7 Steps to Choose the Best Digital Marketing Agency in 2021

When it comes to choosing a Digital Marketing Agency 2021, it is no small thing. Most of the time, many companies opt for a digital marketing agency over internal marketing, simply because it is difficult to maintain.

With a bounty of new promoting strategies springing up consistently, it tends to be almost outlandish for busy organizations to stay aware of the most recent trends, find the most ideal approaches to utilize various stages; basically turning into a “jack of all trades” in every aspect of digital marketing or web design for your business.

But when it comes to choosing the right marketing company, it’s not a decision to be made lightly, especially if it’s your first time. Follow these seven steps to make sure you choose the right digital marketing agency for you …

Choose A Right Digital Marketing Agency In 7 Steps

1. Determine Your Company’s Marketing Needs

When you start looking for the best digital marketing companies, you need to prepare and ask yourself some questions, what do I want to achieve with an agency, and what is the maximum amount I am willing to spend in order to achieve it. Understanding exactly what you want will help you find and narrow down exactly what you want, rather than wasting your valuable time and resources.

Whenever you’ve decided your business needs, regardless of whether it’s expanding your business presence on the web or upgrading your image, you’re prepared to begin effectively looking for the best digital marketing agency for you.

2. Find A Digital Marketing Agency That Meets Your Needs

If you are thinking about how to choose an agency for yourself, firstly, you need to evaluate the packages that a certain company offers and if they fit the goals of your company. This is an important question to consider, because if your marketing strategy is not what you are looking for, the agency is not “The One”, no matter how much you like it.

Apart from this, the cost is also a major factor to be considered. Keep in mind, it truly does not merit spending far too much on digital marketing packages that aren’t pertinent to your requirements.

3. Do Background Investigation Of The Digital Marketing Agency

Before you move forward with this process, it is essential to conduct a thorough background investigation of the digital marketing agencies you are planning to hire. Do they practice what they preach? The best way to know whether some agency is the right fit for you is to look at the results they have produced for themselves, and how effective is their own marketing.

For example, if you plan to hire an agency to carry out content marketing, how do you run your own blog? If you are thinking of hiring them for social media, how do they run their own social media? Is successful?

The same goes for SEO; How do you rank in search terms for your industry? Did it appear on Google on the first page? If they don’t “do what they preach,” they may not be able to get what they promise or not be capable of the services they offer.

Also, another great way to know if a digital marketing company is the best is through recommendations. Ask around among your friends and family. Whether they have someone good in mind, or if any of their friends know. Alternatively, you can also consider looking upon your professional network on LinkedIn and asking for recommendations. Chances are, there may be an acquaintance who has a suggestion that is perfect for you.

4. Ask The Right Questions

You may be thinking, now that you have decided on an agency, what are the question to ask them in order to determine their efficiency? You will probably have a hundred and one different questions, but it is important to make sure you are asking the right questions.

Five Important Questions You Must Ask to Your New Digital Marketing Agency Before Hiring Them;

1. Can I see some campaign examples?

Ask the company for a portfolio of successful jobs, whether it’s effective PR campaigns, keywords ranking, and producing good content with high click-through rates and low bounce rates.

2. Who will complete the job?

It may require different equipment, such as SEO or content marketing. Take out some time to review the organization and its structure, the team members, and the work they do.

3. How long do they keep clients on average?

In short: the longer the better.

4. What results can you promise me?

Bear in mind that if you are in an industry which is fairly competitive, no digital marketing agency should promise you “bottom line” results, as there can be too many factors that are involved; It is inevitable that results will take longer if you are in a more competitive market.

5. How will the results and ROI be measured?

Make sure it is clear how the results will be measured, as well as the impact of the strategy.

5. Submit a “REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL” (RFP)

Once you have narrowed down a selection of digital marketing agencies that you are willing to continue with, contact the company to express your interest.

The next step is to send a “request for proposal” (RFP) to your select few agencies to help you make the decision to choose the best digital marketing agency. An RFP allows you to collect information from various companies and select the company that best meets your criteria, both in terms of skill and budget. This should make it clear which agency works best for your business and which digital marketing contract you should sign.

6. Submit A Task To Them And Review

If you are tired of reading testimonials and reviews and want to see what the company can accomplish for you, consider asking them to complete a task for your business. This allows you to find out what they are capable of and if their clients’ results are consistently good, as they may suggest on their website.

Ask them to create a digital PR campaign or content marketing post for your business, and ask them to come up with some ideas to present to you. The best idea will be carried out by the digital marketing agency, and it will wait for the results to arrive. This can be in the form of press coverage (links) or high post rankings (although this will take longer).

7. Hold A Meeting With The Agency

If you’ve been happy with everyone so far, it’s time to have a meeting with the digital agency. This is a good way to get to know the team and an opportunity to resolve any issues with the team before signing any contracts.

This is where any personality conflict becomes apparent, which can be detrimental to the success of your business. Some people call it “the beer test” and it’s often used as a recruiting method: would you take them out for a beer at your local pub, or would you run a mile to the other side? The answer to this speaks volumes.

About the Author

Raunak Pandey

Raunak is a Mechanical Engineer by qualification & a Marketer by passion. He is the founder of Maiden Stride, a leading digital marketing company that provides world-class search engine marketing services and website & application development.