How to Hire the Right Online Marketing Agency – 12 Tips

The
ways of marketing have changed since the arrival of the internet and
smartphones. Most of the marketing teams focus on hiring an online marketing
agency to get a foothold in the online landscape. And now marketers are looking
for new ways for customer engagement as customers are spending more time on
gadgets. Here digital marketing has become the need of the hour. But most of
the marketing teams don’t have the bandwidth to maintain a digital presence
across the platforms. So, they prefer to outsource it. But finding the right
service is not that easy. Here we suggest ways to hire the right internet
marketing agency.

Know
Your Requirements First

Businesses
have a varied kind of requirements. Some businesses operate in the business to
business space, some in business to customers while some work in branding and
other things. So, you should assess your requirements first.  Every business has a particular business goal
which they want to address.  Some of the
major goals are customer acquisition, customer outreach or sometimes survey.
Depending on the requirements you can choose the right channel. Once your
business goals are defined, you should start searching for the right kind of
online marketing agency.

Search
for an Ideal Agency

Based
on your requirements you should begin the search for the right company. If you
have search engine marketing and display advertising on the mind, you should
look for an agency that excels at it. if you want to increase your social media
outreach, then you should focus on hiring a social media agency. If your
business requires content marketing, then you should hire an agency that specializes
in content marketing. In a nutshell, you should know the strengths and weakness
of digital marketing company under consideration.

Shortlist
Internet Marketing Companies

Once
you have gathered information and contact details of several companies, it is
time to shortlist a few. While shortlisting an internet marketing company you
need to do a background check. You should know about the company, years of
existence and board of directors. You should also know about their physical
location. What appears good on the web is not always good in reality. A
physical visit will let you know about the infrastructure of the company. It
will also let you decide whether it is a good company to work with.

Ask
the Right Questions

While
visiting an online marketing agency, don’t just pay a physical visit, instead,
you should ask some questions to know them better. Ask about some campaign they
have done recently. You should meet the team that is going to work on your
project. You should also ask about their strengths and weaknesses. You should
also ask about how would they measure return on investment.

Test
Them with an Assignment

Experience
is Important

Experience
matters a lot when it comes to selecting an online marketing agency. You should
know the people who are working in the agency and their experience. Their long
experience would have taught them various things that can use for the growth of
your business.  Afterall you are outsourcing
a project for growth and not offering a learning opportunity to an experienced
team.

Mode
of Reporting

A
digital marketing company must report to its client regularly. Usually,
companies submit monthly reports. With proper reporting, you would have an idea
of where is the project heading. It is also a sign that the company is hiding
nothing from you.  A service provider
must maintain transparency.

Check
Their Portfolio

A
long-established company may have worked with several clients so they will have
an impressive portfolio. As a prospective client, you should go through the
portfolio and the work the agency has done for its clients. You can also check
from the clients whether they are satisfied with the services. If the answer is
positive the company is worth considering.

Know About the Tools

Digital
marketing has become tool- intensive and a service provider must be resourceful
enough to invest in the latest tools and technologies. Ask them about the tools
they are using for delivering quality services. If these are the free tools
that are all they are using then you should reconsider your decision. Hire an
agency that is in possession of the latest tools.

Would
they Outsource

While
most of the agencies do the work inhouse, there are digital marketing
consultants who sign an agreement with you and outsource the work to
freelancers and third-party agencies. Ask your service provider if are they
willing to do the same. If yes, do they have strong relationships with
freelancers and other small vendors. How long they are working with freelancers
and other agencies. Was the experience good? Outsourced work is always not
inferior, sometimes it is brilliant.

Know
About Specialization

Although
every agency makes tall claims of being equally good in specializing in all the
departments of digital marketing but it is far from the truth.  Digital marketing service is an umbrella term
that includes several services like SEO, PPC, social media marketing, community
management, influencer marketing, blog marketing, SMS marketing, email
marketing and several other things so no agency can have the in-house talent to
do all these things. Every agency has a specialization and knowing it will help
you assign them the work they have expertise at.

Pricing

Last
but not least cost is important. Your prospective online marketing agency must
be within budget. There are times when an agency is very good but comes at an
extremely high budget. On the other hand, there are agencies that are very
cheap but can meet your expectations. Both of these online marketing agencies
are not worth consideration. You should choose a company that offers value for
money. You should look for a company that offers a good return on investment
(ROI).

Related Article: How to Hire the Best SEO Company