All businesses need digital marketing in some way, shape or form. The key is knowing what you need to optimize first so you prioritize need to have’s first, then move onto nice to have’s from a solid marketing foundation.
And sometimes, you need to hire professionals to get you on the right track sooner than later!
There are five factors for marketing success that you need to have in place to make your marketing click. Credibility – getting people to know, like and trust you, Usability, helping people who get people to your site through it with clear user experience, Visibility – helping people who need your products or services find you, Sellability, communicating/solidifying your value to close sales and Scalability so you are investing (not just spending)on scalable marketing solutions.
The #1 parameter in finalizing a digital agency hire is to hire a firm who truly understands your needs and is creating a solution-centric roadmap to get you there. What I find SO frustrating with agency proposals is too often, the agency sells their services, NOT solutions specific to the client’s needs.
For example, a company engaged me for my expert opinion to review and evaluate a proposal that was sent to them by a local digital marketing firm. The client’s search visibility had dropped tremendously due to competitors coming in and buying ads and they were desperate to get that visibility back as it was critical to their lead volume. The proposal I reviewed was focused mostly on doing social media posts and managing a teeny Google Ads proposed budget. It seemed to me that this digital agency was selling what they were good at (social media marketing), NOT what the client needed (which was to be more competitive on Google, not social media). And the proposed Google Ads cost they put in the proposal was not going to get them the visibility (not even close!) needed to compete with the companies who came in and wiped their ranking out in the first place. While the costs for monthly management were low, it wasn’t addressing the client’s need.
The best digital marketing agencies are proactive communicators updating the client on progress. Automatic reports are not enough. Agencies who care monitor and keep a check on the digital efforts and update the client, NOT the other way around.
If a client has to ask the agency what is going on, there is a problem in management.
Hire a digital marketing agency that employs people who truly understand what you need, are able to educate, empower and elevate your business.