5 Things To Know Before Hiring a Digital Marketing Agency
In 2024, it’s projected that in the United States alone, approximately 110 million individuals will shop online through social media platforms. This staggering trend accounts for 42% of all internet users in the US.
As we all know, the need for digital marketing will only grow in the future, and almost all businesses will need to consult digital marketing professionals.
But before that consultation meeting, business leaders should know a few things on their end. Just enough to objectively assess the quality of services being offered.
Besides, it also helps in setting realistic expectations for the results.
Business leaders should do a bit of soul-searching to understand what brand image they want to maintain.
So, let’s go through a few key things you need to know before hiring a digital marketing agency.
Identify Your Goals:
Setting clear goals is essential for driving a successful social media campaign. A fact that’s not only relevant to digital marketing agencies but also for a business that hires them.
Without a solid understanding of what you are trying to achieve, all your efforts may be focused on attaining superficial metrics rather than making real progress on your actual business goals.
In other words, all your social media marketing budget spent chasing likes and engagement may not necessarily translate to tangible success.
If you have trouble setting effective goals, consider using the SMART framework to qualify your objectives.
- S – Specific: All your goals should be unambiguous, with a clear purpose and scope.
- M – Measurable: Focus on devising Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for each goal, and you’ll be able to track progress so you may evaluate the effectiveness of efforts easily.
- A – Achievable: Every goal should be challenging yet attainable. Avoid setting unrealistic expectations that are destined for failure.
- R – Relevant: Your digital marketing goals should align with your broader business objectives. All efforts should contribute to meaningful organizational growth.
- T – Time-bound: Setting deadlines for your goals is super important because it allows time to evaluate results and optimize strategies for better outcomes.
Understand Your Industry:
Businesses don’t exist in a vacuum.
You need information on the digital marketing efforts of your peers’ to set benchmarks for a more holistic digital presence.
We don’t mean you should set up a spy network – all the information you need is readily available for everyone to see.
One of the great things about digital marketing is that all the outreach efforts are transparent by nature.
Take some time out to check out what your competitors are doing. In the process, you are bound to find the best implementations out there.
Don’t just go around searching for ‘companies with the best social media campaigns.’
Remember to focus your efforts on the business in your industry because marketing efforts may greatly vary depending upon the audience demographics or interests.
Identify what you like, as well as things you want to avoid, and effectively communicate these observations to your digital marketing partner.
Learn to Calculate ROI:
Understanding your Return on Investment (ROI) in digital marketing is crucial for all businesses in the process of hiring an agency.
The competition is rising, and marketing budgets must be spent efficiently; every dollar must deliver measurable results.
By calculating ROI independently, businesses can hold their agency partners accountable and make data-driven decisions about whether to continue or adjust their partnership.
You can start by using this simple formula (net profit / total digital marketing costs) x 100.
But if you have more sophisticated goals, try asking your marketing partner to document the budget spent on a particular goal.
Hopefully, it will make it easier for you to assess the effectiveness of each effort made to achieve a goal. And you’ll easily catch the areas in need of optimization.
Think About Your Brand Identity:
Here is an alternative way to think about your branding efforts.
You are trying to communicate your brand’s core values in hopes that they resonate with your potential clients.
So, the question preceding that goal is obvious: what are your core values?
You need to figure this out before getting someone to do digital marketing. Often, this miscommunication costs you time and money; apart from that, you may even appear unfair to your digital marketing partner.
Think about it: after spending most of your marketing campaign budget, the content will appear odd, but you won’t be able to put your finger on it.
Later, when you eventually realize the problem, you will be compelled to revamp your whole brand identity because it didn’t align with your vision.
And this kind of overhaul can cost you more than your initial marketing costs. So, giving yourself ample time to decide on a well-thought-out vision is financially smart.
Assess Your Online Presence:
Your digital presence is the cornerstone of your brand image.
Businesses that conduct a thorough evaluation beforehand gain valuable insights into their current strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement.
This assessment lets you clearly define your goals and expectations from the hired agency. It plays an essential role in ensuring alignment with your overall business objectives.
Additionally, understanding your digital presence helps you identify any gaps or inefficiencies in your existing strategies, enabling your partner agency to tailor their approach accordingly.
And eventually, by laying a solid foundation through this assessment process, you will ultimately maximize the impact of digital marketing efforts and achieve sustainable growth.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, as our digital landscape continues to evolve and businesses increasingly rely on online platforms, the role of digital marketing agencies becomes vital. However, with these agencies, business leaders need to be equipped with certain knowledge and insights before diving into partnerships with these agencies. It would help if you started by setting clear goals, understanding industry trends and competition, calculating ROI, defining brand identity, and assessing one’s online presence. With a solid foundation and clear objectives, businesses can utilize the full potential of their digital marketing efforts.