When any business organization, be it a small, medium, or a well-established one, is looking to hire a digital marketing agency, it is mostly because of one of the three following reasons:
- The company is looking to grow their business online.
- They are looking for a solid online presence and resources that they do not have in-house.
- Lastly, they are looking for a professional company with good SEO services to fix and optimize their website.
These are the reasons why any company looks to hire a digital marketing agency. However, there are hundreds of such digital marketing agencies out there. So, how would you know that you have found the right one?
There are plenty of benefits of hiring a proper digital marketing agency, but you have to hire the right one. In this blog today, we are going to share the mistakes that a brand makes while hiring a digital marketing agency. Make sure you don’t do the following things.
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No clear understanding of the budget
This is very important. yes, we know that when you are hiring a company to do the digital marketing job, you may not be aware of the exact amount spent on every segment of it. However, you need to have an idea of how much you can spend. Also, know how much should be the cost of digital marketing services.
This will help you know whether an agency is over-charging you or not. Also, it will help you understand where you should spend more to maximize the value of your investment. Discuss with your in-house digital marketing experts too. You might think that only SEO will get the job done. But investing in your own blog and content and fixing your website is critical for your online presence as well.
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Not aligning the incentives with your agency
While hiring a digital marketing agency, it is important to have a look at the pricing model. The revenue share models can make an agency short-sighted. Thus, they will offer quick-fixes that will hamper your brand name in the long-run. They don’t see the bigger picture because those agencies are more concerned about making money at present.
Don’t hire agencies that charge by the hours. Because such agencies tend to work slowly. Instead, look for agencies that charge per project. In this way, the overall website and brand will be improved. Also, the benefits of digital marketing will be evenly spread throughout different segments of the brand.
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Digital marketing is not only about the transactions
This is a major misconception that a lot of businesses make while hiring a digital marketing agency. Remember that the returns are not always the measure of marketing success. If you are only looking for digital marketing efforts that drive direct response instead of building a brand, then you are not thinking about the long-term benefits.
Thus, it is better to opt for a full-funnel approach instead of choosing typical acquisition channels. You would want an audience for the long-term.
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Do not skip the basics
Don’t be in a hurry to spend money on ads and website redesigning. A lot of companies do not care about their branding. This is why they miss on creating customer awareness. This is why it is important to allow your agency to audit your website, assess the competitive scenario, and create basic branding works like USP’s unique factors, brand pyramid, and more. It is important to set up a strong understanding of your agency so that the basics are not missed.
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Not treating your agency as your partner
This is something you should always do. Remember that you have to work with your agency to succeed. The people working in that agency are digital marketing professionals and you represent your brand. Thus, both of you need to work in collaboration. Do not think of the agency as the vendor. The best digital marketing results come in when the agency and the brand work in collaboration.
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Not speaking up
Yes, we know that it can be hard to offer direct feedback every now and then. But you have to say exactly what you feel about your agency because if you don’t, they will not know where to improve. If you don’t speak up, it will frustrate you and the engagement between you and your agency will end.
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Not aligning your internal teams
Do not neglect your internal team. Yes, you need a professional digital marketing team of experts, but that doesn’t mean you have to forget your internal team. Thus, you have to make sure that the agency you hire and the internal team, both are in sync. This will prevent conflicts and disputes in marketing strategies.
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Not trusting the experts
A lot of agencies suggest marketing strategies that go against the ideas of the clients. Not this is not easily accepted by a lot of businesses because they don’t want to go beyond their traditional and existing strategies. If you cannot put these things aside, you will be missing out on big opportunities. Try to put your feelings aside and trust that they are professionals with the best tools to support your brand goals.
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Trust your agency with time
If you have hired a digital marketing agency and your returns have taken a dip, then it is important to have patience. Remember that the strategies and campaigns take time. It needs trial and error where you have to trust the professionals with their experiments. Trust them to do their job, sit tight and you will see the returns soon.
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Simply collecting data will not do any good
Collecting data and reporting analytics will not do any good if you don’t get reliable numbers and make proper use of it. It is important for the agency to test, optimize, and verify data collected from analytics. When you collect the data, it is important to analyze it and use it to your benefit. A lot of times, brands and agencies clash with one another where the brands have to act off based on feelings about the state of their business. Thus, if you don’t think the engagement with your agency is not going well, take a step back and look at the numbers.
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Digital marketing is not a one time game
You have to remember that digital marketing is not a one time game. If you have spent money and got results, then you cannot stop continuing the process and expect the same results. If you are not constantly optimizing and testing new strategies, you will lose interest in your audience.
In conclusion, it can be said that the online world moves fast and digital marketing is the best tool to keep up with it. Thus, when you hire digital marketing, it is important to use them to your advantage, instead of pushing them out.
