Digital marketing is complicated and time-consuming, so even if you have the expertise, it’s easiest to outsource it to an agency. The challenge lies in finding the right digital marketing agency for your business when there’s a wealth of options available. It’s easy to get overwhelmed when deciding on the right agency match for your business. So read this guide to understand the step-by-step process of picking the best digital marketing agency.
What to Look for in a Digital Marketing Agency
The key to finding the perfect agency match is to understand what to look for in a digital marketing agency. Not all agencies are made the same, so it’s important to carefully weigh your options by considering a few essential factors. Below is a list of the key considerations when deciding on a digital marketing agency to work with.
Service Offerings
The most obvious factor to consider is whether they offer the types of services you need. This is particularly important if you need a very specific set of services because not every agency will offer all the services you need.
Even agencies that advertise themselves as “full-service” typically only focus on the main digital marketing disciplines such as SEO, social media marketing, influencer marketing, and paid advertising. So they may not necessarily provide some of the more specific services that aren’t directly within these disciplines.
For example, Ninja Promo offers video production services along with a comprehensive list of digital marketing services. However, not every agency provides services for video production even if they can help with video marketing. So if you need help creating videos as well, you’ll want to consider an option like Ninja Promo instead of having to hire a separate team to produce your videos.
Ninja Promo video production services
Pricing and Packages
Another important consideration is the cost of working with the agency. There are a couple of aspects to this–how much their services cost and how their services are packaged.
Many agencies will offer fully customized digital marketing packages consisting of all the services you need. Others may have pre-packaged plans that cover a specific set of services. It’s important to check out how the agency prices and packages its services to make sure that everything you need will be covered within your budget.
Some agencies also offer several tiers of services for different types of digital marketing packages. This allows you to choose between several options based on the level of help you need and the scale of your campaign.
For example, WebFX offers five different levels of plans for their SEO packages with varying levels of keyphrases and pages optimized. Here, you won’t need to pay for an expensive package that allows up to 50 pages optimized when you only need to optimize 25 pages.
SEO Services by WebFX
Past Work
Even if an agency looks good on paper, that doesn’t necessarily prove that they’re good at what they do. That’s why it’s crucial to look at their portfolio to check out their previous work. What kind of clients have they worked with? How have they added value to those clients?
Looking into their work portfolio will help you understand whether the agency has established an expertise in your industry. It will give you an idea of how they approach different challenges so you can make sense of whether they’re the right fit for you. If they’ve worked with other brands or businesses similar to yours, it shows that they have familiarity and will likely be able to address your needs.
For example, if you look through the previous work of LYFE Marketing, you’ll notice that the agency has worked with a lot of niche and local businesses. This would make them a viable choice if you’re looking for a digital marketing agency for small businesses.
LYFE Marketing case studies
Reputation
Besides the results they showcase on their own website, it’s also important to understand their reputation outside of their website. What are people saying about the agency? How do their past clients feel about them?
Look at reviews from third-party sites along with testimonials to get an understanding of the agency’s reputation. This will help you assess whether their claims match what other people are saying. So you can accurately gauge their trustworthiness and overall standing in the industry.
Don’t just stop at the agency’s Google reviews. You should also look at their reviews and ratings on marketplace websites such as G2. This will give you the most comprehensive look into the agency’s reputation and industry standing based on contributions from verified users.
Customer Service
While an agency may score perfectly in every aspect, the quality of care it offers to clients should be one of the major factors influencing your decision. Since you’re not just looking for a service provider but a partner for your business, you need to look for an agency that truly cares about you as a client.
How responsive are they when you reach out to them? How does it feel to interact with them? What do their existing and past clients say about their customer service? These are important questions to help you understand whether the agency will proactively work with you and address your concerns.
Specializations
If you’re looking for very specific services, you’ll also want to check out whether the agency specializes in what you need. This is particularly important for very niche businesses such as crypto or gaming where traditional marketing tactics may not work. Understanding the agency’s industry or service specializations will help you assess whether they’re capable of reaching the types of audience you want to reach.
For example, Ninja Promo explains that while the agency has expertise in all aspects of digital marketing, they’re specialized in marketing for B2B, fintech, crypto, and high-growth startups. So if your business falls under one of these categories, you might prioritize the agency over other options that don’t necessarily specialize in your industry.
Ninja Promo frequently asked questions
Location
Although not as important as some of the other factors mentioned above, the location of the agency is worth considering depending on your business. This should be an important consideration for businesses that want to target a local audience. If an agency is located in a particular region, you can expect them to have a deeper understanding of the audience compared to agencies in other regions.
For example, you should focus on digital marketing agencies in the U.K. if your main target audience is located in the U.K. This will help you ensure that you work with an agency that knows the U.K. audience thoroughly. Or you may get even more specific by looking at the top digital marketing agencies in NYC if you’re creating a campaign in New York.
Steps to Choose the Best Digital Marketing Agency
Knowing what to look for in a digital marketing agency is vital, but it’s not enough. It’s important to take an organized approach to your search so you can apply the above knowledge and strategically look for the perfect match. Follow the steps below to choose the best digital marketing agency for your business.
Step 1: Define Your Goals
Start with a clear understanding of your business goals. What do you wish to achieve through digital marketing? Do you want to raise brand awareness or drive sales? Or perhaps you want to promote a new line of products, for example.
Having your goals in place will help you get a better picture of what you need in a digital marketing agency. So you can more effectively filter your options and quickly narrow down agencies that meet those needs.
For example, if your goal is to build a strong online community, you’ll want to look for agencies that provide services for community management. In this case, community management agencies like Sociallyin could provide you with dedicated community managers to serve as representatives of your brand. Not only will these managers update your pages with fresh content, but they’ll also actively engage with your followers by responding to comments and answering questions.
Sociallyin creative responses
Step 2: Decide on a Budget
Next, it’s time to get to one of the most critical steps–setting a budget. How much are you willing to spend on digital marketing each month? Keep in mind that you’ll also have to consider agency costs in addition to the regular digital marketing costs. That means if you’re running ads worth $10,000 a month, your budget should include $10,000 + agency costs.
At this step, you can look around to see the typical agency costs for businesses of your size. Make sure to keep your budget realistic considering the size and scale of your campaign. For instance, it may be unrealistic to expect to spend only $2,000 on an influencer marketing campaign involving 50 influencers.
Your budget will help you further narrow your search to find agencies that offer packages and plans within said budget. This is where you’ll find agencies with transparent pricing the most useful. However, you could also consider reaching out to other shortlisted agencies for a customized quote.
Step 3: Outline Your Ideal Agency
Based on the information so far, it’s time to outline the ideal agency for you. Make a list of requirements that an agency must meet to be considered. This will serve as a checklist so you can filter your options more effectively. In addition to a list of needs, you might want to include a list of factors that aren’t necessarily requirements but are good to have.
Your ideal agency outline could look something like this:
Step 4: Compare Different Options
Now that you have your ideal agency outline in place, it’s time to compare your options to see which agency fits the profile. Having multiple options will give you the freedom to narrow down an agency that aligns perfectly with your needs. It’s also a great way to find one that you can have a good relationship with based on how they like to work and how well you connect with the team.
Make a shortlist of at least five agencies that perfectly meet your “must-have” requirements. You can then filter your shortlist based on how well they meet your “good-to-have” requirements. Then make further comparisons based on additional details such as how flexible they are and how well you interact with them.
Step 5: Ask the Important Questions
At this point, you should have a couple of agencies that perfectly fit what you’re looking for. So it’s going to be incredibly difficult to decide which one to choose. This is why you need to ask a few key questions to help finalize your decision. Those questions can be:
- How can you provide a unique value to my company? This will help you ensure whether the agency is capable of tailoring its strategies and services specifically for your needs. It will show you whether they can understand your unique needs and address them.
- What does your content creation process look like? For businesses that require content creation services, it’s important to ask this question to understand how the agency creates content. You’ll be able to grasp how they conduct research and what tools or platforms they use.
- What’s your availability? This is one of the most vital questions that will give you an idea of whether you can reach the agency when you need to. Some agencies will have a dedicated account manager assigned to you that you can reach out to when needed.
- What kind of results can we expect in X period? Understanding the kind of results they can deliver within a specific timeframe should help you picture the impact they can have on your business.
Begin Your Search for the Ideal Digital Marketing Agency
Now that you have a clear idea of what to look for and what steps to take, it’s time to get started with your search for the ideal digital marketing agency. Browse through our listing of the top digital marketing agencies in the United States to begin your search.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I choose a digital marketing agency?
You can choose a digital marketing agency by considering their service offerings, pricing and packages, work portfolio, reputation, and customer service.
What to consider before hiring a digital marketing agency?
Before hiring a digital marketing agency, you need to consider whether they provide the services you need, are within your budget, have worked with clients in your industry before, have a solid reputation, and provide good customer service.
Who are the Big 6 digital marketing agencies?
Publicis Groupe, Havas, WPP, Omnicom, Dentsu, and Interpublic are the Big 6 digital marketing agencies.
Are digital agencies worth it?
Digital agencies are worth it as they bring value to your business by aligning campaigns to your brand goals and helping you streamline your efforts to get more out of your digital marketing spending.
When should I hire a digital marketing agency?
You should hire a digital marketing agency when your company lacks the time, resources, and expertise to carry out digital marketing campaigns.
