When it comes to marketing, not every small business has the budget to go out and hire a marketing specialist or the tools they need to be successful. If you are trying to get the most bang for your buck when marketing your business, hiring an agency may be the easiest way to go. Today, we are going to look at how to pick the best digital marketing agency and how they can help fast track your business.
Why Work With An Agency?
Now you may be wondering, why should I work with an agency when I could just hire someone to do it? This is a great question and one that we get quite often. The biggest advantage of hiring an agency is that you will get years of marketing experience and expertise. An agency has special marketing tools at their disposal as well as experts in various sectors of marketing to give you a great team at your disposal for an affordable monthly rate.
What An Agency Does
An agency can do many different things for your business, depending on what you need. First and foremost, an agency is here to help your business grow. Whether that is to increase leads, increase profits, or simply grow sales, a digital marketing agency can help your business achieve marketing goals. Most marketing agencies are going to be specialized in items such as Google Ads, Facebook Ads, SEO, link building, and website creation. These are all great ways to get customers to your site while leaving a long lasting impression on potential customers. An agency also helps you develop strategies to meet your short term and long term goals to ensure you are on the right track for success.
What To Ask Your Agency
When choosing an agency, there are a few things that you are going to want to ask to make sure you are getting an agency that will work perfectly for your business. Some of the most basic questions you will want to ask your agency include:
What Type Of Services Do You Offer?
Do You Offer Month-To-Month Services Or Is It Contract Based?
Do You Have Any Testimonials Or Case Studies?
What Type Of ROI Can I Expect From Choosing Your Agency?
Will You Work With Me To Develop Long Term Strategies?
In House Vs Agency
Another big topic when it comes to hiring a digital marketing agency is should you hire one or keep your marketing in house? While there are certain aspects that you will want to keep in house such as ad copy and blog content approval, this is something you can work out with your agency.
If you currently do not have a marketing specialist or team, hiring someone and training them can get costly and time consuming. If you plan on hiring someone who is already specialized, you can expect this to cost you more than your typical new hire. An agency can hit the ground running and oftentimes be much cheaper than having to have someone on staff.
Look At Their Reputation
An easy way to tell how good a marketing agency is, is to look at their reputation. Most marketing agencies will have testimonials or reviews on their site that showcase their client ratings. You can also ask the marketing agency for case studies from their clients. This can give you a good indication of how well they have performed in the past for clients, as well as what you can expect from choosing them.
Do They Offer Pre-Built Or Custom Packages?
Getting into the billing side of things, finding out how the agency charges can give you a better idea of how you need to budget your marketing dollars. For most agencies, a 6-12 month contract is pretty standard. However, with a small business signing a contract with an agency they have never worked with, a 6 month commitment may be too risky. A month-to-month contract is ideal for most small businesses as it allows them to cancel if things are not working out or they do not like the service they are getting. Speak with the marketing agency to see which is going to be offered to see what you may be able to negotiate.
Are Their Prices Competitive?
Most marketing agency deals are going to come down to price, that is no secret. Businesses operate off of money and profits, so marketing budgets can be pretty tight. You are going to want to get the most service at the highest ROI for the lowest amount of money. Comparing agency prices to others in the area is a great way to see who is competitive, but good services will not always be cheap. Take into consideration the cost, contract terms, reputation, and services offered to see who may be giving you the best overall deal.
How Much Influence Will I Have On Decisions?
One big fear that many small businesses have with marketing agencies is that they will not have much say in what goes on with their marketing. Some larger marketing agencies may not be as receptive to a business owner's questions or concerns as they believe they know what is right. Here at Cedarsphere, we work closely with business owners to find out what goals they have, how we can help achieve those goals, and how we can continue to optimize our marketing efforts to fit your businesses’ needs. We never leave our clients in the dark. We want to ensure there is a clear line of communication between us to help keep pushing the ball forward.
Conclusion
Now that you have a better idea on how to pick the best digital marketing agency, you should feel much more comfortable getting things rolling with your business. If you are looking for an affordable marketing agency that is here to help your business achieve all of its goals, give Cedarsphere a call today. Our team can help you discover what services and package works best for your budget.