Businesses everywhere are looking for ways to seize the year 2020 and take their brands to places it has never been before.
One of the most natural solutions to doing that is to hire a digital marketing agency and put a new twist in your marketing strategy as a whole.
The quest to find a marketing agency for you to team up with shouldn’t be taken lightly. The more time and effort you place in it now, the better your results will be.
Here are several marketing questions you should consult any digital marketing agency that you’re considering.
This first question might seem a bit awkward, but it’s necessary. You might be amazed at an agency’s portfolio and the work they’ve done, but have they ever helped a company in your industry? Or, do they have experience with working across various sectors/ industries and can adequately explain how they execute a marketing campaign for you.
The answer to that is essential because it shows they have a track record of success within your marketplace or can develop a winning strategy for you.
For example, if you’re an attorney firm, it does you no good to hire a marketing agency that’s gotten all its success from marketing for fashion brands and has no experience working outside of that industry. However, do keep an open mind if they claim to work with various sectors because this could mean they have advanced skills, though. You will need to be able to ask them what their strategy will be and have them explain it in a way that makes sense.
You need someone that understands your target audience or is willing and able to learn it. Someone that has or will commit themselves to research your industry and providing a marketing strategy that stands the test of time.
One of the most vital aspects of your marketing strategy in today’s world is going to be search engine optimization (SEO) of your website.
It’s a complicated process that takes a healthy balance of things such as keyword usage, internal links, external links, and high-quality content to see results.
The good news is that, now that you’re hiring a digital marketing agency, that portion of it will be taken off of your hands.
Ask the agencies you’re interviewing how they plan to improve your SEO. If you’re already putting forth effort in it, how do they plan to advance your results? If you aren’t currently using it, how will they kick yours off the ground?
High-quality content is a very important piece to your success, especially the content that’s on your website.
As such, you should ask them how they would grade your website’s current content and what improvements they would make. Don’t be afraid to ask for examples. Anyone can say they will improve something, only the best can provide real-time samples.
You can ask them to get as specific as you’d like in order to gauge whether or not you agree with them.
More importantly, it ensures you’ll be working with a marketing agency that’s using healthy practices.
For example, if the advice an agency is giving you sounds like they’re referring to methods such as keyword stuffing, then run for the hills!
That’s a sign that their practices lean towards the black hat SEO side of things, which isn’t something you want your brand involved in.
If there’s one thing that successful digital marketing agencies like to do, it’s humble brag about their best projects. So you won’t have any trouble finding pieces of their portfolio on their website.
However, you might want specifics on things such as the methods they’re recommending for you, their SEO techniques, their Google Ad campaigns, etc. If that’s the case, ask them for samples of those individual things.
After all, you want to make sure you’re paying for the service that you’re envisioning.
If they have previous experience (and success) with the things they are advising you on, then you can take them at their word. It helps build trust in the relationship from the get-go.
It doesn’t matter how trustworthy you think the marketing agency is that you’re talking to. If you’ve been burned on business relationships in the past, you might want a bit more assurance that the agency’s work is as-advertised.
If so, don’t hesitate to ask for a few referrals that contain the contact information of their prior or current clients.
From there, you can ask the clients about their customer experiences with the agency, expected turnaround time for projects, names of who they’ve worked with at the agency, how their marketing strategy has improved, etc.
The referrals will understand your desire to get a better feel before investing. They’ll be happy to help you in any way they can.
Ah yes, the marketing question that could end all other questions. Some of you reading this have a stringent budget.
You know the marketing agency is going to be a tremendous sparkplug for your strategies, but you don’t want to compromise your cash flow. That’s understandable!
As soon as the agency lists out all their recommendations and strategies that they’re thinking of implementing for you, it’s as easy as asking, “what does something like that cost?”.
The clarity or hesitation in their answer will give you a peek behind the curtain of what their customer service will be like. Were they honest and upfront, or did they beat around the bush?
Now that you’ve seen several crucial marketing questions to ask your potential digital marketing agencies, it’s time to start the search!
Be sure to read this article on why mobile traffic matters. There you’ll find helpful information on the importance of it in this day in age.
For more inquiries, please feel free to fill out our online contact form, but before we let you go, let us help you in your search. Let us recommend visiting Top Houston Digital Marketing Agencies.
