Small businesses can’t really afford an in-house marketing department. In fact, most can’t even justify the expense of a small team of marketers on their staff. However, marketing has become too sophisticated to be handled personally. Digital marketing is a complex industry with several techniques that involve skill and experience. Most small business owners don’t really have the time or the knowledge to handle this task.
In such cases, hiring an external agency is your only option. However, that has a risk of its own. Marketers aren’t connected to your company and yet they’ll handle the reputation of your business. If they make a mistake, it’s your reputation that would be at risk. That’s why it’s important to choose a marketer very carefully. Consider the following points to find the best marketing agency for your company.
1. What are your goals and intentions with the marketing campaign?
This is the first question you need to ask yourself. Do you want to promote your product? Do you want to establish your brand? Are you aiming for lead generation or customer retention? Do you want to improve your online sales? Or do you want more people to visit your brick and mortar business? There are several such goals that can determine the path your marketer would take.
If you have a set goal, your marketer would be able plan a strategy based on that goal. If you give a vague explanation of what you want, your marketer wouldn’t be able to plan as accurately and the results might not be as good as you expect.
2. Does the company know how to measure the results?
The next goal is to understand whether the marketing company tracks and measures your return on investment. It’s never a good idea to spend money on marketing blindly. You’ll end up spending way more than you need to. When you’re looking for a marketing company to hire, you need to ask them a series of questions with regards to ROI.
You should know:
- How much does each individual lead cost?
- Which traffic source brings in the best leads and highest conversion rates?
- Which traffic source brings in the worst leads and the lowest conversion rates?
- Which are your most successful landing pages?
- Which ad copy delivers the best ROI?
You questions need to focus on just how your marketing efforts translate into ROI. For example, if your marketers tell you that a particular ad copy has high click-through rates, you need to ask them what percentage of those clicks lead to conversions and revenue.
3. Do You understand that Money Matters
There’s a common misconception that digital marketing is practically free and you don’t need to have a massive budget to get good results. To some extent, this is true. However, it’s can’t be denied that having a sizable marketing budget would help. It would give your marketer more room to work with. If your marketer promises that he’ll implement a stellar marketing campaign for a pittance, you need to be wary. If you want good quality leads and conversions, you might need to spend some money.
