So now I will list my 10 pieces of advice for you to find the ideal partner.
1. Identify your needs according to business objectives
The first thing to do before selecting different agencies is to identify what your business needs are.
Are we interested in growing on social media or perhaps we need to improve or position ourselves on Google (SEO)?
Ask the objectives and rationales to guide the choice and know how to detect which agency is better classified.
So, collect and list the necessary information and send it to the agency so that it can present you with a suitable proposal.
Additionally, you must determine how important working with a digital marketing agency is for your company. This will allow you to define the priority of this investment together with your finance department.
2. Investigate the agency’s history and reputation
Having trust in the agency is essential.
Therefore, it is necessary to investigate its area of activity and reputation.
Analyzing success stories, testimonials and customer reviews allows us to verify the reliability and quality of your services.
Does the agency have long-term clients?
Do they have varied customer profiles or are they concentrated in a particular sector or industry?
These are some of the questions we must ask ourselves to have an adequate view of that agency.
3. Identify the agency’s strengths and specialties
Agencies often tend to focus on specific sectors in which they excel. It is interesting to investigate what these specialties are.
An agency that knows how to deeply understand your market niche or knows exactly how to develop a specific project may be better than a more generalist agency.
4. Analyze the size of the digital marketing agency
Analyze the size of the agency according to the size and needs of your project.
Large agencies can be very attractive and glamorous, but those who have a small or medium-sized company may be disappointed. In addition to the disadvantage of high fees (suitable for large mass consumer brands), you may also have to compete with that agency’s big clients to be served, and your business may not be a priority for that big agency.
Small agencies have the advantage of giving priority attention to each client, and still maintaining a high level of delivery (as long as you pay attention to advice 2 and 5).
So it’s up to you to decide what type of delivery you expect from the agency.
But important: be (very) careful with adventurers who call themselves agencies, but who in reality have no structure or capacity to meet the technical needs of your project.
You know that “leftover from the guy who does satis”? So… I honestly don’t recommend it if you’re looking for a high-level professional delivery.
5. Analyze the value of the commercial proposal
As mentioned above, the value of the contract is an important topic when choosing a digital marketing agency.
To do this, it is necessary to ensure that the investment is a guarantee of the agency’s ability to take care of your project on the internet.
Definitely don’t hire the “cheapest” agency. I say this because an effective digital marketing strategy requires high-level equipment and professionals so that there are RESULTS.
If the digital marketing action does not bear fruit in terms of ROI (return on investment), you will lose money.
In other words, what is cheap can be expensive if delivery is not up to scratch.
6. Ask how results will be measured
Communication between the agency and the client is essential to obtain the desired results.
Therefore, it is important to have established and clarified what the KPIs (performance indicators) will be and how you will monitor the evolution of the campaigns (periodic reports, monthly meetings, etc.)
7. Find out about the agency’s philosophy and values
As mentioned in the previous section, communication with a partner is essential, but you will also feel better if you are served by an agency that understands and values the way your company operates.
For this reason, it is advisable to review the agency’s mission, philosophy and values, checking whether it is in accordance with your values.
8. Blacksmith house… ninja sword in the window!
A good agency cannot be an example of that old saying “in a blacksmith’s house, the skewer is made of wood”.
If an agency sells communication, branding and marketing, it simply must have great communication, attractive branding and high-level marketing actions.
Then analyze the communication and digital presence of the agency you want to hire, as there is no better publicity or proof of the quality of the work when the agency itself has effective and high-quality communication.
9. Meet the team and directors
To get to know the agency better, research the profiles of the individuals on its work team, especially the directors, managers or the marketing consultant responsible for the strategic intelligence of the project.
Where did they study?
How qualified are these professionals?
Do they have their profiles updated or are they constantly training in the area?
This suggestion is very important to know about the individual knowledge of the professionals, and will give you a great point of view about the level of delivery of this agency.
10. Consider a 360º agency (online/offline)
It is important to work online, but your company will certainly need offline actions.
You will have many advantages in choosing a 360º agency, that is, a partner that knows how to carry out actions that complement each other in both worlds.
This is because currently the online/offline division is merely didactic, as the barriers between these two worlds are increasingly invisible.
A good offline action (such as good POS material or resources for external sales teams) will have to be continued online, with sales funnels via email and online ads on social media, for example.
