Choosing a Digital Marketing Agency
When you’re running a small business, you are spread thin. There are a lot of balls to keep in the air, and the last thing you need is to feel like you need to watch over the shoulders of your digital marketing agency all day. Trustworthy agencies can be few and far between in our era of digital media, so here’s what to look for when selecting for success:
Someone who listens
It is crucial that your marketing agency be able to accurately understand your campaign needs. Of course, part of that is on you: if you can communicate your needs clearly then half the battle is won, but the marketing agency also has to prove they can listen.
They need to hear you in terms of where you want your priorities, and they need to engage with you to help you shape your priorities in ways that will actually meet your marketing goals.
The agency also need to hear you in terms of budget. Hearing you means understanding your budget constraints and giving you useful feedback about how to meet your goals within them. You’ll want an agency with proven experience, like Straight Marketing LLC, that has the success track to help you plan a budget to meet your needs.
Someone with credibility
Every aspect of business should be done with credible partners, and digital marketing is not an exception. You should be able to find helpful information on the company’s own website. Don’t forget to check sites like the Better Business Bureau and even the company’s own Facebook page to see if they have recommendations.
Ask the company to provide a few references and be sure to follow up on them. On a phone call, you can often find out the information you want to know. In an email you are restricted to what the other party wants to say.
Another mark of credibility is an excellent website. If a digital marketing firm doesn’t have a great website, then you have to wonder how effective they’ll really be in building your market presence up.
Someone flexible
The larger marketing companies often take a one-size-fits all approach to SEO. In other words, they have the same strategies for every company and always go to the same playbook whenever they need to solve a problem.
Your small business is unique, and you should be able to convey that through personalized service. A boutique agency will more fully understand specific needs of small business clients, including the need for unique solutions. They will help you evaluate your industry and your current brand presence, the position of your competitors, and how to put your company in the right place to move forward.
Someone transparent
When you pull the website of a digital marketing agency, you should get real information about who they are. You should get a clear explanation of the services they can offer with details about why those services are of use to you. You should be able to find out about their agency: who they are and what they value. They should be able to explain what they can do for you, specifically.
Finally, transparency means a commitment from the beginning to explain to you what’s happening at every step. You want a digital marketing agency committed to giving you these explanations in a way you can understand and that relates to your main concern: the bottom line.
In the end, the digital marketing agency that is best for you is the one that provides your company real value while helping you meet your goals. Take the time to choose your marketing partner carefully and you’ll be taking a big step towards a plan for success.
