Digital marketing is ubiquitous in the modern marketing landscape. Social media pages, search results, pay-per-click ads, YouTube videos – everyone is engaged in some kind of digital marketing.
You almost definitely appreciate the power of digital marketing – that’s why you’re reading this article. A digital marketing company can handle some or all of your digital marketing needs – and when things go well, your ROI can be incredible.
A solid digital marketing strategy can grow your business in ways you may have never thought possible. No two businesses should use the same strategy – marketing is anything but one-size-fits-all. We’ve created these tips in order to help you ask the right questions. We hope that the answers to those questions provide you with insight into which digital marketing company is right for you:
Consider what services you need
HubSpot, makers of many great digital marketing tools, regularly release digital marketing statistics. Take a look. You don’t have to read all of the statistics – though there’s plenty of crunchy data in there. Just look at how many different ways you can market your business online.
Discover all the forms of social media you can be active on! Utilize email marketing, podcasts, blogging…The list goes on and on.
Not all of these marketing vehicles will be useful for every business. And even when two businesses use the same forms of marketing, they’ll often use them in different ways, and for different end goals.
That’s why it’s essential to review the different services that a digital marketing company can offer you, and consider how those services might apply to your own needs. You’re (presumably) not a marketing expert, so you may not know how the different vehicles for digital marketing fit into your overall strategy.
Nonetheless, you should try brainstorming about which digital marketing vehicles might best suit your company’s niche, and serve the customer personas you most want to attract. You can then discuss your ideas with the marketing companies you contact.
You should also consider your end goal. Boosting brand awareness? Improving conversion rates? What’s most important for your company right now?
Talk to each company about their vision
Once you’ve got some idea of the services you’d like – both from brainstorming and through considering digital marketing strategies that you’ve employed in the past – you can talk to the companies you’re thinking of hiring about their vision.
A good marketing company will create a marketing strategy primer for you to sink your teeth into before you hire them. In this primer, you’ll be able to see what marketing vehicles they consider most valuable for your company. Moreover, they’ll tell you why they think those vehicles will provide excellent ROI, and how they’ll help you accomplish your marketing needs.
Find out how they measure and report success
Now that you’ve established the company’s vision for your marketing strategy, talk to them about how they measure success. Good digital marketing is impossible without analytics. Learn about:
- The types of analytics the marketing company uses
- The methods they use to report statistics
- What statistics they find most relevant to your business
- How they measure success
Of course, you and the marketing company will have to determine what success looks like together – just be sure that the data they report is correlated to your end goals. If you can’t understand the correlation, ask them to explain it.
Look for a company with a proven track record in your industry
A plumbing company may not benefit that much from a strong presence on Instagram – SEO, on the other hand, might benefit them immensely. A beautician? They’ll benefit from SEO and a presence on Instagram. Then again, you might find a marketing company that’s had huge success with plumbers on Instagram!
The point is, digital marketing is all about data – the more data you can accumulate, the more you’ll know what works and what doesn’t. You need to find a marketing company with plenty of experience and success in your industry – because that means they’ll have the data they need to find the most beneficial strategies for you.
Understand how the size of the company will affect your relationship
Small companies and large companies both have their distinctions – that means there might be trade-offs. A smaller company may be more dedicated to your business, as the clients they have are more important to their success. Conversely, a large company may not need your business as badly – but they’ll have access to resources that may not be available to smaller companies.
Use common sense vetting strategies
This may go without saying, but when finding a digital marketing company, use many of the same tactics you’d use for finding any other professionals. They include:
- Looking at reviews and testimonials
- Contacting their current/former clients
- Looking at work they’ve done before
- Comparing their prices/services to those offered by other digital marketing companies you’re considering
- Asking for word-of-mouth recommendations
Wrapping it all up
Digital marketing is complex. There are no one-size-fits-all solutions. We’re RAPTAP Marketing, a digital marketing company in San Antonio. If you found these tips helpful, we might be the right fit for your digital marketing needs. Read our blog for more tips, and get in touch with us for more information about how we can work together to grow your business.
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