It makes sense that you want to take your business to the next level. You’ve probably heard that online is where it’s at and going ‘digital’ is a great way to grow.
While this is very true, a digital marketing agency will not be a small investment (in fact, if the prices they’re offering sound too good to be true, they definitely are).
Many agencies will talk a good game, but fail miserably when it comes time to deliver. A high-quality web design and online marketing agency, though? They’re worth their weight in gold.
Here are three questions you can ask to help provide clues as to whether you’re about to hire the kings of marketing, or the fools of the digital kingdom.
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Can you show me previous successful digital marketing campaigns and what was done?
Many web design and digital marketing agencies will have a case studies or a portfolio page on their website.
It’s true that many clients will not want their business revealed on the agency website and make the agency sign a non-disclosure agreement, but seeing no case studies at all is a red flag.
When you contact the agency, ask for more detail about a particular campaign. See if they can explain what happened and why the growth occurred. If 1 out of their 10 clients are successful with them, the agency could have simply got lucky.
Try to get a feel for their knowledge and if they know what they’re talking about.
They should be able to put together a bespoke proposal for you as no two clients are the same.
2) What are your specific expertise? How do you deliver a 360 degree marketing service?
Most agencies excel in one area. Whether it’s social media marketing, SEO services, Web design, email marketing, e-commerce, pay-per-click and the list goes on.
With so many different areas of online marketing they’re probably telling fibs if they claim to be experts in every department. Unless they’re a HUGE agency that have entire departments dedicated to every branch of digital marketing. I actually don’t recommend agencies like this as you tend to lose the personal touch.
There’s no shame in your agency using a different team to provide the entire project. Working with other agencies or external teams of experts to deliver a high-quality campaign is quite normal in digital marketing.
If they are just going to try and wing your marketing project themselves without any experience, it might be a good idea to politely wave goodbye that particular agency.
3) When will you update me on progress and what will the report include?
Setting expectations from the start is good for both parties.
Some agencies don’t correctly set them at the outset and get annoyed when clients are constantly calling them asking why they aren’t number 1 on Google within the week.
But the flipside to this is if your digital marketing agency has already set reasonable expectations of how long it will take to see progress, be patient and hold your end of the bargain.
If they’ve outlined how often they will report, what they will be reporting on, and how long progress will take, then harassing them weekly about why your yearly business target hasn’t been achieved in week one isn’t helpful.
If your agency isn’t transparent with the work they have done on a monthly basis or simply can’t show you their work, it might be time to call it a day on this marketing relationship.
Hopefully, these three questions will give you the power you need to decide whether an online agency is the correct fit for your business. These questions should filter the good from the bad and the downright ugly.