So your business needs a digital marketing agency but you don’t know how to choose the right one for you.
This article takes you through some of the important traits that distinguish one digital agency from another. We’ll also go into the tell-tale signs of a good (or a bad) digital marketing agency. Whether they call themselves “digital”, “online” or “website” marketing agencies, this article will help you choose between them.
Are they full service?
A full service digital marketing agency gives you a service that covers all of your digital needs. This includes building websites and applications, branding & strategy, content creation, lead generation, email marketing, SEO, and social media. Depending on whether you’re a new or established business, a full service agency can also help with digital product design, taking that product to market and managing it after launch. A truly full service agency will be a perfect match for your business, with no services lacking.
Why full service?
Full service is important for a number of reasons. Firstly, you don’t want a number of different agencies handling different aspects of your marketing, such as one agency producing the creative and another handing your SEO. That would be time-consuming, confusing and pointless. Secondly, what you want is a comprehensive digital strategy across all channels, also known as multi-channel integration. The left hand needs to know what the right hand is doing.
Niches
The best thing you can do for your business is find a digital marketing agency that is an expert in your niche. Has the agency worked with businesses like yours before? This is particularly vital for businesses selling a digital product or doing ecommerce, as you will need tailored marketing strategies to reach your audience. A full service digital marketing agency who works with digital products or saas will be able to help you develop your product and troubleshoot any problems that occur during development stage. Having been there from the beginning, they can continue honing the product and the marketing strategy as you learn more about your audiences and how to speak to them.
UX designers
Any business with a website is going to need designers, but choosing UX designers will put you ahead of the curve. UX design, or user-experience design, pays particular attention to the needs of the person who is using the website, digital product or platform you’re creating. Think about the times when you’ve visited a bad website and have struggled to find the information or the page you’re after. A digital marketing agency that does UX design will ensure that your digital product or website is easy to use, intuitive and provides a seamless experience for the end-user.
Are they killing it?
Choose your digital marketing agency by looking at their online presence. Pursue their website, their case studies, their social media marketing and their ads. Do they have an up-to-date website with a good google ranking, or do they have hundreds of pages of repetitive content over-packed with keywords? Do they have good community engagement on their social media or have they been sitting idle for many months? These signs will help you distinguish between the good, the bad and the ugly in the world of digital marketing agencies.