There are plenty of opportunities on the line when you work
with any of the digital marketing companies. Yet the outcome often depends on
who you work with so you have to be careful. You can't just base that decision
on the first one you find or the one with the lowest price. You have to compare
them and make a well-informed decision. The future of your business matters.
Take a look at what is drawing you to a particular business.
This speaks volumes about what they can do if they have their own marketing in
place to draw you in. That is a powerful way to see who has something very
unique that will reach your target audience too.
Evaluate and Discuss
To get a good idea of who is out there, spend some time
gathering information on various digital marketing companies. Steve Trahanas says you can find out plenty about what they do, when
they get started, customer feedback, packages, and more by searching online.
With just a few hours of searching, you will have plenty of information to work
with.
From there, you can complete a shortlist of potential
digital marketing companies to get in touch with. Call them to set up an
appointment to discuss your needs. Have a list of questions ready to ask each of
them so you can get that most out of that time. There is no obligation when you
contact them to hire them. This is all for information gathering purposes only
at this point.
Process to get
Started
Find out specifics about the process of getting started.
What do each of the digital marketing companies you talk to offer as their
starting point. How are they going to gather your information and create a
strategy that works well for your business/ How long will it take to get
started? What will they use for testing and tracking of the results so they can
share information with you?
Steve Trahanas
should be concerned about your marketing goals, the direction of your business,
and the types of products or services you offer. If they aren't asking about
those details, you should be worried. It could mean they are going to offer
just a generic type of offer and not one customized for your business. That
isn't going to get you the results you should be after.
They should share with you the cost for getting it all
started and in motion. While they can't guarantee certain results, they should
be able to give you an estimate of when you will see changes and results. There
should be a follow-up too to discuss how that has flowed and if any changes need
to be made.
Examples and Customer
Retention
Ask for information about specific marketing elements they
have put in place for other businesses. Most digital marketing companies can
show you a portfolio of such work. Don't forget to ask about customer retention.
If they have a long-term relationship with a high percentage of customers that
speaks volumes about them.
However, if many of their customers move on to hire one of
the other digital marketing companies, you need to find out why. Do they stop
performing for their customers once they have them? You need a business willing
to help move your business forward and to take it to new levels. They should
face challenges and look for possibilities.
They should be working with your team too as an extension so
everyone is on the same page. They will have more resources and time than your
in-house employees. Yet they should all be working for similar goals and
outcomes. Make sure this need is conveyed before you hire any entity to
complete the work for you. If there is a communication gap, it won't work.