Working with a digital marketing agency is not necessarily the best decision for every type of business, but when you do finally choose to work with one you should be doing your own due diligence. In 2020 there are A LOT of internet marketers and a lot of information is available for free online (actually all of it is available online), how do you vet these agencies to make sure their pedigree is as advertised?
In this article, we are going to dive into what you should be asking your digital marketing agency!
Should I Work With An Agency?
This is the first step of the DD (due diligence from here on out) and it has nothing to do with the agencies themselves. What are you hoping an agency is going to do for you? What is the current state of your business? If you’re hoping that a digital marketing agency is going to take you out of a rut, then an agency is not for you.
You see, agencies should be used as a tool to strengthen your foundation (we’ll get into foundation building in a later as this is mainly consulting but for now, we’ll focus on the major aspect of marketing). If your business has a shaky marketing department, you have to address those problems before you should even consider spending money on an agency.
Why Work With A Digital Marketing Agency?
You should be looking to hire an agency to fill the skill gaps. Digital marketing is constantly evolving, and yesterday’s knowledge can easily become outdated. An agency should be on top of current trends and easily be able to intertwine with your in-house team.
Another incredibly overlooked aspect of the agency advantage is you get the support of an entire TEAM behind you. Not a single person. In-house hires have the own advantages but the collective skill of an agency team is what sets itself apart from the rest.
This next point goes in hand in hand with the team’s ability, but a digital marketing agency can bring a vast amount of knowledge of multiple industry verticals. Singular knowledge is ok but when you’re hiring an agency “less is more” is not the case. Being able to pull experience from various industries can have a huge impact on your marketing strategies. The ability to think about problems from a different perspective is something that comes from pure experience & time.
Here’s What You Should Ask!
Let’s get into the questions you should be asking your digital marketing agency. Adapt these questions to your scenario and you will be able to vet any agency you interview properly!
Get Case Studies
Ask for case studies that show details of their previous campaigns, the problem(s) needed to be solved, and the outcome of their efforts. Here’s some examples.
Do They Have Experience With A Business Like Yours?
If not, it’s not exactly a deal-breaker but it is something to consider. Remember what I mentioned about “experience in different industry verticals”? If they don’t have specific experience in your industry this is your chance to see if there is any overlap from over industries.
How Does The Agency Develop A Strategy?
Don’t accept vague answers. If you are even slightly confused about an answer, make sure they explain it clearly. Don’t confuse this for the actual strategy though, that takes information and time. You just want to find out their process for developing it. Are they going to do any actual research, or do they just plan on using a blanket strategy template?
How Do They Make Their Campaign Reports?
The answer to this one should be pretty clear. If they don’t customize the data reports to your needs, then you should consider this a red flag. Don’t be fooled by vanity metrics, make sure your KPI’s are being recorded. Also, if they don’t provide reports at all just consider it a deal-breaker. There is no reason or excuse for non-transparency, in digital marketing, there is nothing vague. Everything is recordable and optimizable data.
When Can You Expect Results?
This might come off as a trick question to some business owners. Real results take time. You want to be sure the digital marketing agency you’re interviewing sets the right expectations. Don’t believe anyone who says you’ll get immediate results. While even our own case studies do show great results in just a few weeks, those are a small portion of the overall success of these campaigns. As a general rule of thumb, it usually takes 12 months for real digital marketing to gain substantial traction, but you should definitely start seeing positive, compounding growth in about 6 months.
How Much Do They Cost?
Simple, do they fit your budget? What is your money going towards? Have them provide a complete breakdown of the service cost. Customize!
Customize!
These questions are but a baseline to build upon. If you just ask these questions you should have enough information to form an opinion on the agency. Every business is unique so you should definitely customize these questions for your needs!
At the end of the day, this process should result in you completely understanding what is going on. Digital marketing can be confusing sometimes but it’s the job of a digital marketing agency to m’s not.
