Cheat Sheet for Selecting the Best Digital Marketing Agency

While the Digital Marketing Industry seems to be bursting at the seams with innumerable agency around every corner of the Internet, really good ones are only a few. The process of sifting through all of them to find your perfect digital marketing partner may seem daunting at first, but the following tips will guide you quickly and effectively through it.

1. Check for the Company’s Reputation

You should get this information starting from the company’s own website – most of them would have a section on their clientele. Check how and to what extent the mentioned clients have benefited from your prospective digital marketing Agency’s campaigns. You can do this by looking at client reviews and testimonials, and then further validating the testimonials through direct communication with a few of those businesses. In addition, you can rely on websites like Better Business Bureau, Google or Yelp to vouch for the credibility of the firm you are considering.

2. See if they have Experience with Working in Your Industry Vertical

It helps if a digital marketing agency has experience in working with others in your industry. Knowing your competition puts them in a better position to leverage the maximum potential from the target market.
At the same time, it’s a plus if the firm is adept at working with businesses of your size. If you have a big business, a company used to dealing with SMEs alone might not deliver very well; and if you own are a small business and outsource your campaign to a company that handles much bigger clients, you may not get the same level of attention from their team.

3. See if your marketing requirements are being met

Make a list of activities you would be doing in-house and the services you would want the marketing agency to do for you. A good digital marketing company offers a host of services such as Search Engine Optimization (SEO), SMM (Social Media Marketing), blogging, digital advertising (Google Ads, Pay Per Click, Facebook Ads, etc), analytics and also work on website design, strategy and development to give you a holistic package. You can negotiate the cost if you are taking several services and for a longer duration.

4. Does the Agency have a Google Partner Status?

If the company is certified by Google it adds to their trust factor. Also, check in what categories the company is certified. Similarly, accreditation by Bing, Yahoo! or other search engines adds to the credibility of the digital marketing company.

5. Judge if the Digital Marketing Team will gel well with & your team

For a digital marketing campaign to be successful, your team and the marketer’s team ought to work in tandem. If you are not in constant communication with your digital marketing partner, you may not be able to get your desired outputs from them.
For instance, you might want to build a lead generation platform with a high conversion rate but lack of communication may lead the marketers to create massive popularity but not enough conversions for you. Therefore, judge if the digital marketing team will be a good fit with your existing team before you make the decision.

6. Choose Between a Local versus a Global Digital Marketing Agency

Depending on your business, you may want a marketing company that exploits all possible local channels or one that creates buzz about you around the globe. A business that sells most of its goods or services locally can benefit tremendously from a marketing company with a strong local presence – both physically and on the web.

7. Get an Idea of their Skills through How They Market Their own Company

A fantastic digital marketing company should have a fantastic website and social media presence. It is a prerequisite that they demonstrate their skills at the profession through their own online presence.

8. Weigh the Pros and Cons of Small versus Big Digital Marketing Companies

Small companies are usually quicker at responding, more involved with their clients and have close supervision from their owners or creative directors for almost every project they take. On the other hand, big companies have uncomparable reach, industry connections and fancy technology to their credit. Which one would suit your working style and business needs better?

9. Take a Look at the Prices They Quote

Digital Marketing is a highly specialized domain that demands great talent and constantly growing knowledge. Maintaining such a level of specialization and putting in tremendous efforts at every campaign means you can’t get the best at an unreasonably low cost. Unless you want to put your entire campaign at stake and be satisfied with mediocre results at the most, steer clear of firms that promise too much for too little.

10. Ask for Plans and Proposals

After short listing a few firms based on the above metrics, ask them for a proposed synopsis of your digital marketing campaign. Get them evaluated by a team member who has some experience or knowledge in the domain or ask about their expertise from their clients. The plan should be succinct and realistic. It should express goals, strategy, timelines, marketing metrics and expected outcomes in clear terms.
Pat’s Marketing, a digital marketing agency in Toronto, serves small to mid-sized clients with attention to detail and a close working relationship with clients. We suggest you review our website, work & client reviews and contact us at 1-888-488-7287 if it sounds like we may be the right match for you!