Stop! Check this list of questions before hiring an agency.
Does your marketing translate into real business growth? When choosing a digital marketing agency, there are a few questions you should ask before making an investment.
Get better digital marketing with a more innovative approach when choosing an agency. Your agency’s system and method of marketing affect your final results.
Here are a few questions to find out more about them:
Questions to Ask a Digital Marketing Agency
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What is your digital marketing process?
First, find out more about the system or digital marketing process your agency plans to apply for presenting your company over the internet. This should be a series of steps and marketing methods used to increase the figures and grow your business online. Sometimes it consists of various stages to improve the online acquisition process, such as organizing, then designing, developing, driving, analyzing, and refining.
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How do you plan to do things differently, given our industry?
Not every market or industry can be approached similarly, so ask a digital marketing agency how they plan to do it differently, given your particular market and needs. Not every business needs an e-commerce website; some benefit from location advertising vs. global internet marketing. A digital agency should know how to adapt and hone in on your specific industry.
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Which methods do you use to communicate reports on progress and results?
Be sure the digital marketing company you use will not just take your money and then forget to “follow through” with the delivery. Your marketing company should have no problem reporting the numbers, sales figures, and progress of your efforts to find more customers. They should also be able to give you the actual facts regarding your company’s goals to the intended results.
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Do you have evidence of past successes in helping clients grow their businesses?
Before taking a chance on a digital marketing company, look for evidence of past success with clients. Do they have proof of past success, such as sales numbers or case studies? Does their digital marketing system work in helping clients reach their goals? And if so, what does the return look like? Be confident you’ll get the most return on investment (ROI).
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What is your billing structure in terms of recurring fees?
You’ll want to know if you’re working with a set price you pay upfront, a recurring cost per month, or a base figure that changes depending on your requests. How much does it cost? Always ask this question and dig deeper to find out if there are other figures to be added to the initial quote.
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What is your policy on “rush” orders, revisions/approvals, and additional costs?
This is crucial information to determine. Ask them how they plan to handle rush changes, revisions, and approval for presented materials and any costs or fees added to the base price according to additional work needed for a specified reason.
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How Do You Determine Marketing Objectives?
An effective agency collaborates with its clients to develop digital marketing goals. Deliverables should always align with your company’s vision while tackling particular business challenges, such as gaps in engagement or SEO strength. We are inherently consultative to create efficiency and growth.
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What can you do to help our company reach new goals?
You’re investing in digital marketing to grow your business online. Therefore, you need to know how this new approach will help you reach your goals. If a potential digital agency doesn’t have a clear picture for you, then go with one that can give you a straight answer such as, “we’re going to get more quality leads to your website and grow your customer base online using a website, social media profiles, and content marketing that speaks to your audience. We’re also going to build your sales system.”
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What do I get with a digital marketing program from your agency?
Look into the extent of what your digital marketing program entails. Are you getting a website, web development/maintenance, social media management, content marketing, and sales analysis? What type of methodology does your agency use for online marketing, and what is your account manager responsible for reporting? Ask them how many working hours you’ll get per month and how they plan to spend these hours on projects.
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What will you do to get to know our business, industry, market, and customers?
You can only adapt a marketing approach for a new client or business by targeting your customers, market, and industry. Does your digital marketing agency survey your customers to determine why they choose your business over competitors? A marketing company must tailor its approach by conducting market research and getting to know its business. Ask them how they plan to do this.
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How do you plan to execute digital marketing differently than our current approach?
Before you get roped into a new digital marketing system, present your past efforts and approach, and ask how they plan to do it differently. It would help if you had a change instead of the same old thing, and your digital marketing agency should be able to present a brand new approach to get the job done.
What to Expect From a Digital Marketing Agency
“What can we expect from you?” is one of the most important questions to ask a marketing agency. There must be clear to avoid getting frustrated about how they work and what they can deliver and to be confident in your decision to move forward to work with an agency.
Transparency
How people work – and how they work with you – matters. Transparency across operations, communications, and deliverables should be present. No one wants to be left in the dark or confused about what is happening and when. The marketing agency should be upfront about the services they provide, details on when and what they will be reporting, and clarity on the specific work/content that would be included in the deliverables.
Brand Alignment
Your brand is your bread and butter, and any deliverables should continuously be developed in alignment with your brand to protect and enhance it. Whether you are enacting a seasonal social media marketing campaign or want to improve your inbound marketing, imagery/text/colors (all of it) should accurately represent your company.
A performance marketing firm brings quality and consistency to the table, ensuring all partners clearly understand the brand directive and refrain from engaging in off-brand promotions.
Strategy
Targeting the needs and desires of your customers is the driving force of strategy development, which moves marketing efforts from being simply promotional to being valuable. The top digital marketing agencies discover – and then address – customer pain points and questions. An effective strategy should be curated across various services, from web design and development to social media marketing.
Results
The timeline for results will depend on multiple factors, such as your product/services, seasonality, and traffic. Indeed, there is no hard and fast rule. An excellent digital marketing agency with a strong track record will be able to offer guidance and provide a reasonable timeline for when you can expect results.
Case studies are an excellent resource to see if the agency has solved client problems in your industry. Ask for them.
Analytical Information
Multiple marketing efforts, such as radio ads or expensive billboards, can seem to exist in the ether, and it can be tough to determine ROI. When deciding on a marketing agency, ask about programs and systems that track the results of specific efforts, such as engagement with social media campaigns.
Access through dashboards and communications with the agency gives you valuable tools and analytical information to support your goals and helps you to refine decision-making moving forward. The detail provided in the data can be a game-changer, bringing to light trends, habits, and preferences of potential and existing customers.
What Oyova Does Differently
The choice for your marketing agency should be thoroughly and thoughtfully considered. With the sea of typical options out there, many of them start to blend, making it difficult to tell them apart from one another.
Oyova is different from our competitors.
We have a partnership mindset. Fueled by our values and forged by a dedication to building relationships based on transparency and trust – we succeed when our clients succeed. Collaboration is central to targeting not only business challenges but also company goals. And our plans are catered to your goals.
We know how to obtain a thorough understanding of your brand. From your unique selling proposition to your brand personality, imagery, and more, we deep dive into who you are and what you do. This is achieved by a proper discovery process, allowing Oyova to comprehend your company’s strengths and opportunities accurately.
We develop and execute effective strategies. Bringing a multi-focal investigative approach paired with our partnership with you, we uncover valuable information that serves as the foundation for your customized needs. Need content marketing? We’re on it. Are we suffering from inadequate branding? We know what it takes to get you where you want to be. Oyova has the chops to drive results.
Knowing the questions before hiring a marketing agency is a launching pad for future success. Ask freely. Listen closely.
Are you happy with how your agency answered these questions?
If not, go with an agency that knows what they’re doing. Learn more about our marketing programs and contact Oyova — a web design, content marketing, social media management, and web development company.
