After few years in management and running my own creative digital agency I have many reasons to suggest why a company should hire a digital agency to help with marketing.  

Digital agencies typically work on a principle of a partnership with clients. It’s an intimate relationship between the client and the agency. And there are many reasons why I say it’s an intimate relationship; most agencies will require proprietary information, financial information, sales and management information in order to best understand the business. Make sure before sharing any information you sign an NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement). 

Of course before anyone engages an agency to help with marketing one must be very diligent in choosing the right agency to work with. Of course the agency should have track record and a portfolio with case studies where they can share their experience how they have handled their clients.  

TYPES OF SERVICES DIGITAL MARKETING AGENCIES OFFER  

First of all let’s talk about what type of services a digital agency offers and what you may need the agency to help with. Here are five services 

  • Strategy 
  • Content 
  • Web development / mobile app development 
  • SEO 
  • Paid advertising (example facebook, google or any other digital media/space buying) 

Now all 5 are very important. The reason why strategy takes the first spot is because it should be the first thing for every business to develop before they decide on tackling any of the other services. Some business owners who will hire an agency may not necessarily know right away what their needs are in digital marketing. If you they properly develop a strategy, they will be able to find out what it is that they really need.   

5 TIPS HOW TO CHOSE DIGITAL AGENCY  

Before you start interviewing marketing agencies it is important to understand their background in digital marketing. You will need to do your due diligence. First thing you will probably do is reach out to your circle of friends and business acquaintances and most likely will search online. Depending on your need you may want to stay local or work with an agency who can send their account manager to come see you if you are in a different city, state or a country.  

  1. Ask for a proposal – Proposals will tell you a whole a lot about an agency: their strategic thinking, approach to your particular situation and need as well as their passion about the project. You will be able to see if they did their due diligence and proper scoping of the company and the challenge at hand.  
  2. Ask for references – See how they have worked with other past and current clients.  
  3. Digital Portfolio – Nothing says it like a portfolio. It needs to include both design and content. Portfolio will show creative direction and style of an agency and their approach to problem solving. Always go after design that’s clean, photographs that tell a story, videos that have good sound and clear picture. 
  4. Strong online presence – See how they manage their own marketing. How active they are and what type of content they put out. For me, I love to see what educational content agencies put out there. Do they blog, design posts with images and content that communicates? Subscribe to their newsletter, see how they communicate on a regular basis. 
  5. Don’t let the money be primary decision maker. Make it the last one! Evaluate first all the above aspects and decide who provides the best value for your business and use your intuition (we all have a very good one) to decide what agency feels right. 

As I said at the beginning of this blog, working with a digital marketing agency is an intimate relationship, they become an extended arm of your company. When choosing an agency, choose wisely because as any relationship bad or good they are not easy to break or keep. It’s important that both sides are happy with one another. Having the right partner is the best scenario one can do for their company. As an agency owner it is equally important for me to feel the passion for the company I’m engaging with as the excitement and passion from the client. 

If you find our blogs beneficial and you want to continue this conversation over a cup of coffee or lunch do not hesitate to reach out to me at blovrino@equusbranding.com or +1 440 840 5077. And yes we do zoom or skype! 

Author: Biljana Abel, Equus Group CEO