Each businesses goals and ambitions are different, each will have a different ethos and milestones that they want to achieve across a set period of time. The aim of all digital marketing activities is to help your business achieve these goals, ideally taking your company to new levels and growing over time.
With what seems like a digital agency on every street corner it can be an extremely difficult choice who to work with. As a business owner you will be bombarded by different digital marketing agencies each day – all offering what looks like exactly the same services and packages.
Finding the right digital agency can be a difficult task, which is why we are sharing our top things to consider when choosing a marketing partner that your business can work with for years to come.
Top things to consider when looking for a digital marketing agency
- Is your brand important to them?
“Do not hire a man who does your work for money, but him who does it for the love of it.” – Henry David Thoreau
It’s a competitive game and most digital agencies will jump at the chance of a client, just about anyone will do and some will even promise you whatever you want to hear – even if it isn’t realistic or even achievable at all.
When considering an agency ask them key questions about their current clients, their answers will speak volumes, it will be clear whether your organisation will just be another number to them or someone that is at the very core of their business.
Having a digital agency that believes in your brand and vision means that the work they create will be done with excitement, creativity and with your brand in mind. There are thousands of agencies out there, but only a handful that have a team that love what they do.
- Are they flexible?
Something that you may struggle to find out until you actually work with your selected agency however, something to consider none the less. Flexibility and adapting to change is important – especially if you are like most business owners and always looking to jump onto the next new idea.
Often your marketing campaign will start going down one avenue and as your ideas and business goals change it will need to adapt with them!
Flexibility could be in terms of:
- Costings
- Timescales
- Business goals and campaign objectives
- Small amends and changes to workload
If they are well experienced and have worked with hundreds of clients before your digital agency should be understanding and make small changes as needed however, it can cause serious problems if you are on opposite pages – so try and make it clear that you need an agency who is willing to make minor adjustments as the campaign goes on.
- Do you get on well with the team?
During the early stages of dealing with a digital marketing agency you will often speak with a sales person, be it a Business Development Executive or even the business owner. It is unlikely for you to speak with the person who will actually be running your campaign.
So, you might get on wonderfully with the person who brought you on board but you’ve never even met your account manager – which can cause huge problems.
Get past the sales pitch and ask to speak with the person who will likely be managing your digital marketing campaign, go into the office and meet the whole team if needs be! If they are an honest and reliable agency they won’t have any issues with this and it will give you the much needed confidence that you will be able to work well with the team.
- How much experience do they have in your field?
Often agencies will provide examples of the work they have created for their clients, when choosing a digital agency, it is important to study these examples, do they have any related to your field?
As they say: the proof is in the pudding.
Asking for case studies and examples of the work that the agency have created for their other clients will give a good indication of the quality of work they produce. If they have clients on a monthly retainer it may even be worth asking for some references, speaking to these people and asking what their experience with the agency has been will give you the truth and stop you from getting sucked in by a sales pitch.
Some industries are very specific too, for example legal marketing is highly competitive and requires a company that has experience in the field. This may also be something to consider – working with an agency that only deals or specialises in niche markets may be better for your company.
- What does your business actually need?
We’ve all done it, relying on the experts to give us an idea of what services or products we need because we are either clueless or, if we are totally honest with ourselves, a bit too lazy to research it.
For some, this can be good, as a digital agency will make recommendations based on what they feel you need and they aren’t limited by what you had in mind. However, for some, it can lead them into signing up for services that they don’t want and don’t even need.
Even if you are a huge digital marketing novice it is still beneficial to do some research into what you feel would benefit your business the most. For example, looking at competitors and seeing if you like what they are doing is a good start – plus this gives a digital agency something to go off when creating your quote.
Need more advice on selecting an agency?
These are fantastic resources to take advantage of when looking for a creative team to manage your project. For example looking at the RAR agencies website, along with Which Website Designer will help – they both provide a search facilities where users can look for different agencies based on a number of factors including location and type of website project.
You can also take advantage of the research carried out by EConsultancy in their top 100 digital agencies of 2016, this list showcases why the agency have made the list and also provides links to their website and social media profiles for you to take a look at.
Even though there are some companies out there who will offer Google domination for £100 per month there are copious amounts of agencies willing to listen to your ideas and make realistic recommendations that will help your business – you just have to find them!
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