There are plenty of digital marketing companies out there, but how do you go about choosing the best digital marketing company? Here are some of the most important factors to consider.
How Does Their Office Look?
Consider the overall atmosphere of the office. Do the employees seem happy, or do they seem cranky? This is important to consider because an unhappy employee is more likely to abandon your project, and you’d have to hope that they have a replacement who is just as skilled.
Are They Being Transparent With You?
Pay attention to how they answer your questions and if they ever give you suggestions about how to accomplish your goals. Are they just saying “yes, we can do that” to all of your questions, or are they presenting you with different options for success? A team that doesn’t just answer yes to everything will likely be able to help you discover better ways of reaching your goals.
How Long Have They Been Around?
This is an important question to consider for many reasons. One, the digital marketing industry is always changing. Many of the latest bleeding-edge strategies are still relatively new concepts, or the ideas have been built upon extensively in recent years.
During your search for the best digital marketing company, you may find that many companies haven’t been around for very long. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s still important to know how to differentiate the rubies from the duds. One way to do this is to look more closely at the people running the show – the company’s key personnel. How long have they worked in the industry, what do they specialize in within the digital marketing industry? Most importantly, do they have the background knowledge and skill needed to execute your project successfully?
Have They Worked With Clients in Your Industry?
Ask them if they’ve worked with clients who are in your industry. You should not necessarily expect the clients’ names from them, but you should be able to get some work samples. And if nothing else, they can share their stories of successful marketing campaigns with you. If they do have clients in your industry already, then that’s a good sign that they have knowledge about your line of work. Another good question to ask is if they’ve worked for any major companies. If so, that’s another good sign, as it shows that some of the big players trusted them enough to handle their marketing strategy.
You are free to ask any questions you like about their past work, but don’t feel put off if they can’t reveal certain details about past projects – they’re likely just protecting their clients or adhering to an NDA.
How is Their Work Quality?
Speaking of the company’s work, let’s talk about quality more specifically. Their low prices might initially attract you, but what’s behind those rosy prices? Are they indeed a knight in shining armor, or just another bandit out for a quick buck? The point here is that the quality of their work is the most important thing to consider. Look at their website, look them up on Google, and check out their social media pages. Looking at the company’s self-promotional marketing materials is a fine thing to do, but what’s more important is to see a portfolio of the work they’ve done for their clients.
How Do They Speak With You?
How they interact with you is important to consider since you’ll also be building a relationship with the digital marketing company you choose to go with. Are they using a lot of technical jargon to try and make themselves sound smarter than they really are? Or are they going with the common sense approach of explaining technical words so that a prospective client can understand them? A digital marketing company that takes their time with you to explain everything will be much nicer to work with.
Where Are They Located?
This is one of the biggest determining factors for how much their services will end up costing you, so it’s an important factor to consider. Prices can go higher or lower depending on location. For instance, an agency on the West or East coast will likely charge more than an agency in the Midwest.
In the end, it’s usually better to work with a local digital marketing company. With a local company, you’ll likely have meetings at least once a month (or at the very least once per quarter). Therefore, the location of the company can be essential to consider in terms of logistics for meetings. Although, it depends on how often you’ll be meeting. If you’d like to have frequent meetings, then take that into consideration so it will be more convenient.
If you’re considering a digital marketing company that isn’t local, then that’s fine too. After all, we now live in a much smaller world thanks to technology connecting us all together. Video calls will be very useful for holding your meetings, and it’s the second-best way of getting to know the people you’ll be working with.
Set up a Timeline of Goals and Milestones
The purpose of doing this is mainly so that everyone’s on the same page and stays focused on the same goals. Furthermore, along the way, they will surely need specific informational assets from you, so the timeline will remind you to provide them with these so that they can meet your deadlines. Also, you can request progress reports that include relevant data showing the current progress of the project.
Conclusion
That just about wraps up all the key points you need to know when searching for the best digital marketing company. In the end, this advice is more relevant if you understand what you require for your digital marketing strategy. You should at least have a budget in mind. Any company worth working with will explain to you what they will be able to do with your budget and whether they can make it work or not.
If you’re comparing digital marketing companies and are curious about how we do things here at Salt Rank, you can contact us on our website anytime or by phone at 816-533-4417. We look forward to hearing from you!
