Businesses are moving away from traditional methods of marketing to digital marketing, and they are doing it at a fast pace.
If the stats are to be believed, Digital marketing has already eaten into a substantial amount of budget, earlier allocated to traditional methods of marketing such as TV, Newspaper, etc.
Here is a graph to substantiate what I wrote above :
Source : https://www.emarketer.com/content/global-digital-ad-spending-2019
Country wise budget
As you would have noticed, global 333.25 Billion USD and in Australia 17.2 billion in 2019
The above graphs give us an overview of how marketing spending has changed over the years.
We now have industries which are allocating more than 60% of their marketing budget on the internet or mobile marketing – all part of Digital Marketing.
Here is another table to show the Growth of ad expenditure in different mediums (year: 2019)
In all the major countries around the world, Digital advertisement growth has been in double digits reaching as high as 5.6% in Australia.
You are living under the rock if your Business is not using Digital Marketing to its advantage.
As per Search Engine Land, “On average, SMBs spend 46% of their marketing budget on digital marketing.”
Digital marketing is a trend you cannot ignore. It is the present and future of marketing and promotion.
Today, in the business world, most companies do in-house digital marketing or contract digital marketing work to a Digital Marketing Agency.
Though companies have gotten some small work done in-house, they have preferred to outsource Digital marketing work to professional Agencies.
However, there is always the risk of settling on a wrong digital marketing agency that may not deliver the expected results.
It is always a daunting task to choose a digital marketing agency as there are many options available in the market.
I have been helping small businesses succeed on the internet for years. One of the crucial aspect to help them succeed was helping them find the right digital marketing agency for their online campaigns.
I have dealt with the good, bad and ugly in the world of digital marketing.
The one question which I get a lot from clients is “How to Hire a Digital Agency” or “how to choose a digital marketing agency?”
I usually ask them to search on google.
Well! Most of the times – Google deceives them 🙂
I mean – let’s accept it. Google is prone to manipulation. (All DM companies have a team of ORM experts to paint them as the best in the Business).
However, there is a way to differentiate the good ones from the dodgy ones.
Here are a few steps to help you find the right Digital Marketing Agency:
Where to “Search” Them?
I know it’s a dumb question to ask. You have search engines, yellow pages, search engines.
How difficult would it be to find the right digital marketing agency?
To start with, most of the small businesses are as lost as I was, when I started my Business.
Here is how you can use the “already known” methods to better find Digital Marketing Agencies for your Business.
Your acquaintance might tell you beforehand about all the advantages and disadvantage of working with a particular digital marketing agency based on their own experience.
Referrals provide you with an opportunity to see beyond the salesmanship and marketing of various digital marketing agencies.
In short, you get to see the True Picture, which is not possible – if you are finding the agency via the web.
Google Partners:
Reputable search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing have partner agencies that can come in handy when searching for a Digital Marketing Agency.
This method is quite successful when you are looking for specific services like Google PPC, Facebook Ads, etc.
A certified preferred partner from Google definitely has the edge over others when it comes to running a PPC Campaign for your agency.
In addition to the above, Google has a database of digital marketing agencies arranged in different digital marketing categories such as Shopping and Google Analytics IQ, video ads, mobile advertising, display advertising, and search advertising.
You can get the expected budgetary requirements for working with various agencies.
The trust factor and legitimacy of Google makes it a useful tool for finding a competent digital marketing agency for your company.
What to consider while selecting them?
By now, you have your list of Digital Marketing Agencies shortlisted for your Business, and now you want to filter them in order of your preferences.
They all look equally good, but you cannot hire them all. Right?
Here are a few points to help you shortlist the ones matching your criteria.
Let’s go a step further than “having a website“. A right Digital Marketing agency must have a website that reflects their brand professionally.
Few important points to help you with the process are:
Few more additions to the website which should help you give that extra point to the agency are:
You should take the time to visit the agency’s physical office to determine it’s vibe. In this case, you should engage in casual conversation with some of the company’s employees and study the mood at the office to understand the agency’s vibe.
Find out if the team members are friendly, good communicators, and helpful.
Most people ignore such intangibles and end up hiring agencies that cannot deliver the expected results.
Team members that appear frustrated and annoyed may not do a good job as marketing requires a positive vibe. And check their comfort level in working with your industry. Trust me, the most difficult part of running a Digital Agency is producing engaging content for fields which are considered boring in the market.
You need a passionate team. The word passion has lost its power because of being overused but is still important when it comes to marketing. The agency should tell you what excites them about your company and how they feel working for you.
In addition, you should ask them about their favorite industry innovation and what they find fascinating about the industry. You should avoid a team that is only excited about the money, ego, and awards as this mean that they have no passion for what they do. It is advisable to consider a team that is excited about innovation and has a genuine interest in your Business, as this indicates that they are driven by passion.
What Should You Ask?
Make it a point to ask the digital marketing agency, which of the above will hey use to meet your expectations.
This is where the experience of an agency will come into the picture. For example, I ask B2B Companies to focus more of LinkedIn and Quora than Facebook, and I tell them, you should focus more on SEO than social media marketing because that is where you will find your clients.
And before I end, do not forget to map your budget with what they can deliver. The word affordable has a different meaning for everyone in the service industry.
Ensure, you have your expectations set straight from day one in terms of deliverables, money and timeline.
It is important to look for a digital marketing agency that suits your specific marketing needs.
I might have missed few points in my blog to help you select the right digital marketing agency, but overall the blog has all that I have learned working with a variety of clients and helping them succeed on the internet.