How to Choose a Digital Marketing Company
It’s next to impossible to run a successful business without a digital presence these days. But if you’re busy, that digital presence might always fall to the bottom of your priority list. When there are so many other responsibilities for you and your team to handle, where do you find time to write blog posts, to maintain a Facebook page, or to draft email newsletters?
This is why so many businesses are opting to outsource all of their digital marketing. Not only do they save themselves the time and headache that their web presence requires, but also their web presence ends up being far better because it’s being executed by experts who know what they’re doing.
The only problem is that there are so many digital marketing companies out there—so how do you choose the right one?
Here’s what you should look for when you’re choosing a digital marketing company:
Look for somebody local.
A digital marketing company is about much more than just some posts for Facebook and Instagram. A digital marketing company means that your business is going to be introduced to countless local businesses and individuals through a combination of social media and real-life interactions. And all of those businesses and individuals are potential customers!
Plus, if the digital marketing company is local, they know what the needs of the community are. They can offer you some insight regarding business development, guiding you on what aspects of your brand you can rethink in order to bring in as many customers as possible. What portion of your local demographic are you neglecting? What will resonate the most with the people who will be your customers?
Even if your business is already established, a local marketing team can help you further develop your brand so that it reaches a greater portion of the population that you didn’t even know you were missing out on serving.
Ideally, they’re well known in the community.
Sure, your digital marketing company is local and knows the community very well—but does the community know your digital marketing company? Expanding your network is always easier with a well-connected marketing company.
Think about it this way: If you’re working by yourself (that is, without a digital marketing company), you set up your Facebook page, then encourage your customers to like you and follow you. About half of them might. Building that web presence becomes a struggle. But when you go with a local digital marketing company, they already have a built-in community of people they can encourage to learn more about you. It’s like an automatic following right from the start.
They pursue continuing education.
Think about how quickly the digital world changes. What’s a popular social media platform one year might be completely forgotten in two or three years. Trends come and go. New capabilities are introduced. It’s safe to say that social media and digital marketing change daily.
If you go with a digital marketing company that has been doing the same thing for years, they are not keeping up with the times. Instead, you should seek to find a company that is constantly learning more and staying abreast of what’s happening in the digital world. This might be through formal education sources, summits and seminars, workshops, or webinars.
Whatever knowledge your digital marketing company gains will be put to good use for you. That’s a lot more than can be said for a digital marketing company that thinks the internet is the same place it was back in 2015.
Find someone who is responsive.
Does your digital marketing company answer the phone? Reply to email promptly? Demonstrate a sense of urgency in all communication?
Responsiveness is important in pretty much any business transaction, but it’s especially important for anyone who is working with the online world and social media, where the littlest thing can trigger an unexpected flurry of activity. Likewise, your small business is constantly growing and adapting. If you are working with a digital marketing company that isn’t responsive, then you’ll miss opportunities to make changes to your campaign as soon as they need to be made. In some situations, this lag will just be a nuisance. In other situations, it could turn into a PR nightmare!
Find a company with a good personality behind it.
It doesn’t matter how great a digital marketing company is at what it does if you clash with the people you’re going to be working with. Digital marketing requires a level of risk and openness to trying new things—if you’re not compatible with the people running the digital marketing agency, you’re going to have trouble trusting them and being receptive to them. This can have negative consequences for your campaigns. Instead, seek out a company where you’re comfortable working closely with the team.