Once upon a time a brand walked into a digital marketing agency. And realised by 2025, digital ad spending will reach $734 billion!
Evidently, that isn’t a joke, but neither is hiring a digital marketing agency. Because with the rise in digital spending, more brands want a marketing partner who helps in telling their brand story to the right audience, over the right medium, at the right moment to evoke the right response and get the best ROI.
Too overwhelming? Too many metrics to measure? Too …
Worry not, Flora Fountain, the leading social media marketing agency in Ahmedabad and India shares just 5 things that can help you make a better decision while hiring a digital marketing agency.
Top 5 factors to consider before your hire a digital marketing agency
To hire or not to … hire a branding agency, is a question that you must answer after considering the following points:
- Identify your purpose
- Look for an agency with experience and expertise
- Understand the agency’s processes and strategies
- Evaluate the results promised
- Value for money and price play
Let’s dive into the details.
Identify your purpose
Before you venture out to hire a digital marketing agency, introspect and ask yourself:
What end goal am I trying to reach?
- Is it to increase my reach online?
- Or keep the existing audience more engaged through content?
- Do I need help creating content?
- Evaluate the results promised
- Or help enhancing conversions?
What particular service does my brand require?
- What services am I expecting the agency to deliver? (Hint: You want to hire a branding agency for things like brand strategy, identity & logo creation and an eCommerce website development company for things like website development or eCommerce management)
- Will I require one set of services like social media marketing services and then need to expand my scope beyond it? (In such cases you might want to go with a full-service digital marketing agency, which can provide multiple services)
How much am I willing to keep aside as a marketing budget?
- Will I be dedicating a percentage of my sales to marketing?
- Or do I want to invest an initial amount and decide based on the results?
By answering these three questions you will be able to pinpoint WHY you need to hire a digital marketing agency and WHAT services you require from them today or in the future.
Look for industry experience and expertise
Once your goal is set, initiate filtering to identify agencies that have an expertise in your particular industry or the services you are looking for.
It is important to make sure the digital agency has relevant expertise and experience. Inquire and research their specialities and previous successes.
Having digital marketing professionals who have a good understanding of your industry and its specific nuances can make all the difference when it comes to achieving success online. Experience in both general digital marketing techniques, as well as those that are specifically relevant to your industry, plays an important role in selecting the right partner for your business.
Additionally, asking about the resources available for client-agency collaborations such as intelligence tools, content platforms, and analytics software is a must-do for those looking to hire a social media marketing agency.
Here are a few things you can do to understand whether or not the agency is a good fit:
- Review their previous projects
- Ask for proof of concept (POC)
- Ask for referral contacts (in your industry and outside)
- Look at any blogs or case studies the agency has produced
- Check their reviews on Google My Business, Clutch etc
Understand the agency’s processes and strategies
Before you decide to work with a digital marketing agency, it is essential that you understand and evaluate how they work.This includes their work ethics, strategies used, work framework and methodology, business terms, approach towards the brand, partners, number of meetings required and project management.
The tiniest details from the mode of communication to the efficiency in their process can impact your decision to hire a branding agency. Hence, take time to ask questions that can help you understand whether the agency’s ethics, strategies and processes work for your business.
Knowing these details in advance will help you understand whether the agency is the right fit for you.
Evaluate the results promised
Big promises of great results can be exciting, but also can be cause to raise an alarm and ask more questions. Sometimes, if it seems too good to be true, it actually might be!Consider what the agency is promising and ask them how they plan to achieve this? See their track record. Have they delivered such impressive results in the past?
Value for money and price play
This one is important for everyone. From small businesses to reputed brands. However, what you should be evaluating is the value for money and the ROI.
Know the industry standards. When setting the price, ask:
- If the agency works with a fixed scope or customises it as per the brand requirement.
- How do they document the investments made for any digital strategy or campaign?
- Why are their prices low/high?
- How do they allocate the resources for various campaigns and what are the end results of it?
Also, think from an agency viewpoint, with higher funds, the agency would be able to put more effort and seriousness into the project.
And with that, you will be able to identify the right digital marketing agency to hire.
Hire Flora Fountain!
Anchored strongly in the digital world, Flora Fountain holds expertise in every domain that your brand may need. Including eCommerce website development and management, branding, content curation, designing, SEO, concept shoots, video animation and social media marketing.
With a strong team of experts and innovators, we build unique digital solutions and strategies to provide your brand with the visibility it requires with an exclusively curated scope as per your needs. Cut through the noise with effective strategies and tell your brand story with us. Drop us a hello at hello@florafountain.com and start a conversation.
Vasim Samadji is a partner at Flora Fountain, where he leads the Business and Marketing Strategy divisions. He is a seasoned professional with an MBA in marketing and over a decade of experience working with multiple MNCs. Vasim is a firm believer in the power of creation and he is...