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If you've ever gone through the marketing agency shuffle, trying to find one that meets your expectations, you know how difficult it can be to start over with a new campaign. But what if you could go into next season armed with the knowledge to choose the right digital marketing agency for your business?
before you start looking
First, clarify your goals. For an agency to be successful, there needs to be one clear guideline to follow. Because each department has its own priorities, it's common (even expected) for marketing campaign goals to conflict. However, this is extremely difficult to run a successful digital campaign. You can certainly have multiple goals, but your main goal should be clear and unambiguous. Others can be added later.
Next, decide who will be in charge of communication within your company. Just as multiple competing goals can cause confusion, so too can multiple conflicting voices from clients. Multiple stakeholders can have a voice in a partnership, but it needs to be clear who takes the lead.
Related: 5 tips for finding the best digital marketing agency for your business
5 things to keep in mind
In today's world, you have more options when looking for a digital agency. However, some important considerations will help you find the best fit for your business.
1. Scope of service: You are unlikely to find a single agency that specializes in services that will help you achieve your goals. It's fine to have multiple digital marketing agencies on board, but be careful not to influence each other too much or overlap too much.
The decision as to which agency takes the lead ultimately depends on the range of services that best fits the identified overriding goals. Be transparent about the role each agency plays.
2. Industry experience: You may be tempted to base your decision solely on the agency's experience in your industry. Previous industry knowledge is helpful, but it alone does not guarantee a successful partnership. It is often more beneficial to understand how digital platforms fit into multiple industries. A broader set of experiences allows you to understand how different customer journeys play out across the board.
3. Honest Reference: Shiny references are great, but they're not everything. It is the clients who no longer work with these agencies that truly understand their brand.
Ask candidly why the customer canceled. It's a difficult conversation to have, but it gives you two important pieces of information. First, you can immediately see that they want to be transparent. And secondly, you can get a feel for how well the agency fits your brand.
Another clear point is whether the agency actually knows. why Their customers are no longer with them. Not taking the time to research says a lot.
4. Analysis functions: Data is everything, especially in paid media. A digital marketing agency that relies solely on platform-specific analytics is a red flag. This is not holistic attribution, and if these are the only attribution features you employ, you won't really know how your campaigns are performing. It's important to ask how they analyze their data, what attribution platforms they use, and how often their campaigns are optimized based on their analytics.
5. Cultural fit: The digital marketing agency you choose should match your organization's culture. Your agency is essentially your voice in the digital realm, so they need to communicate the same brand strategy as you. A successful partnership requires similar communication styles and business philosophies. For example, a digital marketing agency that focuses on traditional strategies may not work well with innovative brands that are keen to explore new and unconventional strategies.
Related: 4 important factors to consider when choosing a marketing agency
What happens if things go wrong?
Getting started with a new agency requires a lot of work. And often there is emotional buy-in. So if you don't get the results you expected within a period of time that you find acceptable, you may be tempted to make an emotional decision, end the relationship, and move on.
But before you do that, ask yourself whether the expected outcome was clearly communicated upfront. Have you defined success for your agency or is that image only in your head? Second, are the time frames you have allotted for these results realistic? Digital Marketing Strategies do not produce results overnight, and even if they do, they may not be sustainable over the long term. Expectations should be determined in advance to avoid unnecessary conflicts. Before you start, define success and the milestones towards that success. Next, narrow down a realistic schedule based on other campaigns in your industry.
Even if these aspects are clearly communicated, there may be unavoidable influences that prevent you from achieving success within the expected time frame with your chosen agency. If this is the case, consider whether you can shift your focus to your existing agency rather than starting fresh with another agency. When adjusting these levers, it's important to make sure you're actually looking at the right data to support your decisions. But most importantly, if you choose an institution that can analyze your data comprehensively, this should not be a problem.
Ideally, you don't want to bounce from one digital marketing agency to another. Long-term partnerships built on careful consideration, clear communication of goals, and transparent reporting and follow-through ultimately benefit your business, your agencies, and your customers. The longer we can foster this symbiotic relationship, the greater the opportunity for agents to actually become part of the team, and the more likely it is that customers can reap the benefits of a synchronized brand voice that understands their journey. It will be expensive. .
Related: The Good, the Bad, or the Ugly: Which Digital Marketing Company Is Pitching to You?
