Last year, businesses spent over 306 Billion on digital marketing. Where are you going to invest your marketing dollars this year? Most small and medium-sized businesses are asking this question right now as they draw up their 2021 digital marketing budgets. If you’re looking to choose the right marketing agency partner, it’s important to understand what a marketing agency is and what services they provide. “What is a marketing agency?” In this blog post, we’ll answer that question as well as give some tips for choosing the best marketing agency for your business. Let’s dig in!
What is a Marketing Agency?
The answer to the question “what is a marketing agency?” is simple enough to define: marketing agencies help businesses to advertise their products and services through different channels like direct mail, traditional media like print and TV, and digital. There are many kinds of marketing agencies: Large business marketing agencies (think: The Martin Agency, VML, Ogilvy, BBDO, etc.) Niche marketing agencies who specialize in specific niches, Community marketing agencies, which are composed of small teams of people who specialize in different aspects of marketing. In other words, there are many ways to approach a marketing agency. By studying the types of marketing agencies and their services, you’ll be better equipped to find the right one for your business.
Understanding the Services Marketing Agencies Provide
Before diving into the how-to’s, it’s important to understand the scope of the services marketing agencies provide. When you hire a marketing agency, you’re hiring a business-oriented partner with experience and access to resources. This means they’ve dealt with a wide range of clients and understood the impact of different advertising approaches and tactics. In addition to services and access to the right tools and resources, agencies also help you communicate with your customers. Communicating with your customers requires to focus on the audience, the communication channel, and appropriate marketing metrics. That’s the scope of the services a marketing agency can provide for your business. Now that we’ve got that covered let’s dig into the how-to’s.
How to choose the Best Marketing Agency for your Business
These are the questions you need to be asking potential marketing agencies while interviewing them:
1. What size budgets do you work with? You need to understand your budget and what you’re willing to spend with a marketing agency.
2. Give me an example of your transparency. If an agency looks like it is hiding something, then it probably is. Only work with marketing agencies that you fully trust.
3. Can you provide case studies? Be sure that you can size up the agency’s credibility and experience. Ask for client references and testimonials.
4. How do you run their own business? If a marketing agency can generate their own leads, that’s a good sign that they’ll be able to do the same for you.
5. What are your KPI’s? How will they measure your success? You’ll need to determine this, long before you sign a contract.
6. What results do you promise? There are plenty of agencies that promise the world, but fail to deliver. Find out what makes them different.
7. What do you charge? Generally speaking, higher priced agencies deliver better results. It’s better to not cut corners when searching for the right agency.
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