Choosing a good digital marketing agency
Choosing a good digital marketing agency is critical to your return on investment.
It is no longer a secret for any company, whether mini, micro, small, medium or large the need to be present in the digital environment.
Whether to be found on Google, Yahoo, Bing so you can increase sales or to be active on social networks seeking engagement and rapport with fans and customers.
Well, before choosing a digital marketing agency, every business must plan itself, including to avoid falling into the many pitfalls that exist both internally and in terms of choosing “agencies” or “professional” people.
The first analysis to be done is internal. Some basic questions must be answered internally within the company.
1- What is the budget that my company has for this investment?
Answering this question will make it easier to prioritize.
2- What does the company want with the campaign?
The company wants to get an immediate increase in sales or seeks to achieve more visibility and thus work branding.
Digital marketing agencies have a vast menu of options, so it’s good to keep in mind the real need for the company right now not to buy cat for hare.
3- Is the company able to hire a professional to work exclusively with digital marketing or is it more feasible to work with a fully external agency model?
This question defines which business model to hire, whether it will be through consulting and training or if all planning will be delivered to an outside agency.
These 3 questions will guide you inwardly before going out in the field to find a digital marketing agency.
After this phase, the analysis becomes external and research on the agency to be hired is essential.
Let’s go to a checklist to be done before choosing the digital marketing agency.
1- See if the agency has portfolio.
This is the first step, ask the candidate digital marketing agency to present the client portfolio as well as the results obtained previously.
2- Check out the portfolio.
Request at least 3 references from different clients and discuss the agency’s work with these clients.
3- Search for the company on the internet.
Well, if a company promises you visibility on the internet and active presence on social networks at least it has to have some prominence in this area.
Search Google for niche-relevant terms, such as “brasilian digital marketing agencies,” or “digital marketing consultancy,” among others.
The agency should rank well with keywords relevant to the niche, because if it cannot do for itself as it will for others.
Also look for it on social networks and check the number of fans, the number of people talking about it, the quality of the posts, the level of engagement you get, make sure it’s present on the top social networks, not just on Facebook but Twitter, Linked In, Pinterest, Instagram, Youtube and Foursquare, this will ensure that the company being hired has expertise in all major social networks.
4- Check the training of the main executives of the agency.
Ask to know the team that will be responsible for the digital marketing planning for your company and look for certificates like Google Analytics, Adwords and other courses in the area, also try to know if the higher education of these professionals is related to their area of expertise.