8 Steps to Choose the Right Digital Marketing Agency | Exclusive Details

I have learned this as a marketing team member for an edtech company. The wrong Digital Marketing Agency Toronto could drain your resources and funds, leading you down a path that will lead you nowhere.

We were an ed-tech company that was rapidly growing out of Singapore. After the Series-A round, the board asked our marketing team to hire a digital agency to help us scale our operations. We did outsource some functions.

First Mistake.

Cannot separate marketing operations into “watertight compartments.” The different marketing teams need to coordinate, co-work, and learn from each other’s experiments/experiences. Ex: To better understand the customer’s needs, the Content team must sit down with the SEO and PPC teams. We didn’t anticipate the problems in coordination.

This agency managed to outsource Website Development (revamp), Social Media Marketing (promotion), and Content Writing/Promotion. We retained PPC and SEO in-house. These were the core capabilities that we had developed over the past two years.

 Second Mistake

Creativity was more important than industry experience. We needed marketers to create lead-generation content. Solid keyword research is the foundation of content. Should have made the website the website should have made the website into a lead-capturing engine. This is what we should have done, looking back. We produced creative and entertaining content that gained us more Facebook fans than customers.

 Third Mistake

The agency was never part of our team. There was very little coordination, except for a few meetings. This led to a disconnect between business needs and the content being produced. We ended up with the following after an 8-month journey:

(i) A fancy website that made us appear more like an ed-tech company than a creative agency.

(iii) A solid number of Twitter and Facebook followers. (Nearly 2% of these converted).

(iii). Loads and loads of entertainment content.

Confusing Outputs and Outcomes 

We were more concerned with setting deadlines and targets for the agency and never worked together as a team. We only cared about blogs/week, shares/blog, and that was it! After watching this speech from Wil Reynolds, SEER Interactive, I was able to see the gravity of my mistake.

I. List your Marketing Requirements

Based on your marketing requirements, create a list of services you would like an agency to offer. Your marketing team must decide what tasks can be done in-house and which should be outsourced. It would help if you also considered the coordination between your agency and in-house marketing team. How will the agencies coordinate with your in-house SEO team and outsource Content Marketing? Here are some capabilities an agency can offer your company:

• Design, development, and strategy for websites
• Content creation and blogging
• Search engine optimization (SEO).
• Email marketing
• Social media marketing (SMM).
• Search engine marketing (SEM).
• Marketing automation
• Analytics
• Online advertising (PPC, Google AdWords, Facebook Ads, etc.)

These capabilities should be complemented by a clear understanding of the objective/goal of the outsourcing marketing activity. It could be:

• Branding & Awareness
• Traffic
• Leads
• Sales
• App downloads

It is always better if a marketing activity is linked with an objective/goal.

 II. Prepare for a long-term partnership.

The whole thing should be viewed as if it were an addition to your team. To get the best results, you will need to work together for a while. I encourage open and transparent communication. You must ensure that everyone is on the same page. You need to trust the agency you choose to work with. They must be able to understand your ideas and give you feedback. At the same time, they should take care of your campaign and make the right decisions. It’s their knowledge and expertise that matters most. They will customize your campaign and not you. 

III. Decide the Agency Type.

There are many types of digital marketing agencies. It is essential to choose one that suits your business goals and budget.

What makes digital marketing companies unique?

A. General vs Specialized Services

Many agencies specialize in certain services. A website design agency might claim that they also offer marketing services. A traditional marketing agency might tell you they have a digital marketing department. It would help if you did not dismiss these agencies immediately, but you might not want to take the plunge and join them. Digital marketing is a complex and constantly changing industry. The agency handling your business must keep up-to-date with the latest trends. Unfortunately, digital may be a side service.

Again, it all depends on your marketing needs. If you’re looking for a specific skill set, you might consider hiring an agency specializing in that area. Ex: Content writing.

B. Creative vs Industry Niche

This case study is more helpful than me explaining it.

Ford Motors Case Study

Ford Motors sought an experiential advertising agency for their 2012 Ford Focus. They chose Wexley because they have auto experience and simply because they are the most creative.

 Ford would not have found a different agency if it had been only looking for automotive experience. Ford wanted a creative background and an event, and Wexley was the right choice.

IV. Understanding the Nature of Relationships

Choosing a digital marketing agency is like getting married. Do not laugh… I am serious!

Marriage is difficult. Marriages fail. The ones that last are those where both partners are committed and willing to work for it. Every day, where everyone decides to stick with it, to grow and be better together than they would be on their own.

Take your time to ensure your ideas and values align, your processes are consistent, and you have faith in the agency’s ability and capability to implement the strategies you have defined together. To be able to make that commitment, you must gather all information. Once you have that information, trust them.

Trusting them means allowing them to take the time necessary to research, plan, strategize and execute. While you don’t have to say “till death does us part,” it is essential to be prepared for the campaign to unfold fully.

A. Accountability

You should ensure that you understand the details of the relationship before you enter it. This includes deliverables, metrics, and goals. Set time frames for campaign progress reviews. On-going evaluation should allow you to adjust the course or reprioritize as circumstances and performance required. This is how can establish accountability and healthy expectations set.

 B. Share the Workload

Teamwork is key to a happy marriage. A client and an agency should work together to share the tasks. Although you may hire a company for the majority of your marketing work, there are still resources and talents that you can use.

 C. Provide timely feedback

No matter how well-respected an agency is, it will still need your insight into the world. Your feedback is essential to help the agency understand how its efforts align with your brand and the subtleties that make up your team. You can’t give them the same perspective as you, so it is vital to take the time to provide feedback.

This means that we must be willing to work together, commit and work together when things don’t go our way. There is no perfect marriage or business partnership. Perseverance is not about perfection. It is about fighting for what you believe in. It is based on mutual understanding and mutual respect. A partner who can make you the best version of yourself is the best. A competent agency can help you achieve this.

After you have defined your expectations and needs, it is time to search for the best digital marketing agency that meets your needs. I sent this question to a select group of industry experts to get their opinions. Avex Designs’ John Surdakowski was kind enough to reply with a beautiful mail! Here are the contents of the mail.