Digital Marketing Companies

How to Choose a Perfect Digital Marketing Agency

Web studio, digital advertising agency, online marketing agency - how do you choose the right one among all these obscure company types? If you have long been wondering how to choose an agency to promote your business, this article is just for you.

What is an Online Marketing Agency?

Digital marketing agencies are engaged in the promotion of business on the Internet.

In fact, a digital marketing strategy agency is quite a broad concept - it can have several meanings at once: a studio for creating/improving sites, web-studio, SEO agency, and digital marketing studio. Each of these company types has the right to call itself a digital marketing service provider. A digital agency is always a set of services focused on creating/customizing a website, promoting it, improving its position in search engines, placing contextual or PPC ads, engaging SMM, and overall brand promotion.

Digital marketing these days intensively covers not only the Web. A marketing agency can also use digital channels to promote in the offline environment. 

Why Do You Need a Digital Agency Firm for Your Business?

Sooner or later any business understands that without promotion, you can no longer grow and gain new customers. Now, you might be wondering, what tasks will a digital marketing agency help solve in this case. Here are just a few of the most important ones:

• Company recognition improvement; 
• Boosting sales;
• Bringing a new product to the market; 
• Successful brand positioning, etc.

Digital Marketing Agency Services

Each digital marketing agency basically has its own limited list of services. However, you can also find full-service digital agencies with a complete range of services, creativity, and premium marketing tools. Such agencies have their own teams of professionals in different fields and deserve special attention. 

Full-Service Digital Marketing Agency

Hiring a full-service digital agency is more beneficial in the long run due to the fact that working with it is much more convenient. In such agencies, all the working processes are handled within the company. This means that you don't have to resort to additional services, e.g. a copywriter or PPC specialist (planning and optimizing the effectiveness of online advertising campaigns). Such an agency will help you generate more quality leads, provide digital marketing consultancy and useful analytical reports.

Generally, pay attention to the following popular services: 

• Website building;
• Promotion strategy development; 
• Contextual advertising; 
• Email marketing;
• Targeted advertising; 
• PPC advertising. Advertising set up, launch, and audit. Google Adwords set up, etc.
• SEO optimization. Website audit, optimization, and filling with content via SEO-copywriting;
• SMM promotion. Launching of advertising in social networks, promotion on Facebook, Instagram, etc.;
• LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) copywriting. Custom informative and high-quality text content;
• Web analytics. Google Analytics set up, site traffic/attendance analysis;
• SERM (Search Engine Reputation Management). Management of the company's reputation in the network and its improvement by means of positive materials and reviews). 

Types of Digital Marketing Companies

As mentioned previously, the market is full of various marketing agencies these days. Interactive agencies, digital studios, SMM studios, web agencies, creative agencies, performance marketing agencies, etc. Now let's figure out what exactly you need. 

The agency's name may be different, but simply put, all of them can be divided into four categories as follows: 

Freelancers 

Although you can't call a freelancer a digital agency, any business can actually hire an independent professional for the promotion of its services. Usually, a freelancer is a person who, depending on his/her competence, may work on a single promotion channel or take on more responsibilities. 

Pros: 

• Low cost; 
• Promptness.

Cons: 

More suitable for one-time tasks than for comprehensive business promotion; 

Low reliability. 

Small Agencies 

In essence, these are groups of freelancers, where for each new task, an individual performer is chosen. 

Pros: 

• Inexpensive; 
• More comprehensive approach compared to a freelancer; 
• No need to look for a performer for every small task.

Cons: 

• Lack of strategic thinking; 
• Performance is typically not always high. 

Medium-Sized Digital Marketing Agencies

Such agencies typically have long been on the market, have a portfolio with successful cases, and can use their expertise to promote your business. There's usually a separate expert for each task, and the agency is also well-versed in day-to-day routines.  

A medium-sized agency is able to think through a successful marketing strategy and handle business promotion in an integrated way. They already got a knack for evaluating statistics, making campaign adjustments, reporting, and more. All in all. it's typically a good average level. 

Pros: 

• A team of internet marketing experts who work comprehensively to promote a project; 
• Well-versed in the necessary routine tasks. 

Cons: 

• The price is higher than that of a small agency; 
• Typically lacks ultra-creative solutions. 

Market-Leading Digital Marketing Companies 

Such agencies are obviously at the top of all sorts of rankings. If your company has a large budget for promotion and wants non-standard creative solutions - these agencies are your best choice. 

Pros: 

• Genuine advertising creativity; 
• Agency with a name. 

Cons: 

• Pricing is much higher than average. 

Website Marketing Agency Choice vs Business Size 

Small Businesses 

These are usually startups, sole proprietorships, and small family businesses. These companies don't have enough funds for complex promotion. The advertising budget may either be really small or allocated from time to time. 

Such entrepreneurs often do a lot on their own: set up ads, run social networks, and write articles for SEO promotion. Instead of hiring a digital marketing agency for small businesses, they hire freelancers for individual tasks. 

Medium Businesses 

These are companies with stable profits. They are past the stage of doubts and are sure that promotion is exactly what their business needs. Their budget for online company advertising may be small, however, they allocate it regularly. 

For some tasks, such companies can find freelancers, but they know that working with a digital marketing agency yields better results. A team of specialists will help to promote strategically, rather than chaotically. 

Large Businesses 

These are all large U.S. and international companies. They have a large Internet advertising company budget, allocated on a permanent basis. Therefore, they can afford to cooperate with top agencies. 

At this level, creative concepts, which market leaders can offer, often come to the fore. 

So what do we have in the end?

• Small businesses mostly choose freelancers.
• Medium businesses choose freelancers or small medium-sized agencies;
• Major brands choose top digital marketing agencies.

Looks quite logical, doesn’t it?

Integrated Digital Marketing Agency

Integrated digital marketing combines separate tools for promotion in a single system and helps companies work through all the stages of the sales funnel. So what's usually included in an integrated promotion? 

Digital Marketing Strategy Development 

Before you start promoting your company online, it's best to decide what goals you want to achieve. This will help you build the logic of processes, avoid wasting your budget, and act more intelligently.  

Attracting Targeted Traffic 

This includes all those tools a full-service digital agency uses to attract customers to your website. The list usually includes contextual and targeting advertising, SEO promotion, SMM, etc. 

Best Digital Marketing Site Maintenance

For people to not just come to your site but stay there for a long time, it's essential to work on its content. You can advertise your services as much as you want, but if the site is obscure and outdated, your customers will simply leave. And you will lose the money invested in promotion. 

Digital Ad Agency Analytics 

Analytics allows you to understand in which direction your company should be moving. Successful digital promotion is impossible without tests. You can't immediately say for sure, how potential clients will react to this or that announcement, and how quickly they will understand your site navigation. Therefore, by testing and evaluating the results with analytics tools, you can understand if you have chosen the 100% right direction. 

Integrated digital marketing is a good tool but hardly a necessary minimum. Say, a company has just entered the market or is on a low budget. In this case, there's no sense in postponing the promotion just because you can't afford to order a full range of agency services yet. It's always better to start small and gradually increase volumes. For example, we personally know companies that started with $1,500 per month. And now their budgets reach about $15,000 per month! 

If you still prefer an agency, it's best to choose the one that's engaged in several promotion channels. In internet marketing, it's always about one thing clinging to another. Attractive advertising, but a poorly designed site - that's it, your client is gone! A clear and user-friendly site, but poor salespeople performance - your customer won't buy anything. Excellent performance of managers, but you have delivery problems - your client is unlikely to contact you again... 

Therefore, in a situation when you have a budget for promotion, it's better to choose a digital agency. Simply because it knows how to comprehensively handle several channels at once. This way, they will all be managed in one place. Consequently, it will be easier to interact with the contractor and receive reports. 

Best Digital Marketing Agency Selection Criteria 

What should you pay attention to before choosing a digital agency? 

Digital Marketing Service. Specialization 

Everyone understands internet marketing in different ways. This is where the middle ground is important. 

Digital marketing companies with a narrow focus will not be able to take a comprehensive promotion approach. On the other hand, those who do everything at once, often can't keep up with a single level of quality in every area. 

Check what promotional tools, programs, or resources the agency uses/owns. Find out in advance if there are some additional services, programs, tools that may cost extra.

Advertising Agency Website and Digital Marketing Solutions

Teams that promote companies on the Web simply can't exist without a website. Check how advanced, user-friendly, and informative it is. Also, make sure everything is fine with the design and content. 

Internet Advertising Company Portfolio 

You should definitely look at the agency's cases. Of course, they can be silent about their failures or challenges. In addition, the agency may not be able to disclose commercially important details due to the signed contract. However, the fact that the firm has a portfolio shows that it's not a newcomer to the market. 

Real projects that have been successfully implemented by the agency play an important role when choosing. Just know that some shady companies tend to show someone else's cases as their own. Be sure to take the contact information of other clients and contact them to verify the information.

Online Digital Marketing Agency Blog 

Read a few articles on the agency’s official website. This will help you understand their level of expertise and knowledge of digital marketing trends. 

Check what kind of content they can provide for your project. Ask them about posting brand videos, SMM, infographics, UGC campaigns, newsletters, and webinars.

Best Internet Marketing Company Recommendations

No one has canceled the word of mouth. And we have to tell you, it really works! You can choose an agency, which marketing services have already been used by your partners, friends, or colleagues. This is one of the most popular ways, especially if the digital marketing company is recommended by a trustworthy person.

Marketing Services Firm Reviews and Feedback 

If you don't have a person who can recommend a reliable digital agency from his/her own experience, you can search for online reviews. There are a lot of them on platforms like Google My Business or Facebook. 

Both client and employee testimonials will be relevant since the atmosphere inside a company is also important for a successful collaboration.

Look for reviews on various web resources, including geo-services, e.g. Google Maps. Pay particular attention to negative feedback. 

Opt for informative reviews that contain information about the agency's clients and the results they have achieved while working with it.

Website Advertising Agency Certificates 

The presence of certificates shows that the agency has a certain level of expertise in a particular field. For example, Google has its own certificates. 

Top Digital Marketing Agency. Meeting The Team 

You want to find out how many people work in the agency and how many experts will be involved in your project. If possible, meet with the team in person, or hold a video conference. Ask them how often you are going to meet to review the progress and results. This will show your serious approach.

By prior talking to the team and learning more about it, you are going to improve your cooperation in advance. Don’t forget to specify what qualifies the team for working on your project. 

Often, a professional sales manager is the one responsible for talking with clients. However, that may not be enough to clearly understand if the agency suits you well. 

To make it much more effective, consider talking to the following experts (at least):

• Project manager;
• Account manager;
• Seo-specialist.

They are the ones who will lead the project, so their knowledge, skills, and experience are more important.

Experience and Skills 

Find out information about the skills, experience, and specialization of those who work on your project. Sometimes, it happens that the internet marketing company's main focus is on web design while the promotion is the weak side. Ask them about their experience in your industry.

If you're particularly interested in SEO and contextual advertising, rather than website development, you will obviously need a corresponding team for that.

Web Marketing Company Owner  

Of course, a digital ad company owner is not always available for clients. However, finding out more about the one, and ensuring his/her values are consistent is always a good idea. Long-term cooperation should be effective and comfortable for both parties.

Digital Marketing Company Location 

If your collaboration involves meetings at the agency's main office, consider whether it will be convenient for you to visit them. If the agency is located in another city, ask about the regional specifics of the promotion. 

Work Scope

Seeing a scope of work is an important moment of choice. You want to know all details of the agency's offer, with reports, forecasts, etc. And we're not talking about the first month alone but also for longer periods. 

Ideally, there have to be real figures, so you can understand what's worth paying for. Yes, even the leading companies are not able to predict the result 100%. However, there have to be some guarantees at least.

Digital Marketing Company Prices 

The media marketing services of a top-notch marketing organization can hardly be cheap. A too low price tag should scare you off just as much as an overpriced one. 

Marketing Agency Compensation Types 

Find out about the type of compensation the digital agency uses to pay its employees.

Typically, the following ways are the most popular: 

• Hourly wages;
• Fixed salary; 
• Commissions.

Online Digital Marketing Agency. Communication 

How detailed and honest are the answers to your questions? How fast is the agency to respond to your first request? How deep the manager goes into your requests? 

You should clearly understand complex terms. Make sure the agency strives to explain everything you want to know in a simple language that you understand. 

Most importantly - you should enjoy communicating with your potential partners. 

Online Digital Marketing Agency Additional Evaluation Criteria

Tenders

If you have already collected a few digital agencies that you like, holding a tender can be a great idea as well. This is a great way to help you finally choose your perfect team. 

For this, set the same tasks and evaluate the result. Consider the business proposal, its individuality, calculations, and guarantees.

Open Contracts

Existing contracts are an important criterion for the effectiveness of the company, so it's worth asking about them when choosing the agency. Preferably, they should be top clients. 

Open contracts confirm the reputation of the digital agency in the market. Plus, they may well be one of the reasons for making your final decision.

Digital Marketing Company Record Keeping 

Find out how often you can get reports on your project. The gold standard is to report once a month. This way you can compare results with the previous period and see how well the agency is doing. 

Some professional marketing agencies send their clients an email every day that shows the money spent, number of clicks, displays, and other parameters. 

You can also ask what KPIs the agency usually uses to evaluate its employees. 

Best Digital Marketing Service Provider. What Should Cause Doubt? 

1. Promising a 100% and fast result

Digital promotion is not some kind of magic. Once the agency receives money for the project, you will not immediately have huge customer flows. 

When it comes to promotion, collaborative work is always crucial. The agency can't guarantee how you will perform obligations from your side. And therefore, a 100% result is just a nice trick. 

2. Bragging a lot about themselves without mentioning their clients 

If the agency praises only its achievements and awards but says little about the results achieved by their clients, it's a reason to think. Say, about whether there's real expertise behind this bragging, or maybe these are just empty words and adornment of facts... 

Often, you can see that a company says: "We are in the Top 100 agencies according to ###." However, if you dig a little deeper, it turns out the position is 99th, and the rating itself dates back to 2015. 

Today, it's easy enough to check how public a company is. Search for articles/reviews about it and check the web archive. This is how you will see the history and changes in the agency.

3. Too low price tag

There could be several reasons for this: 

• Either they are new to the market and have not yet gained the necessary professionalism to increase the price; 
• Or they don't have a permanent team and hire freelancers for each type of work. This obviously cannot but affect the quality;
• Lastly, it's the agency, where they use the "assembly line" approach. That is, no one really gets deep into their tasks and does not pay due attention to the project. 

Conclusions

Choosing an agency to promote your business on the Web can be a challenging task. There are so many offers on the market these days. An inexperienced entrepreneur may simply get lost in priorities and criteria. 

In this article, we tried to reveal the main points to make the choice easier for you. 

Your chosen agency must get deep into your project, without applying standard templates they use for all clients. Of course, they can use their experience from previous cases. However, this doesn't have to mean that all projects will be exactly the same. 

Avoid "assembly lines" and make sure your agency uses an individual approach. This is the only way to achieve results that will exceed your expectations. 

FAQ

Q: What are the three things to worry about when first talking to a digital agency?

A: Things that should make you suspicious are usually connected with promising fast and 100% guaranteed results. Then you also have this “bragging” thing about doubtful results. Thirdly, the price tag of the agency is too low compared to competitors with similar digital marketing service lists.

Q: What criteria should you check when choosing an Internet marketing agency?

A: The most essential points include company specialization, official website, portfolio (cases), recommendations, customer reviews/feedback, the team and experience, pricing, and location. 

Q: What are the most important questions to ask a digital agency before hiring one?

A: Find out who is going to work on your project exactly. Ask about their experience in your industry, tools they will use, possible extra costs, the possibility of tracking the progress. You also want to know how often you will meet with the team to review the progress and results. Lastly, you can ask about their KPIs and metrics.

Q: I want to hire a digital agency. What is the average price for basic Internet marketing services?

A: It depends on your project complexity. Top agencies typically have hourly rates that range between $100 and $200 per hour. You can also hire a foreign company outside the US. Such agencies will charge you as low as $50 or even lower. US-based agencies typically charge from $1,500 to $3,500+ per month.

Q: Talking about content, what should a top digital agency be able to create and post?

A: Top agencies post and create all sorts of content, starting from high-quality articles and ending with holding webinars. The list of services also includes creating and posting branded videos, social media posts, infographics, user-generated content campaigns, and email newsletters.

Q: Why a full-service B2B digital marketing agency is better than a regular agency?

A: A full-service business marketing agency offers a complete range of services, exceptional creativity, and advanced tools for promotion. Working with such an agency is much more convenient when compared to a regular agency. Full-service agencies also usually have in-house experienced teams of professionals in different areas.