How to Choose a Digital Marketing Agency

Finding the best digital marketing agency with a plethora of options can be mind-boggling, headache-inducing, and just plain overwhelming. After hours and hours of searching, the small shred of sanity that you have left will scream at you to JUST PICK ONE ALREADY!!

But, how?

There will be half a dozen agencies (if not more) that look like “the right one”, but how do you figure out which is the best one? The distinction between the two is small, yet significant.

So, where to start?

First Things First: What Kind of Marketing Services Do You Need?

Are you looking to create a new website for your company? Improve or redesign your current website? Beef up your marketing plans. Find better ways to reach out to your target market. Many digital marketing agencies, ourselves included, provide these services and more so don’t limit your list to just web design.

A Few Helpful Tips Before You Get Started…

As summarized by Tech.co, there are a few crucial pieces of advice you should follow as you begin your research:

Like people, every digital marketing agency is unique, with its own styles, approaches, and areas of expertise. Some will meet your needs, others will not. Some will be as easy to talk to as an old friend, while others will most definitely not fit your personality or work style.

• Make sure the agency is credible.
• Know their price.
• Review their portfolio and ask for case studies if you’d like to see more of their work.
• Ask how they measure and report success.

In addition to these sage words of advice, we have a few of our own:

Don’t settle for most of your goals being met. The best digital marketing agency for your business will stand by you during every step of your journey, helping you meet all of your goals – not just most of them. In addition, they’ll also know which questions to ask in order to help you further define your goals (or discover them if you’re not sure where to start) and the best approach to accomplishing each one.

Do not be discouraged if an agency has not worked on a project exactly like yours. Instead, focus on how their portfolio appeals to you. If you enjoy their work but don’t see anything comparable to what you need to be done, ask them questions to see if it’s something they could do. Communication is key. If the agency is confident that they can meet your needs and you feel good about working with them, go for it!

Most importantly, if a digital agency can’t meet the basic criteria listed above, keep searching.

Researching Digital Marketing Agencies: What to Look For

When you find a digital agency that you think you’d like to work with, examine their website. A well-designed website will be supported by quality content that is concise and to the point. Your potential agency’s website should tell you a story – mainly, what they can accomplish for you – and it should be obvious. As you browse through their website, ask yourself these questions:

1. Is the design of their website appealing?
2. Is it easy to navigate?
3. Do you get a good sense of who they are as a company?

If exploring their website makes your eyes glaze over until you realize just how much dust has built up in the corner of your office, that’s probably not the agency for you. Close the tab and cross them off the list. Dust the corner (or not), and move on to the next agency. You want to look for a website that inspires confidence and makes you want to learn more about them since that’s what you’ll expect them to do for you.

How an agency’s web content is written is also a good indicator of its style. As monkeys, we enjoy our work with a side of humor. It’s important to us that our clients enjoy their experience working with us AND get the quality results that they’ve been searching for. When you find the best digital marketing agency for your business, that’s exactly how you should feel – happy and confident.

What’s Your Budget?

By now you have most likely found a few companies that you’re interested in working with. The next step is to take your budget into consideration. If a company is way out of your price range, that’s one more you can cross off the list. You don’t want to go bankrupt building your marketing strategy and website only to have no money left to maintain or implement them.

That being said, this is no time to look for a bargain. If an agency seems too good to be true it’s because they are. The best digital marketing agency for your company will fit your budget and business needs without a doubt.

Narrowing Down the List

So you’ve found a couple, or maybe even a few marketing agencies that sound like they’re exactly what you need. Now what? You can’t pick all of them, so dig a little deeper and read through their blog if one is available.

Many companies, ourselves included view blogs as an opportunity to show off their skills and relate on a personal level with you. This is where we divulge our (deepest, darkest, most well-kept secrets) industry knowledge. Things like how to write a successful marketing plan without feeling like you’ve got a brain freeze, as well as other business tips to help get you through the workweek. We’re more than just web developers, and our blog allows us to show this off.

Another factor to keep in mind is ROI – return on investment. A marketing agency that will provide this tends to center its content, objectives, and personal success around you. If an agency only talks about themselves on their websites, it’s questionable that their work ethic will be any different.

Finally, check their website to see if they follow their own advice. A company that knows what they’re doing will always practice what they preach.

If you still feel like your list is too large, take a look at this thorough checklist from Hubspot before moving forward.

Okay, I’ve got my final contenders – now what?

Hiring a digital marketing agency should not feel like a bad blind date. Before you make your final decision, talk to them! Ask tons of questions. Be Hermione Granger in a sea of average students. A good agency will be receptive to this and will even appreciate the fact that you’ve put thought into what you want and need from them. Insider’s tip – we really like goals and transparency. A client that knows what they want and asks questions is a good client. In fact, they’re our favorite type of client.

Making the Final Choice

This is it. The moment you’ve been waiting for, when all of your hard work and research pays off and you can finally, FINALLY, just pick one. There’s just one more step – follow your instinct and pick the company that you think is most qualified to help you create your online identity.

It’s really that easy.

Interested in learning more about what we do? Check out our Services pages for the details.

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