5 Tips for Hiring a Digital Marketing Agency

In every industry, in every city, in every country, across the globe, companies are fighting feverishly to gain an advantage over their competitors. Aside from product advantages, businesses use a variety of marketing strategies to draw in consumers and convert them to buyers. Among the strategies, digital marketing has become one of the most desirable for building brands and obtaining customers. This is largely because of its mix of SEO, social media, content production, mobile and email marketing tactics. Digital marketing provides a ton of touch points, which can help you stay “top of mind” in the eyes of consumers.

While digital marketing is popular and effective, deciding how to procure top talent can be challenging. If you choose to hire a digital marketing agency, you must do your homework. Because of the many facets of digital marketing, there are a large amount of companies that do it ineffectively. SEO firms, PR agencies and individuals claim proficiency in digital marketing but often prove ineffective when creating a solution that includes skills that are outside of their wheelhouse. Below are five tips to use when selecting a digital marketing agency:

Be clear on your expectations

You have to understand what you want from a digital marketing agency before you post that RFP. What are your company’s goals? What’s a conversion for your company? How do your customers behave? How do they interact with your brand? Or with social media? These questions and more need to be answered in order to understand what agency skill sets are a match for your company.

Make sure that the skills of the agency that you are working with are a match and can be proven

Once you have determined what you would like to achieve with a digital marketing campaign, it’s time to see what companies present the right skill set for achieving your goals. As you find firms that have the skills that you are looking for whether it’s SEO, content management, video production, email marketing, etc., it’s important to verify their capabilities. Ask for examples of their work. Ask for testimonials. Ask for case studies because it will show that they not only can do the work but understand why certain techniques are effective for certain clients. It’s also a good idea to research how much work an agency has done in your industry. This will give you an understanding of how long it will take them to get “up to speed” in terms of working with you and achieving success.

Ask the right questions

When you do get in front of the representatives of a perspective digital marketing agency, it’s imperative that you ask questions that give insight on their abilities and the experience of working with them. Ask for

• What specific techniques would they use to promote your website? Research the tactics that are mentioned to determine their validity.
• What areas of digital marketing are they strongest in? What areas are they not as strong?
• Examples of websites that they have been able to rank on the first page of Google.
• What is their structure for reporting monthly progress? Do they have a feel for your overall goals?
• Who generates keywords, topics and general ideas for your campaign? You or the agency?
• Who will be working on your account?

Do they have an online presence?

It’s very important that the agency you choose is using its own tools to effectively promote itself. Google them. Look at their website. Look at the quality and frequency of their blog posts. How often do they post on social media? What items do they post?

Does the firm participate in their own industry?

Is the agency a thought leader in the digital marketing space, locally or nationally? Are they being written about? Are they producing content for industry publications? The answers to these questions will not only give you a feel for how they are regarded in their industry, but also their overall knowledge of digital marketing strategies.

Finding a great digital marketing agency is daunting. While labor intensive, using these tips will guide you through the process and ensure that you are the best buyer of digital marketing services.

Absolute Marketing Solutions is a Tampa digital marketing agency that specializes in responsive website design and mobile applications. We use a variety of digital marketing strategies, including SEO, content management and social media to help companies achieve their goals. We also offer a free comprehensive SEO audit that provides a detailed report of where your website is performing well, and where improvement is needed. Contact us to talk further about your companies goals at 813-908-6862. To receive a free SEO audit, go to https://absolutemarketingsolutions.com/seo-audit/.