Digital marketing can feel like foreign territory for even the most seasoned marketers. The digital landscape changes daily as algorithms and SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) grow and evolve.
Navigating and mastering the digital marketing landscape without the proper help can quickly waste your time and money. That’s why choosing the right digital agency is so important.
The market has grown with agencies that spread resources too thin, claim to know every insider trick, and generally waste their clients’ resources.
The truth of the matter is this: digital marketing requires constant effort.
The best digital agency is one that knows this and works with you by creating a flexible and custom strategy with the core goal of helping you achieve your business goals.
To find a winning digital marketing agency and achieve success, we’ll cover 7 easy steps for choosing a digital marketing agency.
7 Easy Steps For Picking A Digital Agency
These 7 easy steps will hopefully give you some clarity and provide some guidance when choosing an agency.
Know Your Goals
It might seem cliche but know your goals.
What do you want to achieve for your business? What is the time frame you are looking to achieve these goals?
When your goals are established, you can clearly state your needs and expectations to prospective digital agencies.
You can choose your digital partner based on their response and how they would develop strategies and campaigns to meet these needs.
On the flip side, knowing what you need is a great way for digital agencies to determine whether or not they have the right tools and know-how to handle your project.
The more you know about what you need and want, the better your chances of finding a digital agency that can meet those needs.
Browse Through Their Services
After establishing your goals and what you want from your prospective digital agency, you can start browsing through agency service catalogs.
Before you book a call, their service pages will be able to give you a general idea of what they offer and if their services fit your general needs.
For example, at Digitlab, we specialize in helping our clients build their brands and find customers with intelligent and captivating marketing.
We help our clients discover an innovative idea, develop it, and help them share it with the right people.
Our digital marketing agency will be the right choice if this sounds like something you want.
Make sure to peruse agency websites to ensure they have the services you want.
Look At Their Team
The team you partner with needs to be a good fit for you.
If you choose them, which team members will you work with directly? Who will be your project managers, and who will be the specialists that handle your account?
You want to ensure the team you are working with has the experience and know-how to provide exceptional service.
Use online resources to research the team members. If they don’t have an employee page on their website, use social media platforms like Linkedin to learn more about them and verify their credentials.
Often, the digital agency will outsource the work to ensure they have an industry specialist at the helm.
If they do this, you can still verify the specialist’s credentials. Rest assured, your agency is doing the legwork to get you the best, industry-specific information.
Learn About Their Clients
Any digital agency worth your time will have a portfolio to showcase their work and who they have worked with.
For example, we have a page dedicated to showcasing our work to show prospective clients what we’re capable of.
And even if an agency only has a small number of clients, who those clients are can make a big difference.
If you see a brand known for quality and successful marketing, you can safely assume they know what they are doing.
Whether you found them through your research or from a reference, make sure to look up their case studies. If you know someone who has worked with a particular agency, don’t hesitate to ask questions about their service procedures.
Check Their Reputation
Check their testimonials, reviews, and reputation. Use Linkedin and search online for any articles that mention them.
Are the things mentioned good, or are they bad? How did people feel after working with this agency? Did they achieve the marketing goal of the businesses that chose to work with them?
Don’t be afraid of being nosey. If the digital agency is worth the money and time, they will proudly showcase their work and testimonials. If they hesitate to show their work, they might not be the right company for you.
Determine Their Values
You will be working very closely with your digital agency, and if all goes well, more than once.
But like any working relationship, sharing similar values and work principles will go a long way to getting the most out of your business venture.
Make sure your team and your agency’s team mesh well. The more common ground you share, the higher the chances of establishing a smooth and driven digital agency team.
Listen To Their Sales Pitch
When you book a call with prospective agencies, there will be an initial sales pitch where they sell their services and present what they can offer you.
Listen carefully to what they say and how they answer the questions you throw their way. An experienced agency will respond, listen to your concerns, and present you with realistic goals and plans.
You want to partner with an agency that communicates effectively and cares about your goals and business. Whether they care about this will be very clear during the first pitch.
There’s Only One Digital Agency You Should Work With
Contact Digitlab today for a marketing assessment and put our team through the wringer.
Watch our team ace every single one of the above steps. We can confidently say we have everything you could want or need from a digital agency.
We care about our clients, their goals, and their experience. We align ourselves with your team and project to deliver exceptional results.
