Although the more traditional marketing methods still remain important, the world of marketing is shifting online and it’s crucial your business has an online presence.
Traditionally, businesses would manage the majority of their marketing in-house, however, in an ever-changing digital world, businesses are choosing to outsource their marketing efforts to digital marketing agencies to lighten the burden and free up some valuable resources. So this raises the debate of whether to keep your digital marketing in-house or to outsource.
Outsourcing work isn’t for everyone and some companies don’t need agencies. Although we’re a digital marketing agency ourselves, we’d never say that every business needs to use an agency because although it’d be great for our books, it’s not true. It’s a decision that should be specific to each and every business. So, why and when should you hire a digital marketing agency?
What is a digital marketing agency?
That then begs the question; what is a digital marketing agency? A digital marketing agency is a company that helps promote businesses through a combination of different online marketing channels. Their primary objective is to increase website traffic and conversions for their clients.
As well as strategic advice and planning, the main marketing services offered by agencies usually include one, or a combination of - SEO (search engine optimisation), PPC (pay-per-click), social media marketing, email marketing and website services (such as design, development, maintenance and optimisation).
Each of these services aims to boost website traffic with a view to increasing the overall conversions for the business, whether that be online transactions, store visits or phone call leads - whatever is valuable to that specific client.
Why should you use a marketing agency?
Just because this post is written by a digital marketing agency doesn’t mean that we’re going to blindly encourage everyone to get themselves an agency. That being said, if you need help with increasing traffic to your website or physical store, or your website needs optimising and refreshing and you just don’t have the time or thorough enough knowledge, then you’re likely to benefit from using a digital marketing agency. So why hire a digital marketing agency?
Digital marketing agencies are experts in their field and the benefits of using them can be tremendous. Usually, an agency will have years of experience helping clients grow their online presence and are well placed to help other businesses grow digitally.
The world of digital marketing never stands still and as someone outside of this area, it can be overwhelming trying to keep up with the neverending trends, algorithm changes and best practices. It’s therefore extremely useful to use an agency that is well equipped to navigate these hurdles in order to benefit and futureproof your business.
What should you look for in a digital marketing agency?
Services Offered
To be honest, you probably won't need to invest in every single service that an agency tries selling to you. It’s important to understand your target market and the channel that will be most effective to reach them and hit your specific business goals.
A good agency can help with this by spending time researching your business, your target audience, your competitors and your environment and recommending the most valuable, cost-effective digital marketing services to truly help your business grow. Sometimes, less is more!
Past Experience
There are thousands and thousands of agencies out there, so we understand that selecting one for you can be overwhelming. A great way to narrow down your choices is to look at previous work and past clients. Is their work of high quality, and did it drive results?
Also, take a look at their current and past clients and assess whether your business could fit into their portfolio.
Reviews
Nowadays, online reviews are becoming an extremely important part of any buyer's journey.
It’s consequently important that before choosing a digital marketing agency, you spend some time reading through their online reviews to get a feel for the quality of their work and how they interact with their clients.
Google profiles are a great place to start, but you could also look at more local or specific listing sites such as Yell and Clutch too.
Industry Expertise
Often agencies may show interest and experience in a particular niche.
Although a lot of marketing skills are highly transferable, a lot of agencies may focus on certain industries and business types. Have a look through past clients and you should be able to spot a theme.
What are the benefits of hiring a digital marketing company?
Experience & Knowledge
It’s extremely difficult and very time-consuming for someone not in the marketing industry to have an up-to-date, well-rounded knowledge of the entirety of digital marketing.
Usually, digital marketing agencies have been in the industry for a while. They’ve battled through countless Google algorithm changes, integrated the introduction of new social media platforms and constantly kept up to date with the latest trends and best practices.
During that time, they’d have built up a lot of experience and industry knowledge, as well as having worked with multiple companies usually across a wide range of industries.
Agencies live and breathe digital! You’ll usually find them furthering their knowledge, reading blogs and listening to podcasts - something no business owner can be expected to do.
Speed
Because it’s their day job, agencies build and maintain digital campaigns much more quicker.
People can learn new skills, but obviously, this is going to take much longer than for someone who already has the experience. It’s therefore going to be much quicker to get your campaigns up and running when you’re using professional marketers.
Not only that, but digital marketing agencies have a whole team of experts at their disposal, all with their own unique skills and knowledge, speeding up the process.
Recommendations and Growth
Not only do agencies undertake the digital marketing work mentioned above, but they can also help with your overall marketing strategy to help achieve your business goals.
On top of day-to-day marketing activities, agencies will usually plan months in advance in line with your business objectives to ensure you’re futureproofing all the work you’re putting in to help your business grow, long-term.
How much will it cost?
Digital marketing agency pricing tends to fluctuate a lot depending on a number of factors. This may include the agency's base rate, the complexity of the project, any available packages, timelines, budgets or the agency's overall pricing model.
It's always best to request a quote, providing as much detail about your project and business as possible to get an accurate price estimation! Be prepared to pay different prices depending on the services you're looking for. For example, the cost of a website tends to be higher than the cost of SEO or the cost of PPC management due to the workload required.
After all of that, if you’re looking for a digital marketing agency for your business, feel free to get in touch with our team to see if we can help you and your business!