30/11/2020
Finding the right digital marketing agency for your business and its specific needs is integral if you’re looking to maximise your digital potential.
But, digital marketing agencies come in all shapes and sizes, possessing particular areas of expertise, so how do you know that you’re choosing the right one?
While you may be looking for a digital marketing agency that specialises in certain strategies or campaigns, certain qualities take an even higher priority. You need a digital partner that’s reliable, creative and capable of handling all of your digital needs to make that all-important difference to your bottom line.
Depending on your industry, budget and marketing needs, you may need a digital marketing agency that offer particular services that can help you achieve your goals. You should look for an agency that provides services that are relevant to the current marketing industry, which includes but isn’t limited to:
Transparency is perhaps one of the most important traits to look out for. A transparent digital marketing agency will let you know from the start what you can expect to receive and what results they can generate for your business.
They should provide you with an overview of what they’re going to do for your business and how it’s going to benefit you. For example, if you enlist an agency to improve your position on Google, they should provide you with an SEO audit and proposed strategy before they get to work.
You don’t need to know the “ins and outs”, but you should at least know what they’re going to do. Otherwise, you may be in for a disappointment.
As content remains to be a central part of any marketing strategy, the agency that you partner up with should have expertise in this area. In addition to having a team that knows how to create a premium content strategy, they should able to tell your brand’s story in a way that gives you a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
A digital marketing agency should also understand how content needs to vary at different stages of the sales funnel, as well as for different channels. Content is key, but relevant content is an absolute must.
Planning, briefing, execution and evaluation are all critical stages in any marketing strategy. Whether you’re planning on using a digital marketing strategy for one of their services or to handle your entire web presence, their communication skills must be seamless.
But, we’re not just talking about responding to emails in a timely manner. You should be provided with a dedicated account manager who can keep you in the loop. They should know how to maintain focus and stay to the point instead of sending pointless emails and wasting your time. This is especially important for when you’re going through a busy period and may not have time to read a lengthy email.
There will also be times when your digital marketing agency will provide you reports or unfortunately deliver some bad news. When it comes to digital marketing, you need to remain realistic as some campaigns simply don’t reach their goals. In a case like this, you don’t want a digital agency to beat around the bush; you want to be open so both they and you as a business can learn something from it.
The digital marketing agency you choose will work with you and your team for a long time (if they generate the results you want!). So it’s important that their in-house culture aligns with yours. This quality is more subjective, but nonetheless important to look out for.
Does the team take part in extracurricular activities that they like to talk about on their social media accounts? Do they look like they’re having fun when you’re having a meeting with them? If they enjoy what they do and work well as a collaborative team, they’ll work better together for your business.
Whilst experience certainly plays into credibility, experience within a specific industry is an important category in itself. Just because a digital agency has a good amount of experience serving a specific industry doesn’t mean they’re going to be able to serve a business like yours. This is particularly important because a digital agency that understands the types of consumers you’re trying to engage, and the challenges you face will be the most helpful.
You should do your research into a potential agency’s success when it comes to helping businesses like yours reach their marketing goals. This can give you confidence choosing a digital marketing agency that’s a right fit for your business and goals.
So, the above qualities are important to look out for before selecting a digital marketing agency to partner with. Don’t hesitate to consider these qualities because it will help you make a decision that’s right for your business. Keep in mind that the agency you choose will ultimately determine whether you’re successful or not. Therefore, you must also consider some other factors as well to ensure you’re choosing the right one for your needs.
It should go with saying that should always read through some testimonials from other clients who have used the services of a digital marketing agency before employing one yourself. A lot of agencies have testimonials on their websites which is great; however, you won’t find a single one that has published a negative one so you should always seek to get an unbiased view.
Websites like Trustpilot offer independent reviews as do other platforms like Google and Facebook. Spend your time to do some research and find out what other businesses are saying about their digital marketing services. It’s also a good idea to check the size of the business and compare them to your own.
A good digital marketing agency will have a diverse team of well-versed experts. From graphic designers and content marketing specialists to SEO gurus and social media whizzes, a good team can ensure that your digital marketing strategy is creative, comprehensive and data-driven.
Digital agencies that are shy about showing off the skills and experience of their team can sometimes be difficult to work with and may not be as creative and collaborative as you would like.
Okay, so let’s say you’ve started speaking with a digital marketing agency that knows what they’re talking about when it comes to integrated digital marketing campaigns. But, do they have the right tools for the job and more importantly, the skills to use them?
When the digital marketing agency talks about measuring organic performance and SEO, are they using Ahrefs and SEMrush or a service that you’ve never heard of? Ask them exactly what tools they’re employing and how proficient they are in using them. Some of these will vary depending on the industry your business operates within, but the very least, you should expect the agency to demonstrate good capability and reliance on tools such as:
The world of digital marketing is continuously changing, so it’s important to partner with a digital agency who are flexible and can adapt to new landscapes as they emerge.
Social media is a really good example of just how quickly things can change. Find out how flexible and adaptive your potential digital marketing agency are by assessing their own online presence across their social media channels. Ask what capacity they have in-house to respond quickly to new trends and demands at short notice and make sure they have a team in place to manage your needs.
Quality reporting all comes back to how transparent a digital marketing agency is. When you’re provided with campaign reports, you should be able to clearly see what’s working and what’s not so that your campaign can be adjusted and optimised accordingly. On-going reporting meetings should also occur during the time you work with an agency so they can explain what they’ve done for you and discuss potential enhancements.
When doing your research, ask prospect digital marketing agencies for sample reports so you can get a better idea of what their reporting processes look like.
A great digital marketing agency should have a well-designed and fully responsive website. How easily their website comes up when you search for a “digital marketing agency” will also say a great lot about their in-house SEO practices. If they can’t leave a long-lasting impression on you with their own website, what does it say about the quality of work they’ll do for you? If they were unable to attract and retain your attention, how are they going to attract new business for you?
An experienced agency should have a modern website with easy navigation and responsive design. Do your research to find out how good they are SEO to promote their own content. Take a look at where they rank in Google before you reach out to them.
A digital marketing agency can only perform well and meet its targets if it has strong leadership. For an agency to perform at its very best, it should have a well-organised flow of information. This is only possible if there’s a leader leading the business rather than a boss. A strong leader can motivate their team to work creatively, which can have a positive impact on their clients and grow the agency over time.
The leader of an agency should have sure that they have a collection of like-minded digital marketing experts. A like-minded team can efficiently coordinate and generate an effective result for their clients.
Revive.Digital is a full-service digital marketing agency based in Southend-on-Sea. Yes, we’re not based in London, but we offer London quality without the capital costs.
We have a super team who create effective strategies to increase our clients’ traffic, leads and sales through a wide array of digital marketing tactics. As a leading digital marketing agency, we focus on creating digital solutions to take our clients to the next level by generating quality leads and targeted traffic.
We create new brands, build stunning websites, film captivating video content, generate immediate results through PPC and creatively manage our clients’ social media accounts.
Sound good? If you would like to speak with us, please get in touch with our team. Call us on 01702 619 139 or visit our contact page today!
