In a previous topic, we outlined the top three “must-have” traits of digital marketing agencies. Today, let’s dive deeper into this discussion by framing up the type of questions you’ll want to ask an agency before establishing a partnership.
3 Essential Questions to Ask a Digital Marketing Agency
Want to cut through the sales pitch? These questions will help you discover whether or not an agency is a good match for your brand.
1. What Types of Industries Do You Serve?
Every industry has different goals, customer pain points, and branding needs.
For instance, if your business specializes in the production of medical devices or wellness supplements, you may need to follow certain FDA requirements on your website, Amazon store, and/or digital ad campaigns.
Partnering with an experienced agency that understands your industry beyond the realms of keyword research is the one best suited to set you up for success and avoid costly compliance issues down the road.
2. How Do You Measure Success?
This question refers back to choosing a team that is goal oriented and results driven. A great way to find out just how motivated an agency is by numbers and data is to ask what tools/software they utilize and how they will use these metrics to inform your strategy for long-term success.
3. How Much Do You Charge for “Said Project” and What is Your Turnaround Rate?
It’s important to bring up the conversation of budget during your initial meeting. This is the best way to find out what other Twin Cities marketing agencies are charging for their services, so you can compare and decide which investment offers more value to your brand.
Don’t always assume that the cheaper the agency, the better the investment or the more expensive the company the better the product. Your team should be able to break down the type of services that will be included in your project, and how each will impact the overall strategy, as well as the long-term benefits you can expect.
Possible Scenario:
Let’s say you’re thinking of hiring a marketing agency in Minneapolis to manage your social media presence. You may not have time to manage your own accounts and you want a team to help you build more brand awareness and loyalty on popular platforms like Facebook, Instagram, etc.
There’s a lot more strategy that goes into successful social advertising than simply posting on page each day. Your digital marketing team may recommend you also develop your brand identity (logo/style guide) and tone to ensure your messaging is clear, consistent and engaging to potential customers. In addition, if the goal of these posts is to drive more traffic to your site to buy products online or request a quote, your team may also recommend a website reboot (or landing page creation) if your current site needs better navigation and CTAs.
Though this all might sound like someone is just upselling another service to you, the reality is optimizing one piece of your digital marketing efforts won’t provide you any value if it doesn’t align with your other platforms. You want the user experience to be consistent and strategic to achieve your goals and grow your business.
The Hard Truth:
If an agency doesn’t try to provide you with a full-service marketing solution, they don’t understand the framework involved, and your brand will end up losing time, money, and customers.
A Few Follow-Up Questions
- Do you use competitive retargeting? The best way to stay ahead is to understand what your competition is doing and how you can best use this information to position you as a better service provider.
- When can I start seeing results? Digital marketing services like SEO do take time, but your team should be able to provide you with a timeline and help you establish KPIs, so you can see what’s working, what isn’t, and what can be improved on. There really isn’t anything better than seeing SEO and PPC deliver on its promises.
- What happens after you launch a project? Find out whether the agency is focused on building a long-term relationship with you or just completing another transaction. As noted in our previous post, you want your digital marketing team to be an extension of your brand, which means, they want you to choose them for retainer and one-off projects. They want you to trust their expertise and be part of the reason your brand becomes successful.
Looking for a Twin Cities Marketing Team?
Ready to grow your digital presence? Let Brandography help lead the way. Our team is committed to helping businesses achieve their goals with advanced reporting, quality services, and competitive market insights to help you take your brand to the next level and engage more customers than ever before.
To get started, contact us today.
