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How to Choose a Digital Marketing Agency

January 31, 2017   /   by  Diane Callihan

7 Tips for Selecting the Right Agency for Your Business

Most marketers today know they can’t go it alone.

That’s because most businesses don’t have all the internal resources and expertise needed to build enterprise-level websites, program custom integrations, or run multi-channel integrated marketing campaigns.

If you’re looking for an agency to help support your digital marketing needs, here are some tips to ensure you pick the ideal partner for your company.

  1. Pick someone that listens to you. When you first meet with a potential agency, who is doing most of the talking? If it’s not you, that’s a bad sign. That first meeting is vital for an agency to get to know your business, your challenges, your specific pain points and goals. If the agency is pitching a solution before they know anything about you, they might be more interested in making a sale than helping you.
  2. Pick someone who actively listens to you. This means that the agency doesn’t just passively listen; they dig deeper. They ask questions. They challenge assumptions. Maybe you’ve asked for a new website because you aren’t getting much traffic. A good agency is going to consider a variety of different tactics to help you best reach your goal, even if it’s it not what you expected.
  3. Pick someone who can prove they’ve been listening to you. Typically, after you meet with an agency, they will create a proposal/scope of work for you. That proposal should demonstrate that they fully understood what your business does, who you are marketing to, and what problems you need to solve. It should be detailed and specific to you. When you read it, you should think, “Wow, these guys really get it.”
  4. Pick someone who is more interested in solving your specific problems than selling you a specific solution. Some agencies specialize in a single type of marketing – such as PPC, SEO optimization or email campaigns. That’s limiting, because most successful marketing campaigns these days cross a variety of media and platforms. You want someone who can cover the spectrum of marketing services, and who isn’t vested in a single tactic. Digital marketing isn’t one size fits all.
  5. Pick someone you trust to work--not just for you--but WITH you. The name of the game is collaboration. Run from overly pushy salespeople and smooth talkers. You want someone who takes on more of a consultative role to provide you with the expertise you need and is focused on your company’s best interests.
  6. Pick someone who answers your calls. When you need to reach your agency, does a person answer your call? If you go into voicemail, do you hear back that day or 2 or 3 days later? If an agency is not responsive to your phone calls, how are they going to be responsive to your business needs?
  7. Pick someone you actually like. You and your digital marketing team are in this together. Pick people you like, people you’d enjoy having a beer with. Hopefully, these folks will be doing great things for you, and you’ll be spending a lot of time working together. Might as well enjoy it.

Bottom line: listen to your gut. Find people who are good listeners, passionate about marketing your business and focused on producing measurable results.

Hey…that actually sounds a lot like us.

Let’s Talk. (Or call us at (800) 237-5969. A real person will answer!)

Diane Callihan

Diane Callihan

With more than 20 years of experience writing for some of the country’s top brands, Diane helped to shape Roger West’s content strategy, lead generation, and PR efforts as Director of Marketing. She currently serves as President of Callihan Content Creation.