5 Questions To Ask Your Digital Marketing Agency Before You Start Working

Published on: 09 October 2020 Last Updated on: 04 November 2024
Digital Marketing Agency

In the past few years, brands, regardless of their shape and size have started understanding digital marketing. This means that convincing a majority of them about the advantages of digital marketing has ceased to exist in most situations.

You need to do thorough research when choosing a digital marketing agency that you need to partner with. If you are starting from scratch, you need to go via Digitech Web Design, a leading agency that can help you with everything from designing your business website to taking care of your SEO strategies and plans.

In 2020, brands are faced with a new challenge- which agency to partner with! Digital Marketing agencies are propping up left, right, and center. While everyone claims to be the best at what they do, it is for brands to be sure of their abilities.

In this article, we are going to help brands get on board the best digital marketing agencies as partners. However, before we get to the questions, brands should ask agencies, let us first look at some of the challenges of the same.

Challenges to Hiring the Best Digital Marketing Agency for your Brand

Every business is unique. It has its own sets of challenges. In terms of priority, some businesses want to concentrate on one aspect, while others look to do something else. It is important that your internet marketing agency understands your needs and requirements as a business.

Many brands feel that every digital or internet marketing agency offers the same. However, that is not the case. If you want to work with a complete 360-degree agency, you will have to shell out a premium. Therefore, it is essential to work with a skill set, which you feel would be most helpful for you at a specific time.

A creative agency will tell you that it is all about branding, logo, design, and language. An agency geared towards social media would want to focus on just that one aspect. You need to team, which amplifies your complete digital performance at all levels.

List of 5 Questions to ask your Digital Marketing Agency before you start

1. What is their area of Expertise?

It is essential that you honestly ask them about what their area of specialization at the very start is. Like we already mentioned, while some have a great social team, others might boast of a brilliant SEO team. Depending on what you want to proceed with for the next year, you need to ask them about their different verticals in the organization.

2. What are Budget and Fees?

At the end of the day, money matters. If you are looking for a highly-skilled, specialized agency, you need to shell out a good amount as retainer every month. However, if your agency helps you increase your sales and revenues multiple times, you will not feel the pinch. Try starting with a smaller agency to understand those basics and then proceed with the bigger ones.

3. What are their Credentials and Past Work Records?

Many brands feel secure when they see that an agency has handled clients in the past from their niche. While this is a great starting point, you should not let your options be limited by just this fact. If they have worked with a business of a similar nature in the past, then they are aware of all the challenges, strategies, and processes, which will be required in the case of your business.

4. What are their Marketing Inputs about your Brand?

Most agencies will ask you about your pressure or pain points and then proceed to offer solutions accordingly. You can use this to ask them about larger marketing and sales goals. This will help show you how much they are aligned with your brand. It will also demonstrate whether they understand your issues and are willing to address the same with their skills.

5. What is the Timeframe for seeing Results?

You are only working with an internet marketing agency because you want to start seeing results. There is always an expectation involved. Do not fear or feel embarrassed in communicating the same with the prospective agency. This will allow them to assess their performances and see whether they have the capability to fulfill your expectations.

The Final Word

It is essential that you proceed with these five questions before signing on an internet marketing agency. This will allow you to structure your expectations accordingly. A good digital agency can be a great asset to a brand. However, on the flip side, if you do not get the best agency, you will end up losing money.

Read Also:

Content Rally wrapped around an online publication where you can publish your own intellectuals. It is a publishing platform designed to make great stories by content creators. This is your era, your place to be online. So come forward share your views, thoughts and ideas via Content Rally.

View all posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related

Marketing Strategies

5 Ways Marketing Strategies Will Change Post COVID-19

To think life will go back to normal post-Pandemic is a pipe dream. The world underwent a paradigm shift to the new normal, and there is no returning now. The COVID-19 Pandemic has brought many changes we couldn’t have ever predicted. The unheralded health crises impacted nearly everything, from personal affairs to governmental decisions and even corporate matters. Business operations, in particular, faced quite a few alterations. Digital mediums took over the world by storm, and e-commerce businesses experienced a significant rise in demand. These reshaped business activities welcomed a considerable restructuring of marketing strategies. Marketers primarily shifted their focus to online tools, giving digital marketing an unanticipated hype. Given the technological innovations rate, marketers expect to see many more advancements in the marketing department post-COVID-19. Read below to find out how marketing strategies will change after the Pandemic. 1. The Importance of Online Presence:  If businesses have to choose one takeaway from the crisis, it would be essential to have an online presence. With strict lockdowns and restrictions on going out, the entire world switched to conducting and participating in businesses online. Many also realized the convenience such platforms bring. Hence, owning a website has now become an essential business marketing strategy. Almost 56% of businesses with a website perform better as compared to the ones without a website. Besides, a website is one of the most powerful digital marketing tools. It marks your presence on the internet and helps you get more reach. A website also lets you upload a customizable flip book or eBook where you can share all necessary details about your products and services. It is an exceptional technique to spread awareness about your brand, attract traffic, and eventually boost sales. A website gives your customers ease of access and costs much less than traditional marketing, and dramatically impacts investment return. It is a proven worthwhile investment. An authentic-looking website enhances your business’s professionalism and adds value to it. Hence, having a website is vital for a business’s success. So, it is safe to say that website marketing will be a critical element post-COVID-19. 2. The Emergence of Social Media: Social media is undisputedly the king of marketing. The world is quickly becoming digitally advanced, with social media users increasing rapidly. Nearly 83.3% of people use social media worldwide, and the figure is likely to grow by 10% each year. Not only that, 71% of businesses have a social media account, out of which 90% experience improvements in sales and growth. 90% of users connect with brands through social media, and 54% of consumers make purchases from brands after scrolling through the brand’s social media account. The statistics above prove the criticality of a social media presence for businesses. The future is uncalled for, but one thing is for sure; social media’s regime will only grow. Social media helps connect brands with potential customers and allows marketers to make informed decisions based on the target audience. It also gives businesses an incredible opportunity to grow. The paid advertising options on Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat are the easiest, quickest, and most affordable promotion plans for your business. So, you can popularize, promote, and increase your brand’s overall ROI without breaking the bank. Social media is here to stay and quite possibly grow into a platform unimaginable. Hence, social media was, is, and will remain, marketers, fundamental focus. 3. Video Marketing: Video marketing was every marketer’s favorite even before COVID-19 and is still growing phenomenally. Studies confirm that videos interest more users than any other graphics form and carry great potential for attracting customers. YouTube and other video streaming sites are experiencing an incredible increase in usage. These sites allow businesses to market their products and services or raise brand awareness in the form of high-quality videos. Video content also plays an essential role in emails. It exceptionally increases your email’s click-through rates and decreases the unsubscribe rates. Additionally, it boosts your SEO by attracting traffic and increasing your site’s searchability and visibility on different search engines. After seeing how effective video marketing leaves on the brand and consumers, it is likely to grow and remain a powerful marketing strategy in the future. 4. Customer Retention and Loyalty: One major disadvantage many businesses had to face due to the Pandemic was to cut down costs in essential areas like marketing. As a result, markets had to shift their focus to different, long-run marketing tactics like building customer loyalty. Customer loyalty helps you stay one step ahead of your competitors. Loyal customers give you valuable feedback, increasing your business’s rating and eventually attracting new customers. Building customer loyalty considerably reduces your marketing spending, but retaining a customer also leads to a more profitable outcome. Remember, customer retention is what powers customer acquisition. The free word-of-mouth promotion your business gets from loyal customers is one of the most significant benefits of building customer loyalty. Loyal customers are also likely to make purchases repeatedly and trust your business enough to pay premium prices. 5. Less Is More: The Pandemic has stipulated marketers think about innovative marketing strategies without having to go all out. They have to find ways to develop creative marketing campaigns, which are both practical and inexpensive. Moreover, with a limited budget, marketers have restricted resources which they have to ensure to save for more than one campaign. In short, the coronavirus has compelled marketers to do more with less. Marketers need to make efficient use of technology to find solutions and make decisions quicker. The “less is more” trend will continue long after the Pandemic is over as marketers turn their attention to enhancing innovation and improving skills. Conclusion: Businesses will undoubtedly have to deal with the pandemic effects for a long time to come. However, organizations have to push ahead. The Pandemic led to several changes in consumer buying patterns which marketers cannot ignore at any cost. The changes in consumption techniques encouraged marketers to think ahead and think creatively. Even though companies cut down the cost of marketing immensely due to COVID-19, the role of marketing has thoroughly increased during the Pandemic. However, there is still quite a lot of room for growth and innovation. These alterations in marketing strategies are likely to continue and grow post-COVID. Read Also: Key Components for Your Marketing Stack How To Foolproof Your Digital Marketing Strategy? Why Email Marketing is the BEST Digital Marketing Outreach in Singapore

READ MOREDetails
SearchEngineMarketingBusiness

Promotion Position For Your Ex-panding SEM Business

Growing an SEO consulting business is not easy, it is not uncommon to run into issues. If you follow some elementary guidelines for expansion and professional tips, you will be headed on the right path. Here are some guidelines to keep in mind. A positive attitude has a very positive effect on the people who do SEO consulting business with you. If they see that you are happy to give them the goods and services that you sell, it will make them happy to keep purchasing those products and services from you, which means more business. Let your customers be your most important spokespeople. Ask for testimonials from your best customers, and incorporate them into your marketing materials. People often consider the advice of others when looking for an SEO consulting business or service they need. Apart from the difficult work you put into your SEO consulting business, you also have to have ample financial resources up your sleeves. It is imperative for you to keep sufficient business funds with you all the time. If you are seeking to enjoy a reputable business without any hindrance, then you need to work on this aspect. At the affair, take pictures of your consumer and then post them on your Facebook page or website. Get their acquiescence first, and then tell them the URL that they will be on. People love to see pictures of them, especially if it’s a huge SEO consulting business that is posting it. It may make them feel a bit like a celebrity Sign in to all the social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and the like and try providing unique and interesting information on all of them. Also, remember to connect all your social networking sites and make sure that you are continuously visible everywhere. Put the merchandise on display outside of your store. Clearance items are ideal for demonstrating outside. In most instances, products sell like hotcakes when placed in the public eye. Curiosity about other items you carry will bring more traffic to your SEO consulting business. Have a jingle written by a songwriter. Jingles directly focus attention on your SEO consulting business. Make it catchy and irresistible. Just sit back and watch the call flow increase. There are wonderful examples at Jingle dot net. Using a short song to promote your SEO company can be an excellent way to grow your business. It’s important to make sure you are running your SEO consulting business within the confines of the law. If you’re uncertain about something from a legal standpoint, be sure to enlist the help of a professional to avoid facing serious unintended consequences later. Legal issues can be the death of the business. Curious about the topic of video SEO consulting? Don’t forget to go to my SEO Blog and you’ll be able to find quite a bit of helpful tips.

READ MOREDetails
SMS Marketing

Your Ultimate Guide To Creating SMS Marketing Campaigns

Every marketer would tell you that there are reasons why text marketing continues to become a mainstay in marketing agencies. In fact, both conventional and modern companies highly rely on their efficacy when it comes to reaching out to their target audience. Because when you think about it, every person checks their text message inbox every time they receive a ping.  Leveraging communication strategies like an effective SMS marketing campaign allows you to grow your brand more, target more audiences, and even build closer relationships with prospects. There are a lot of things that SMS marketing can help you with in terms of achieving business goals. But before you partake in this marketing tactic, it’s important to understand the concept behind this marketing practice. Use this guide to make successful SMS marketing campaigns.  What Is SMS Marketing?  It’s crucial to understand first the concept behind this old but gold marketing strategy. SMS marketing refers to a short message service you send to your customers to build relationships with them. It’s important for text marketers to communicate with their target audiences in a respectful and compliant manner. No matter what your business goals are, SMS marketing puts you one step ahead of achieving them. For instance, you can drive more leads, introduce new products, lead them to check your website, and so on. The ideas that you can do with this marketing method are limitless.  Compared to email or push notification marketing, SMS marketing has several advantages. For instance, every person who receives an incoming message in their phone inbox will surely take the time to check and read them one by one. While some people might check their emails at least once a day regarding text message inboxes, people often check them as soon as they receive a message.  Your message can be concise and clear with SMS marketing. There’s no need for lengthy advertising messages. With brief sentences that can take up less than 160 characters of the SMS limit, you can already deliver what you want to say to your prospects. Choosing The Right SMS Marketing Tool  Now, it’s time to understand the tool to use for this marketing strategy. With the advent of technology, there is now text marketing software at your disposal. For one, you can take advantage of Drop Cowboy Ringless Voicemail service and some other brands that offer reliable text messaging as marketing services.   Text message delivery depends on the tools and services you choose. Such software comes with pricing plans that fit your marketing budget and goals. Unlike any other conventional marketing promotions like print ads, TV ads, and billboards, this marketing campaign is priced reasonably better. Also, consider partnering with the best SMS marketing service provider to automate your text messages to your target recipients.    How To Maximize On SMS Marketing Campaigns As mentioned, a high percentage of people open text messages every time they receive one. By sending promotional messages via SMS, you ensure your customers will read them because they will arrive directly in their inboxes. Check out these ideas in which you can maximize your SMS marketing campaigns.  1. Limited-Time Promotions  You can use an SMS marketing strategy to encourage your customers to avail of coupons and discounts or even redeem incentives or gifts. Offering these incentives for a limited time makes them even more effective. Announcing that the campaign only runs on a promo period is an effective call-to-action strategy so your customers won’t miss out on such opportunities. It’s one effective strategy to get your business to high ranks.  Considering SMS marketing's high open rate, it’s the most effective way to communicate time-sensitive offers with customers. As a result, you ensure your customers don't pass up a good deal. This yield win-win situations for both the customers and your brand. They get discounted rates, and you could convert your sales funnel more effectively.   2. Reminding Customers  One good purpose for SMS marketing is when you could send notifications regarding the recent actions of your customers. For instance, whether they checked your website, changed passwords, or linked different payment modes, an SMS notification will be sent to inform them that the activity is successful. Sending notification messages is essential for many businesses, and they’ve realized how effective it is in retaining customers.   By relaying notifications about their recent purchase or online activities, the customers will grow their trust in your brand. It could lead to continuous patronage. Also, they will feel at ease by getting reminders of how your brand is already dealing with their orders or purchases. Receiving reminders is valuable, especially for customers who are always busy with other things and obligations.   Make sure your brand is always at the top of your customer's minds. It’s a job that SMS is best suited for. With SMS marketing, you can remind your customers about everything from their most recently liked products to the purchased ones that are going to arrive soon.  3. Order Updates And Confirmation  An SMS is also useful for customers to receive updates regarding their orders. Once they make a purchase, a message will be sent regarding the successful transaction. It ensures peace of mind for the customer.  Also, the confirmation messages sent via SMS will allow them to use them as proof or evidence regarding their purchase. If products don’t arrive as planned, they can refer to the SMS notification.   4. New Product Release And Launches  SMS advertising is also useful for announcing new product releases. It’s the most cost-effective way for marketers to advertise new product launching. Without paying for the expensive talents of celebrities to promote new products, a large number of users will discover your new product offering through the message they can read in their SMS inbox.  Using this method will generate buzz and interest, and you could even entice old customers to come back and check out what's new. You can also use SMS campaigns to drive traffic to your website or storefront. Thus, you can simply include a link they can visit to check your new product or any offers.  5. Send Welcome Messages  Send your customer a welcome message once they subscribe to your SMS marketing campaign. Companies must start building relationships with their customers. As a result, you will be able to communicate with them right away, as they will know they have been subscribed.   It also alerts them to expect a few messages from your end every now and then. There’s no need for lengthy or complex welcome messages. Sometimes short but sweet thank you message about their subscription are already enough for your customers to remember your business.   6. Customer Service Tool  SMS is not limited to being a marketing tool; it’s also a customer support tool. In this era where customer service should be at the forefront of any business, SMS strategy can be used to ensure customer satisfaction.  It’s imperative that your work processes are as transparent as possible, and you can achieve this by constantly sending them SMS in case necessary. After all, a text message is the easiest way to communicate with pre-sale customers and post-sale tech support. 7. Collect Customer Feedback  It’s essential for businesses to receive customer feedback to determine what they are doing well and what they need to improve. And it’s something that’s being offered with SMS marketing. You can send out surveys through SMS, and customers can answer them timely and convenient.   There are many ways to create survey forms for them to easily fill out. The key is to attach the link to your SMS. Another option is to ask customers to rate you using a ranking system that’s easy for them to use.   8. Announce VIP Programs  By offering a VIP program, you can encourage loyalty among your subscribers and customers. If you want to make your VIP customers feel special, offer them VIP-only discounts. This sense of exclusivity allows your customers to treat your brand with more respect and value.   Also, use this program for customers to gain early access to sales and other promotions. One way for them to qualify for your VIP list is to encourage them to fill out a signup link. However, since it’s VIP, make it seems more challenging for them to enter this list. The harder it feels to qualify, the more special and valued they would feel.  Tips To Apply Effective SMS Marketing Strategies Applying SMS marketing strategies require effective implementations. When done right, they can produce the best outcomes for your business. Here are some tips to apply effective SMS marketing strategies for your brand:  1. Ensure That Your Customers Opted In  Your customers probably already provide you with their phone numbers. However, one common courtesy is to get their approval to start receiving SMS from your brand. Mass texting them without their consent is ethically wrong and will only lead to adverse effects on the customer. Ensure to get your customer’s clear opt-in before starting to send out text message campaigns.  Your website or other online channels can allow customers to opt-in to receive text messages. However, you should get a text confirmation before you send them anything. There are ways to get their opt-in consent. One is to make them reply Yes or No to your single SMS regarding SMS subscription. Another way is through your website. They can press a CTA button regarding their receiving SMS messages from your brand. When the user clicks the link in the offer, they can fill out the subscription form and enter their number so they can start receiving your SMS campaigns.  2. Take Time To Introduce Yourself  A good practice is to take the time to introduce your brand in any of your SMS campaigns. Chances are your customers don’t know where the messages are coming from. Failing to include your company name or brand name on the message will only forfeit its purpose. Hence, it’s important to include your company or brand name in that short message that you’re sending.  3. Make Messages Fun And Short  It’s common for people to use SMS messages to communicate with friends and family informally. Texting should remain fun in your SMS campaign in the same way as a fun communication tool between people. Be friendly and personal with customers to build trust.   Use local trending words that are popular with your target audience for the time being. It ensures to catch their interest and make them read your text message completely. The maximum number of characters in an SMS message is 160. With an opt-out option and the need to identify yourself, that's not much to work with. Don't waste any characters, and go straight to the point of what you want to say.   4. Don’t Forget To Use Target Keywords  To encourage users to connect with you, you should select contextually relevant keywords alongside simple messages and shortcodes. Using such keywords will allow them to easily remember anything about your brand or company. If they want to research you online, they can use the same keywords found on your SMS. 5. Give An Option For Customers To Opt Out  All marketing communications should follow these standards and rules. Much like getting their buy-in, you should also give them the option to opt out and unsubscribe from your SMS campaigns. You are more likely to lose customers if you constantly text them when they do not want to hear from you.  Your messages should come with the unsubscribe option, so your customers can freely opt out anytime they want. There are some viable reasons for them to do this. But it doesn’t entirely mean that they won’t be good prospects for you in the future. It’s just that not everyone prefers to get this kind of information via text.  SMS open rates tend to be much higher than those for email, so you should also expect a higher unsubscribe rate. After a message is sent, unsubscribes may spike and treat it as a normal occurrence.   6. Be More Informative Than Promotional  You should be extremely considerate of your buyers' inboxes since promotional SMS messages can easily be turned off. Therefore, staying informative and interactive is best, and not focusing too much on sounding sales or promotional.   A good rule of thumb is to focus most of your communication on order, whether a status update or a request for feedback. Schedule your promotional messages and send them at least only twice a week at a minimum. No one wants to keep receiving promotional messages that are obvious that they want to make money from you. Conclusion You can increase engagement with your target audience by using SMS marketing. Keeping your customers' attention is easier if you market to them where they are most active. Therefore, if your target audience is always in their phone’s SMS inbox, it’s worth considering SMS marketing as part of your marketing mix. Use this guide and wait for results to reflect your bottom line soon.  Read Also: Calling Out – How Telemarketing Allows You to Reach a Wider Audience How To Move Your Career In Social Media Marketing Up A Gear? Best Marketing Strategies For Lawyers In Houston

READ MOREDetails