When we sit down with potential clients, we come prepared with a list of questions because, as a digital marketing agency, we want to familiarize ourselves with their brand and their goals. The more we learn about their business up-front, the better we can match them with services that make sense for their marketing objectives. But not everyone who sits down with us brings that same energy to the table.
While wrapping up a discovery meeting, we always ask potential clients if they have any questions for us. Yes, we get asked about prices and project timelines. Beyond that, the majority of potential clients go radio silent. We’re doing a great job explaining ourselves, or they’re just not sure what to ask. To be honest, it’s probably a combination of the two.
If you’ve never hired a digital marketing agency before, you probably don’t know what to ask or what to expect. And that’s okay. You can’t anticipate the unknown, but you can come to your initial meeting prepared. We recommend that you run their team through a list of questions to get better acquainted with their company. Ask away about price structure and your specific project, but don’t forget to take a deep dive into the pool of unexpected questions too.
It’s important for you to know whether the work will be done in-house or if it will be outsourced to another company. Outsourcing is acceptable, but only for certain services.
For example, we sometimes encounter challenging website issues that we’re just not equipped to handle. The IT world isn’t our strong suit, so we pass these problems onto someone more qualified. We often rely on GSD Technologies for some extra assistance. They’re an IT provider who also happens to be our sister company.
But outsourcing core services is most definitely a deal-breaker. We’ve heard of digital marketing agencies that tote awards for website design but outsource the actual web build, copywriting, and search engine optimization. Not cool.
We can’t tell you how often we encounter potential clients who can’t access their own website. Before hiring an agency, be sure that you have ownership of your domain, the content on your website, and any associated third-party accounts like Google Analytics. That way, if you choose to take your business elsewhere, you want to be sure the transition is seamless.
This story is a worst-case scenario, but it really puts things into perspective. A few years back, we encountered a local business that wanted a web redesign. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to help them.
Their site was hosted with a guy who did freelance work. He owned their domain too. Sadly, this man died unexpectedly. He had full ownership of their website, and the business owners couldn’t even do so much as log in. What ensued was a long, uphill legal battle to reclaim ownership over their own digital brand.
We don’t think the late web designer had any malice in his ownership of the site, but it majorly complicated things for the business. Ultimately, it was an expensive oversight that could have been prevented had ownership been placed with the right people.
Ask the agency what their values are and reflect on whether they align with your brand’s values. In general, we like working with passionate people who want the best for their brand and the people they interact with. As for our values, we have three guiding principles:
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