. If you want weekly or monthly reports, communication lines between them and your team should be open such that it’s easier for you to monitor results.
It’s also essential to call the digital marketing agency to discuss matters arising from the campaign.
It makes perfect sense therefore to partner with an agency in your time zone.
You can also arrange to meet physically if the agency is within your locality.
#9. What Are Your Value Systems?
Any result-oriented organization or business has a value system.
Therefore, you need to check if the value systems of the digital agency you want to hire complements yours.
Well, this may not be a predominant factor to consider when outsourcing work, but it’s also necessary that you get a marketing consultant who can work in sync with your team.
This will make it easy for you to trust that they have your best interest at heart and view your organization’s success like theirs.
A culture fit will also make it easier for the marketing consultant to give extra suggestions on issues with product development or even new markets that you never thought existed.
Think of a culture fit as a strategy that’ll propel you to greater heights and give you insights.
You can only achieve this if you work with someone who cares about your business as much as they care about theirs.
Probe them deeper to understand how they work, their belief systems, and decide if their way of doing business is in sync with yours.
#10. Do You Have A Way Of Monitoring The Results Of Your Campaigns?
Any digital marketing consultant worth your attention should continually monitor their campaigns to determine whether they are successful or not.
Ask the marketing consultant you plan to hire how they intend to do this.
How do they intend to give you feedback on the campaigns’ successes or failures?
What are their preferred reporting channels, and at what intervals? The best way to know if a marketing consultant is passionate about their work is how enthusiastic they are in giving any sight improvement on traffic or conversion rates.
This is a clear indicator that they are giving the marketing campaigns the attention it deserves. They’ll also closely monitor what needs improvement to help you hit your desired objectives.
Also, hire someone who can work within a particular time frame. They must tell you how much time they’ll need to run and monitor the campaigns. You don’t want to dedicate so much time to marketing campaigns at the expense of other operations. An extended period than was earlier perceived could also hurt your budget.
Conclusion
If you want your business to grow, you cannot downplay the significance of digital marketing.
With the right marketing strategies, a business will undoubtedly realize an increase in revenue.
This, therefore, means that the agency you plan to use for your digital marketing campaigns plays a vital role in ensuring you succeed or not. The above pointers are the fundamental questions any good or reputable marketing agency should confidently answer before you hire them.
Never work on assumptions, and always remember that this is a business relationship and that return on investment is of uttermost importance. Your business is counting on you, so make the right decision.
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