Investing on the wrong digital marketing agency can drain your funds and resources as they lead you down a path to nowhere.
Working with an advertising agency, especially for the first time, should not be an impulse decision. You should plan for a rigorous preparation process, to avoid wasting your time. Even before beginning the search, you need to think critically about what role a digital marketing agency would play into your business objectives. Whatever the reason – whether you’re planning for accelerated growth, redesigning your brand, or branching into new territories – it should be fully formed before you even start searching for agencies.
Consider the time you are willing to dedicate to this partnership
The money you’re willing to invest
The skills your team already possesses and the skills your team lacks
Preparation is critically important. If it’s not done thoroughly and honestly, the search is going to end up in misfire!
Define your Needs & Expectations
a) List your Marketing Requirements
Depending on your marketing needs, make a clear list of
digital marketing agency services you would like an agency to take up. Your marketing team needs to take a decision on what activities to be done
in-house and what needs to be
outsourced.
Another important factor that you need to consider is regarding coordination between your in-house marketing team and the agency. For example: If you are keeping SEO in-house and outsourcing Content Marketing, then how are the two teams going to coordinate with each other. Here’s a list of capabilities that an agency can offer your firm:
Website strategy, design and development
Blogging and content creation
Search engine optimization (SEO)
Email marketing
Social media management (SMM)
Search engine marketing (SEM)
Marketing automation
Analytics
Online advertising (
PPC Advertising, Google AdWords,
Facebook advertising strategy, etc.)
Along with these capabilities, also be very clear about the verifiable objective/goal of the marketing activity that you want to outsource. This objective could be:
Branding & Awareness
Traffic
Leads
Sales
App downloads
It is always better to
link a marketing activity with an objective/goal.
b) Get ready for a long term partneship
Look at the whole deal as if you were adding more team members to your company. You will have to cooperate for a long time, and I always encourage a transparent and open relationship in order to get the best results. Most importantly, you need to make sure that everyone is on the same page. The agency you hire has to understand your ideas, give you the necessary feedback, and at the same time, care for your campaign and make the decisions they think are right. In the end, it’s their expertise and knowledge that counts. They are the ones who will tailor your campaign,
not you.
c) Decide on the agency type
Digital marketing agencies come in all
different shapes and sizes. It’s important to find one that fits well with your business goals and, just as important, your budget.
Many agencies have certain specialty services that they excel at. For example, a website design agency might say they offer marketing services in addition. Or a traditional marketing agency will tell you that they have a digital marketing branch. While you shouldn’t immediately dismiss these agencies, you may not want to pull the trigger and go with them. Digital marketing is an incredibly complex, ever-changing industry. You want the agency that handles your business to be up to date on the latest trends and unfortunately, if digital is only a side-service, they might not be.
The decision again depends on your marketing requirements, if you are specifically looking to outsource a few specialized activities, then you can consider hiring an agency that excels in that particular skill set. Ex: Content Writing.
In contrast, if you are planning on outsourcing your entire marketing, then a multi skilled approach may be best, as improving your marketing takes a variety of strategies.
The first thing you need to do before searching for agencies is to take a call on this. Are you going for a full stack marketing agency or a specialized agency?
d) Understand the nature of relationship
Choosing a digital marketing agency is like getting married.
Marriage is hard. Marriages fail. But the ones that last are the ones where both parties are committed to it and work at it. Where everyone chooses every day to stay the course, to grow, to learn and be better together than they would be alone.
So, take your time to ensure that your ideas and values are similar, that your processes are aligned and you believe in the agency’s ability to execute on the strategies you define together. You need to get all the information you need to be ready to make that commitment. And once you do, you need to
trust them.
And trusting them would mean allowing them the time they need to do research, plan, strategize, execute and measure. You don’t need to say ‘til death or bankruptcy do us part, but you have to be prepared to stick it out long enough for a campaign to fully unfold.
Find a digital marketing agency that understands your Needs
a)How effective is their website?
- What is their core competency?
- Check out their Portfolio
- Case Studies & Recommendations
- Supplemental content
- Tools and Certifications
- Awards & Press Coverage
Does the Agency specialize in your niche?
Do they have clients in the same industry as yours? All agencies are different. Some serve large clients, some serve small, some only serve niche industries. To have the optimal experience with an agency you will want to confirm that they truly know your industry inside and out. Having clients in the same industry (or even in the same vertical) can allow the marketing company to transition from the research phase of the marketing process to the implementation phase much quicker. Meaning, they can start getting you results faster.
Does their website include client logos and testimonials?
Do they have experience in your field? With similar-sized companies?
Are their reviews positive?
Do their testimonials seem authentic?
Have they won awards in your category?
Get peer help!
Agencies come in all shapes, sizes & colors and they are constantly changing. Instead of plunging in blindly, enlist the help of your peers. The fact is, even if you did a selection process three years ago, half those agencies are going to be very different today! So find people you trust who have been through the process recently to keep you up to date with the dynamics of the industry.
Don’t hesitate to ask colleagues or ex-colleagues who may be working with an agency or industry contacts who they have used previously and they would be happy to recommend.
Inquire with other firms in your niche
Find out companies in your industry/niche that are successful and determine what agency they are working with. Sometimes this can be as simple as going to the bottom of their website and searching for a line that says “Marketed by…” or “SEO by…”. If you can’t find it on their website, call up the companies and ask to be referred to the agency they’re using.
Send a Request for Proposal (RFP)
After you identify the potential agencies, send them a RFP. A request for proposal (RFP) is the most common way companies share a little bit about themselves and your advertising objectives, as well as any financial requirements or contractual stipulations that make your request unique.
A good RFP will outline the following:
- Business and brand background and positioning
- Summary of desired work and objectives (include any special expectations and considerations)
- Details on targeted consumers (and customers and/or distribution and retail systems if appropriate)
- Budget
- Timelines for responding to the brief and for the program
- Contact details for any clarification or discussion
Send them an assignment and then evaluate it
Along with the RFP you should also provide the shortlisted agencies with a brief of the services and ask them to come up with a broad Strategy Report as well as an Audit Report. This will show you the range of creativity and skills of a digital marketing agency’s team and how it will benefit your business.
Meet the Team
If your research is thorough, you should now be left with a handful of agencies. The next thing you do is go meet with an agency at their office.
These meetings allow you to really see how an agency works from both a creative and a business sense. It is important to make sure you ask any questions or express any concerns to get all the answers and assurance you need before making a final decision.
