You are in the process of scaling your business. You have seen varying ads from different platforms of marketing agencies and how they were able to help small businesses grow, increase their conversions, and so on.
But how do we separate the grains from the chaffs?
How do we know if that marketing agency can address the growing demands of our business needs?
At Your Digital Biz Solutions, we offer you not only affordable local SEO services but also this comprehensive guide and friendly advice on choosing the best online marketing agency to help your business thrive in the highly competitive digital space.
Types of Marketing Agencies
There are numerous types of marketing agencies. Some are specialists, while others are multidisciplinary. Below are the six (6) most popular types of marketing agencies.
1. Direct Marketing
Direct marketing employs mailing services to market your product or services. A direct marketing agency strategically plans your direct mail campaign and frequently will execute it for you.
2. Print Marketing
A print marketing company may assist you with conducting market research and working together to create printed advertising and marketing materials, such as brochures, posters, posters, and product displays.
Print marketing firms also help you plan how to distribute printed materials to maximize return on investment. Direct marketing and print marketing companies frequently collaborate. However, a print marketing agency prioritizes design talents over marketing distribution.
3. Digital Marketing & Advertising
Digital marketing agencies are laser-focused on assisting you in boosting website traffic and enhancing your traffic value through website visitor tracking. This type of agency employs multifaceted strategies to increase visitors, such as search engine optimization and online advertising, to capture them as leads and convert these leads into paying customers. Additionally, they can rebuild your website and online branding to increase sales and conversion rates, which helps bolster your revenue and profitability.
4. Marketing Consultancy
As the name suggests, a marketing consultant emphasizes consulting more than outsourcing. It will give you advice on marketing tactics and other approaches to be successful. Many consultancies have a particular area of expertise, like branding. Rarely will they execute marketing campaigns on your behalf.
5. Market Research
Market research companies do not market on your behalf; instead, these companies concentrate on gathering and studying data that is unique to your brand. They assist you in measuring your efforts and making logical predictions about the results of particular campaigns on your target audiences. As your business develops, market research becomes invaluable, but up until you start collecting data, it may not be worth the money you invest.
6. Telemarketing
Telemarketing is phone-based advertising and has revolutionized over the past ten years. Live chat is now predominantly used instead of traditional cold calling.
Text message marketing is now included in telemarketing, making it simpler to engage with customers.
Types of Services A Marketing Company Provides
Every marketing agency offers unique services to help you with your marketing needs. However, the most common types of services they offer are as follows:
Branding and Design
Design and branding are critical to how your audience views your company. Branding presents your brand voice, core values, beliefs, mission, and vision to your target audience. Moreover, it reinforces your brand message through visual consistency.
Whether you need assistance with a new logo design or creating your brand’s message across all platforms, a digital marketing agency can assist you.
Web Design & Development
Every company needs a website, and many marketing agencies provide web design and development services. They can overhaul your current website or create a brand-new one. Web creation sometimes includes site upkeep and hosting administration, thus, removing administrative strains from your business.
Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization helps your target audience see your business. They will perform extensive keyword research to determine your audience’s key phrases and tend to technical website issues such as loading speed and mobile friendliness.
Many marketing agencies perform a thorough website audit to determine where your web pages are deficient and take fast action to address these issues. Additionally, they’ll employ SEO to develop a content plan for your website and social media accounts. At Your Digital Biz Solutions, we offer SEO packages for small business that will surely fit your budget.
Content Marketing
Content is any media your company uses to attract, engage, and retain customers. Content marketing and SEO are intertwined to ensure that your content will be of value to your target audience, which includes blogs, case studies, website and social media content.
A marketing agency will leverage content to create a unified brand message that appeals to your audience across all marketing platforms.
Social Media Marketing
Social media platforms can aid audience growth and lead generation. The nature of your business, your target audience, and what social media platforms they usually hang out on significantly determine your marketing strategy.
However, these marketing initiatives should reflect your larger brand messaging and content marketing strategy. An expert marketing agency will manage your social media platforms, maximizing how they interact with the rest of your campaign.
Email Marketing
One of the best methods for increasing conversions is email. This allows you to provide a personalized message to your target audience.
Customer segmentation, subject line authoring, and email content are all covered in marketing emails. The frequency of email delivery, event promotions, and cart reminders are also covered in this facet.
Paid Advertising
Online sponsored content and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising are examples of paid advertising. It also covers traditional marketing strategies like print, radio, and television advertisements and public relations. The best online marketing company determines where your organization could maximize your ROI and builds a strategy for it.
How to Choose A Marketing Agency That Fits Your Company Needs
1. Know Your Goals
Before working with a digital marketing agency, you must know your business needs and goals. Knowing what you want to do will help you communicate effectively and achieve your goals.
Subsequently, know why you want to hire them and how much is your spending limit. Recognizing why you need to engage with the services of an agency and developing an internal strategy will positively impact the process of finding the right marketing agency for your business.
2. Consider Your Budget
You must determine and outline your budget before you even begin to receive pitches.
- What is the entire cost of your marketing?
- What portion of this will you spend on the media?
- How much will you spend on the production?
Having a better budget overview will aid you in deciding what kind of agency you want to collaborate with and what services to prioritize or forgo.
When creating your budget, remember that you should spend according to the size of your business and where you can reduce risk while maximizing ROI. You can divide your marketing spend into the following categories:
Retainer Fees
Do not forget to account for agency retainer fees as you create your budget. Some agencies bill you as a percentage of your advertising budget, others bill you on a retainer basis, and some do both.
Give yourself a cushion for what you can afford, even though you might not yet know what and how much an agency will charge you based on your needs.
Media
Your budget for traditional media or your budget for online advertising both fall under this category. Your media mix will heavily depend on business needs, as you previously determined.
Production
Depending on your available resources, you’ll need to decide how much money to set aside for production. If you do not have the marketing materials, you will need additional resources to create them.
3. Do Your Research
Digital agencies come in a wide variety, but it’s not evident if all of them can offer the services you need. As a result, finding the ideal one becomes more challenging.
In-depth research will help you save time and money because you will know whether the agency is reputable and successful and if the services they offer befit your business needs.
4. Envision the kind of team you want to work with
Know the kind of work culture that the potential candidates have aside from their performance and services.
When hiring an agency, you must use your superior judgment and instinct because it will be a leap of faith–you will entrust the success and future of your business to them.
Ask yourself the following questions:
- Are they reliable?
- What will be their setup when working with me?
- Do they adhere to the same code of conduct that my business and I do?
- Are their company values aligned with my own business?
Create a list of the things you want from your ideal marketing team. This will enable you to reduce your options.
5. List Down Your Key Performance Indicators
Consider the following:
- Do you have a monthly lead goal, and at what cost?
- Is there a specific sales target you’re aiming for?
Be aware of your objectives and ensure that your investment corresponds to your goals. You can then decide upon the level of flexibility and dedication for the partnership term.
In addition, by doing this, your agency can assist you in developing more accurate estimates based on your available resources and better customize their strategy and services to meet your performance metrics.
Setting KPIs is crucial when working with an agency since it establishes expectations and fosters accountability in the partnership. Thus, consider laying out all your expectations before meeting your potential candidates.
6. Communication
You should hire a marketing agency that is prompt and honest in giving you updates.
Determine if you will be in direct contact with one of their employees and what are the client communication policies the agency has.
7. Consider Your Relationship with the Agency
Commitment starts once you work with your chosen marketing agency. Together, your business and the marketing firm will work and aim to increase sales and brand recognition.
- Can you picture yourself getting along well with the agency staff?
- Are the channels of communication open and transparent?
Get to know the leaders and members of the agency before you sign a contract. Whenever something doesn’t feel right, follow your instinct and move to the next candidate.
8. Create a shortlist of Marketing Agency Candidates
If you have found several marketing agencies that are fit to address your business needs and have ample experience working in your niche industry, create a shortlist of potential candidates. Subsequently, let them know directly that you are considering hiring them.
9. Ask for Work Samples from Your Shortlist
Request work samples from each prospective agency on your shortlist.
Ask to see the websites of former clients, for instance, if you want to avail web development and previous clients’ social media profiles if your goal is to leverage social media marketing.
Examples of previous campaigns and other projects show the breadth of expertise a marketing firm offers.
Caution: Watch Out For Red Flags
A word of caution: do not let your guard down. It is best to get to know your potential candidates to prevent altercations and fraudulent ways from prospering in the course of transacting with them. Below are some of the “red flags” you need to watch out for:
Does not give importance to research
A strong marketing and strategy plan to successfully promote your goods or services is a byproduct of extensive research. Thus, be wary if your agency decides to provide you with a strategy based on prior interactions and overly optimistic instincts which leads us to caution #2.
Making unrealistic promises
To lure new clients, many companies out there give rosy—and completely inaccurate—projections of growth and sales leads. Even though this may sound like a very alluring idea, most business owners can tell the difference between estimates that seem to have been plucked straight out of a storybook and those that are more realistic.
For instance, with lead generation, the agency must outline where the leads will come from, how much you must pay to obtain them, or even a simple plan for how they intend to accomplish that aim. Although you may be growing, receiving leads, and expanding your online presence, the real question is: are those people who engage with your business qualified leads?
So be cautious if your agency guarantees you a paradise of rapid growth. Rapid growth is impossible, let alone when it’s achieved organically.
Vague about the ownership of assets and creatives
Anything conceived and produced while working with the agency should be your business’s intellectual property. Every joint product, including campaigns and websites, is at your discretion and control.
Establishing clear guidelines and definitions for these priceless assets is crucial. If an agency conceals ownership from you, this could be a warning indicator that things will eventually go awry.
Final Thoughts
Marketing agencies can assist your company in enhancing and implementing its marketing plan. Always go back to your marketing goals as you look for your ideal partnership. By doing this, the marketing agency you work with will be able to fulfill your needs and advance your company to the next level.
If you are still on the lookout for a digital marketing agency that can help you gain clients, increase your ranking in search engines, or build content, you have come to the right place. Take the first step, and let’s discuss how we can help you scale your business. Book an appointment today!
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