About 80% of new leads will never translate into sales (likely because you’re generating low-quality leads). Meanwhile, 96% of the people who visit your website aren’t ready to buy your products. Knowing how to effectively start marketing businesses online can take years of experience.
Instead of using the do-it-yourself approach, consider hiring a digital marketing company. Make sure to avoid these mistakes with picking marketing agencies, though. Otherwise, they could lack the expertise you need.
Start searching with these tips today.
1. Never Outlining Needs
One of the biggest mistakes you can make when hiring a marketing agency is neglecting to consider your goals and needs first. Before building a list of options for marketing agencies, consider your marketing goals.
For example, you might prioritize:
- Attracting website visitors
- Improving organic search rankings
- Generating brand awareness/visibility
- Becoming a thought leader
- Gaining credibility
- Gaining email subscribers
- Increasing online sales
- Improving your ROI
Write out SMART goals, which are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely. Associate each SMART goal with its own key performance indicators (KPIs). Choosing KPIs for your goals will help you track your progress over time.
For example, you might want to increase online sales by 10% using Google Ads campaigns that showcase your products.
Once you outline goals, determine what digital marketing services you’ll need for success. When choosing marketing agencies, make sure they offer those services.
When speaking with each agency, they should ask about your marketing goals. Otherwise, they’ll use a cookie-cutter approach when developing your strategy.
Your business, customers, and niche are unique. You deserve a marketing agency that will develop a unique strategy with your business in mind. Otherwise, they might not help you grow your business.
They could waste your time and money with cookie-cutter marketing tactics instead.
2. Not Prioritizing Experience
During your search, prioritize finding a team with years of digital marketing experience.
You might find a few agencies that only recently started offering digital services. Their lack of experience could lead them to make costly mistakes. They might not know how to use online platforms or tools that could strengthen your campaigns.
Review your goals to determine the specific experience and expertise you need.
For example, search engine optimization (SEO) can improve your organic rankings on search engines. It’s important to use white hat SEO marketing tactics. Using shortcuts and black hat tactics could get your website penalized (meaning you won’t appear on Google).
Paid advertising using Google Ads and Facebook Ads can help you generate website traffic and sales. People new to digital advertising sometimes use trial and error to improve their campaigns. Trial and error will waste your time and money.
You could blow hundreds of dollars to attract a single paying customer.
Instead, look for digital marketing agencies that specialize in the services you’re considering. Look for agencies with experience marketing businesses online that fall within your niche, too. Their prior experience with your industry could give them a better understanding of your business and customers.
These agencies will have an easier time developing effective marketing campaigns for your business.
3. Forgetting to Read Reviews
Reading online customer reviews can help you find a reputable, experienced marketing agency. Instead of reading reviews on the agency’s website, check their Better Business Bureau and Google Business listings.
If you’re interested in SEO services, make sure the agency has a Google Business listing. An optimized Google Business listing can improve local SEO efforts. Local SEO helps you reach nearby customers.
If the agency doesn’t have a Google Business listing, they’re not using local SEO themselves.
Read multiple reviews from each website. Make sure the agency doesn’t have serious complaints on their profiles. If they do, remove them from your list of options for marketing agencies.
4. Not Checking Their Services
Remember to look for agencies that offer the digital marketing services you need. These might include:
- Brand development
- Website design and development
- Content creation
- Social media marketing
- SEO
- Paid advertising
- Influencer marketing
- Affiliate marketing
If the agency doesn’t offer the services you need, remove them from your list. Try to find an agency that offers multiple services. You’ll only need to rely on one agency to develop an omnichannel marketing strategy.
Make sure they have experts in different fields on staff. For example, if you plan to update your website, look for web designers and developers. For blog posts and content creation, look for an SEO Content Writer.
5. Not Scheduling a Consult Call
Don’t hire an agency before scheduling a consultation call first. Have a list of questions prepared ahead of time. For example:
- How long have you operated
- Have you helped businesses like mine
- Can you provide reviews and case studies
- What services do you offer
- What’s your process
- How much do your services cost
- Do you offer a guarantee
- What’s your specialty
Asking questions can help you determine if the agency is the right fit for your business.
6. Never Discussing Process
Before making a final choice, ask each agency about their process.
They shouldn’t develop your campaigns without learning about your business, industry, customers, and competitors first. Otherwise, they might make assumptions that will hurt your marketing efforts.
They should also keep you up-to-date about your campaigns. Ask if they send regular progress reports. Determine if they’ll update you by phone call or email.
If the company doesn’t plan to keep you informed, remove them from your list.
7. Neglecting to Compare Prices
Get an itemized list of digital marketing services from three different agencies. Comparing marketing agency costs will help you understand the average per service.
If one agency’s pricing is extremely lower than the rest, they might be desperate for clients. Don’t fall for bargain pricing. Instead, make sure you’re choosing an experienced team that can benefit your business.
Dodge These Mistakes With Picking Marketing Agencies
Hiring a reliable marketing agency can help your business grow. Make sure to dodge these mistakes with picking marketing agencies. Instead, do your due diligence to find an experienced team you can depend on.
With their help, you can boost your ROI in no time.
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