Marketing has a true essence; finding people with an interest in your product or service to communicate your value to them. Finding these people requires the expertise of digital marketing specialists.
With a long line of these professionals available, you need to know the right metrics to help you choose the best digital marketing agency for your business.
Of course, working with an agency is the best decision you can make when you consider a lot of reasons. For example, contractors choose specializations, and this is frustrating when you need multi-talented professionals.
And hiring in-house professionals will cost you money and time to train, not forgetting additional administrative responsibilities.
Although you now understand how choosing a digital marketing agency is helpful to you, you shouldn’t just fall for any agency that comes to you with a flash of light.
You need to look through their books to see if they can get you to the place where you want to be. In this article, you will learn how to choose the best digital marketing agency and more.
What Do Marketing Agencies Do?
Marketing agencies perform lots of activities. The current demand placed on these agencies by their clients continues to spur them to develop different and more productive ways of getting the right people to patronize businesses that can add value to them. Some functions of these agencies include:
#1. SEO
SEO is an acronym for Search Engine Optimization. Search Engine Land defines SEO as the ability to increase site visibility so your results show up on the search engine results pages. This is important, as over 3 billion people conduct searches on the web every day seeking solutions to different problems. You would want to let those numbers know you exist and that you have working solutions to their problems.
Search engines make use of robots to crawl web pages they index using their algorithms. Every web page they crawl goes to a category they have programmed. Categorizing them helps the search engines deliver results for the relevant keywords when people search for them. Although Google remains the biggest search engine platform, Bing and DuckDuckGo are great alternatives.
#2. Social Media Advertising
Facebook is the biggest social media platform in the world powering over 2 billion users. Owing to its large membership, a lot of marketers have stormed the application seeking mediums to advertise their products and services. For this reason, Facebook developed models that helped market products and services. Today, a lot of professionals even tag themselves as “Facebook Ads Experts”.
Other social media platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn saw Facebook’s work and emulated by developing such models, and they’ve helped many businesses grow. So, if you need any help selling your products on social media, choosing the best digital marketing agency will help you achieve those results with less stress.
#3. Video Advertising
Research from HubSpot says 78% of people watch online videos every week, and 55% view online videos every day. In the same vein, their research also says 81% of businesses use video as a marketing tool — up from 63% over the last year. Numbers don’t lie, and you know video advertising is a growing market that keeps getting more powerful.
Now you can agree that video advertising is truly a vast market and you need to use it immediately. Even if you’re clueless about video creation, marketing, or even SEO, choosing a great digital marketing agency will eliminate that burden.
#4. Google AdWords
When people search on Google, they use a specific set of words. For example, if I am looking for results when I need help on how to drive a car, I simply type “How to Drive A Car” and I hit the enter key. A lot of the results will show up communicating instructions regarding driving, however, they’ll focus on one thing – driving a car. The phrase “drive a car” is a keyword and you can target to rank for it.
To rank for it, you would create content that focuses on that keyword. However, because of the large number of web pages battling for it, you might never show up on the first page of the search engine result pages. So, you need to run an ad campaign on the keyword and that is where Google AdWords are handy. AdWords helps you run a campaign to rank for a keyword, even if you lack web authority.
#5. Mobile Marketing
Mobile devices are selling out. The global phone market reached $522 billion in 2018, and over 100 mobile phone producers are in this billion-dollar market. With over 4 billion people constantly using their mobile phones, this became another advertising hotspot for marketers.
When you choose a good digital marketing agency to run your business, you get a good guarantee they will help push your brand to the large market of mobile users. And you know what happens when you generate more leads, the possibility of getting customers increases by over 50%.
Mobile marketing is important for your business, and we want to help you promote your brand to billions of people. This is one of our core objectives at Socialander as we promise you outstanding results that will expand your brand and business. Book a Free Marketing Consultation with our team by clicking “I want a Free Consultation Session” and let’s handle your mobile marketing game.
#6. Content Marketing
I think I can categorize this article under content marketing. Microsoft Founder, Bill Gates, said “Content is King” and the truthfulness of that statement remains valid as people relate to content. Articles, videos, and podcasts all fall into the category of content and you will agree that we all cannot do without content.
Content marketing is a great tactic that helps people gain an interest in your brand, service, or product. Most times, the whole idea of content is to inform and persuade and not convert. But who says you can’t make little tweaks?
If you want to get awareness and sell a product or service, leveraging content marketing is important. In content marketing, you communicate your expertise and this can help you build trust with your target market.
#7. App Development
A web application makes use of a web server while a computer application makes use of an operating system. Applications help you interact with a web page directly without having a third party present.
Developing applications can get capital intensive when you directly contact the professionals to help you. However, when you choose a good digital marketing agency with a proper understanding of the app development market, it doesn’t cost so much anymore. Using apps makes contact easy, and this is an excellent marketing strategy.
#8. Web Development
In today’s world, if you lack a web presence, you’re selling yourself short. Building a good web presence is important, as some business people have even created virtual offices on Instagram and Facebook.
However, that is very limiting compared to the number of individuals who use the web every day. The best option would be to build a website wherein you can determine what you want anyone who lands on your webpage to see. A lot of companies who use this strategy have grown their visitors and their customer base as well.
Developing a website is not so difficult. However, the load of work falls into ensuring the website is organized and offers the most important features to any visitor. At Socialander, we won’t only help you build a webpage, we will help you optimize it in order to get high conversions on first-time visitors. Book a Free Marketing Consultation with our team by clicking “I want a Free Consultation Session” and let’s start started with building a great webpage for you.
#9. Branding
No product in the world doesn’t have an alternative a few blocks away or even miles away. So, you need to make your product unique and stand out. An excellent digital marketing agency offers not only marketing services but also branding services that will make you stand out in a crowded marketplace.
However, you tie your uniqueness and results depend on your knowledge of how to choose a digital marketing agency, but after reading this next section, you won’t make a mistake.
The Metrics To Use When Choosing A Digital Marketing Agency
Before you can choose a digital marketing agency that will help you achieve your goals, they must pass through a rating system that proves they’re capable. I made it easy for you by sectioning it into four broad but important areas which include:
- Objectives
- Results
- Offerings
- Charges
#1. Objectives
“What objectives do I want to achieve and how can this agency help?” is the first question you must answer before you make any considerations about bringing anyone on board. A clear aim would help you paint a more precise picture of the results you want besides the deadlines.
#2. Results
A company with results knows how to replicate them. If you want results in an area where they’re experts in all you have to do would be to call for their services.
However, measuring results with vain metrics such as “likes on an Instagram post” are vain and misleading. You need measurable results that can boost visibility and sales called KPIs (Key Performance Indexes). And I will take you through some important KPIs you must know in measuring any agency’s performance or capacity.
KPIs
To check the performance of your business on the internet, there are essential metrics you need for your measurement. These metrics include:
#1. Number of Unique Visitors
Unique visitors are the number of people who visit your platform for the first time. Essentially, it doesn’t include people who have visited before and are returning.
This is an important metric you must measure as it exposes to you how much awareness your brand is getting. A good number of unique visitors will increase your leads and get you more customers.
#2. Cost Per Click
Cost per click (CPC) is simply an advertising term wherein an advertiser pays for every click a visitor makes while advertising a product on a platform.
A good CPC means you’ll spend less money on advertising, and vice versa. A good trick to reduce your CPC would be to use Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) application programming interphases and an interactive/comment section.
#3. Traffic Source
You never change a working formula, instead, you improve on it. It’s a similar case in finding the channel that generates the lot of traffic you receive on your product/web page.
Citing the channel that yields 80% of your results would save you the money you would invest in other channels. A good way to cite this channel would be to use the Google Analytics Tool.
#4. Click Through Rate (CTR)
Click-through rate is a percentage extracted from data that shows the difference between the number of people who saw a post and those who saw it and clicked. CTR is a great way to measure if your advert is converting or if you must make some changes.
Most times, poor CTR is always because of bad ad copy or improper targeting. And you can avoid these problems when you choose a good digital marketing agency.
#5. Social Interactions
Social interactions are one of the important metrics you must check to measure performance. These interactions have to do with comments, likes, and shares when it comes to your content. Additionally, you can even track everything a user does when they come to your page before they make a purchase.
An excellent tool that will help you track this analysis properly is Kissmetrics. If you don’t like Kissmetrics, you can use alternative applications such as Google Analytics, Mixpanel, and Heap.
#6. Bounce Rate
Bounce Rate is a metric that calculates the speed at which people leave your webpage when they enter it. A high bounce rate is not good for your webpage at all. It sends a message to search engines that people don’t like what they see on your page.
You reduce your bounce rate; you need to ensure your web pages load faster and are void of gory content. Additionally, when you use great creatives, you’re likely to keep visitors.
#3. Value Proposition
In choosing a good digital marketing agency, you need to look through its value proposition and seek to discover how it can add value to your business. Ensure you ask questions regarding each plan of action they have while asking for data to support why that decision is the best.
Using the metrics as a helpful resource, you will understand this easily.
#4. Charges
It’s not usually all about money, however, money is important to achieve goals. You should get a good breakdown of the cost of hiring the services of a good firm. From the cost of advertising, down to every commission. This way, you can compare different budgets from many agencies, so you choose the best.
However, a good thing you must understand is that agencies that charge incredibly low prices will not offer you quality results. And they won’t go the extra mile for you when you need them to. Hence, don’t settle for those agencies as it will cost you a lot more in the long run.
Socialander believes in offering our clients the best value for their money. We don’t believe in underpricing, neither do we tear our client’s pockets by charging excessively. Book a Free Marketing Consultation with our team by clicking “I want a Free Consultation Session” so you get to see our amazing offers.
FAQs On How to Choose the Best Digital Marketing Agency
Consider your specific goals, budget, and the services offered by the agency. Look for agencies with experience in your industry, a proven track record, and positive client testimonials. Schedule consultations to discuss your objectives and gauge their approach to digital marketing.
The cost varies based on services, agency reputation, and your specific requirements. Some agencies charge a flat fee, while others work on a retainer or project basis. Discuss your budget and goals with the agency to determine a suitable arrangement.
Yes, reputable digital marketing agencies often showcase case studies or portfolios on their websites. Reviewing these examples can give you insight into the agency’s capabilities and the results they’ve achieved for other clients.
Final Thoughts
Choosing a good digital marketing firm only comes to a few basic steps:
- Set Your Objectives
- Do Your Research
- Find An Agency
- Analyze Their Value Proposition
- Do A Review
- Fix a meeting
- Start Enjoying a Great Working Relationship
