In today’s digital market, it can feel impossible to stay on top of the latest trends, techniques, and methods. As you navigate running a successful business, how do you ensure your online presence doesn’t fall behind the times? Working with a digital marketing agency connects you with experts who religiously study new digital marketing techniques and trends. Never fall behind again.
Why Do I Need to Work with a Digital Marketing Agency?
It’s nearly impossible today to be successful without an online presence, especially as consumers continue to change their behavior. In fact, the amount of time consumers spend online only continues to grow. Google processes over 3.5 billion searches every day, which equates to over 40,000 searches per second. That number only grows, generally following a 10% increase every year.
Consumers are already searching for you, but can they find you? Working with a digital marketing agency ensures they find you. Even more, an agency can help you connect with your prospects while lowering the cost per click and the cost of new consumer acquisition.
But where does a digital marketing agency even begin? You may not believe it, but your website is already home to massive amounts of data. Agency professionals not only help you access it, but they help you understand it to help improve your business.
Let’s look at a few of the biggest reasons to seek the assistance of a top digital marketing agency.
Experienced Professionals
With a how-to video or guide for everything, it’s easy to think anyone can be an expert on anything. However, when it comes to growing your business, it’s critical to seek the expertise of tried and true professionals.
When you work with a digital marketing agency, you have a team of industry specialists working to achieve your marketing goals. Most agencies staff specialized experts focused on different aspects of digital marketing like SEO, content writing or graphic design. Agency staff members often pursue continued training to keep their skills sharp. Even if you consider yourself knowledgeable today, as a business owner, you just don’t have the same amount of time to dedicate to constant training and research.
Experienced digital marketing agency specialists keep up with the latest marketing trends so you don’t have to. They’ve used every tool and tried every technique. One of the biggest benefits of digital marketing is their ability to test, refine and implement. When you use a digital marketing agency, you get the learning accrued with every test they completed.
More Time for You to Grow Your Business
Working with a digital marketing agency makes it easier for you to work smarter, not harder. No, you’re not completely off the hook on working on marketing efforts when you work with an agency. After all, you are the subject matter expert for your business. A good digital marketing agency balances your knowledge of what your customers want with their digital skill set.
Your relationship with an agency simplifies your concept of getting new customers. They develop and deploy a unique strategy for your business. This allows you to spend less time chasing customers and spend more time serving them. The best digital marketing agency attracts your most ideal leads, connecting you with the exact customers you want.
Stop spending time trying to master the latest marketing tool or trend. Do what you do well. Run your business. You use experts in other parts of your business. In 2021, it’s time to turn your digital marketing over to the experts.
Solutions Tailored to You
Navigating the world of digital marketing on your own can be overwhelming. No matter how many articles you read or podcasts or listen to, getting your start can be daunting. How can you be sure the general principles you read about really apply to your business and audience? Spoiler alert: you can’t.
That’s why it’s so important to work with a digital marketing agency. Industry professionals deep-dive into your existing presence and strategy. They discuss your business goals and objectives with you. They review what data you have and how to get more. All of this influences the custom strategy for your business.
A custom strategy based on research and established lead acquisition cost or new customer acquisition goals is critical in succeeding in the digital landscape. You can measure anything. You know the old saying, “Most people don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan.”
Having specific marketing benchmarks lowers the risk of digital marketing. If you don’t have them, it’s like driving without a speedometer. An agency assembles research and projections to find which channel will get you closest to your acquisition cost objectives.
Can I Hire an In-House Digital Marketing Expert Instead?
The idea of forgoing working with an entire agency for an in-house expert may tempt you. When you choose an in-house expert, you’re the only business they worry about. Even more than that, you can keep a direct eye on what they’re up to.
However, there are more things to consider before you take the in-house expert route.
Cost
Working with a top digital marketing agency may feel like a luxury. The price tag may seem high, but it’s important to consider what comes with that monthly retainer. While agencies use a range of pricing structures, your fee likely covers your access to the entire expert team.
For example, most agencies tend to charge by the hour. A 2020 study found 78% of agencies charge between $100-199 per hour. Some agencies may have a minimum hour requirement, but, in general, working with an agency gives you more flexibility.
Working with an in-house expert, on the other hand, presents large costs. Based on data from leading salary-database websites, the national average base salary for a marketing coordinator is $48,120 and $77,145 for a marketing manager. Neither of these numbers include the cost to you for onboarding, medical benefits, bonuses, or other general expenses. The costs of those alone could increase the cost of an in-house expert by 50%!
While an in-house expert seems convenient, you need to remember they’re just one person. This may mean they’re unable to realistically complete all the work you ask of them. This doesn’t reflect their own efforts, and it doesn’t always mean your business’s marketing efforts suffer. However, it does likely mean you will need to outsource work to additional specialists, meaning more spending for you. The cost of regularly working with quality freelancers to supplement your in-house marketing professional can add up quickly.
Skillset
Hiring an in-house marketing professional means having your own personal expert. However, you could be limiting yourself and your business. Many marketing professionals are highly skilled in one area with some experience in other areas. For example, you may find a marketing coordinator who’s a content writing connoisseur but a keyword research novice. Finding someone who’s decidedly an expert in all sectors of digital marketing is nearly impossible.
It’s like building a house. You need an expert on carpentry, plumbing, masonry, electrical and so much more. Do you know an individual skilled in all trades you can trust to build a house you’d live in? That’s a rare individual.
The same goes for digital marketing. Finding someone with expert skills in writing, development, design, SEO, paid search and social media is truly finding a unicorn.
However, when you work with a digital marketing agency, you work with a curated team of industry experts. Work with a sharp wordsmith, a keyword research whiz, and SEO strategy guru all on the same team. Draw on the skills of multiple people for a more thoroughly crafted strategy for just one pay rate.
Furthermore, an in-house expert only has their own skills and experiences to guide them. Teams have varied skills and experiences. They can work together and bounce ideas off each other. An environment that promotes different views and out-of-the-box ideas creates some of the best digital marketing strategies.
Your Time
In a perfect world, your in-house marketing coordinator or manager would be completely self-sufficient. However, this is highly unlikely. In fact, choosing an in-house expert may take up even more of your time. They may require extra training or constant input from you. Also, if you outsource work, this means even more of your time as you search for and hire freelancers.
How Do I Find the Best Digital Marketing Agency for Me?
You have a wealth of options to choose from on your hunt for an agency. However, you do have a perfect match out there somewhere. As you sift through your options, there are a few things you can do to guide your search:
- Research their reputation and read reviews
- Ask for samples of their success
- Explore their current clients
- Ask how long they’ve been in business
- Find out how they handle their work (in-house experts or freelancers)
- Ask about tools they’ve built to improve their clients’ success
You should be able to find much of the information you’re looking for on their website. The best digital marketing agency for you should be transparent about their business with nothing to hide. Let’s take a closer look at some important tips for finding a marketing agency.
Look for Niche Agencies
For a successful relationship, your agency needs to understand you, your business, and your audience. A niche digital marketing agency provides you with the chance to work with professionals who understand your industry. You may feel your industry’s consumers rarely search for your product or service. Good digital marketers can find your consumers, wherever they are.
For example, one of our niches is manufacturing digital marketing. These clients tend to have hyper-specific clients with very narrow markets. In fact, we work with a metal manufacturer who didn’t believe they even had an audience online. However, with the expertise at our digital marketing agency, we didn’t just find their customers online. We continually increase their traffic and leads.
Understanding the behavior of your specific market is critical in creating your digital strategy. It’s paramount that the millions of people searching online every day can find you. In healthcare digital marketing, patients who book appointments perform three times as many searches as those who don’t. A top digital marketing agency ensures you’re in the results of those searches.
When consumers search for things like pest control, they often have a pressing need. This is what makes strong home service digital marketing so important. You need an agency with professionals who understand not just your customers, but also the medium they use most. In this case, the medium is local search. For example, we work with a propane delivery company who has a strong in-house technical team. However, while the team is tech-savvy, they lack marketing expertise. Our digital experts dug deep into their industry to develop and implement a strategy. This strategy helped them reach more customers, generate more business, and bring in higher profits.
If a digital marketing agency doesn’t serve your niche, that shouldn’t deter you. If they’ve been in business for a long time, they’ve likely helped someone like you before. If not, most agencies never shy away from a new challenge. An agency doesn’t need to focus on a niche for success, but wouldn’t you prefer someone who already understands your needs?
Check Their Credentials
Credentials from various third-party organizations are a simple way to back up the expertise of the agency. These partnerships or distinctions verify the agency really is capable of what they claim. For example, our agency boasts credentials like:
- Google Partner
- Microsoft Partner
- Digital Analysis Association Member
- BrightLocal Top Orlando SEO Company
- Grow with Google High Impact Partner
However, don’t limit the credentials to just marketing-related activities. See if they participate in any groups related to the industries they serve to reinforce their expertise. If experts within your industry trust them, you likely can too.
Read Reviews and Testimonials
Word-of-mouth is one of the most powerful tools in persuasion and marketing. A successful digital marketing agency should have a whole range of clients happy to sing their praises. Check their website as well as platforms like Google, Facebook, and Yelp for reviews. Testimonials and results from real long-term clients verify the agency truly delivers on what they promise.
Have a Conversation with Them
Never sign an agreement with an agency without speaking to them first. In fact, it should be a red flag if it’s difficult to get in contact with the agency. The right digital marketing agency will be more than happy to talk to you.
Set up a meeting with the agency you think is right for you. This meeting is your chance to get to know the agency better. Ask smart questions to learn more about them, what they can offer you, and if your goals align.
What Questions Do I Need to Ask a Digital Marketing Agency?
Your first meeting with an agency could be the most important first date of your life. The best digital marketing agency could transform your business, helping you bring in more customers than you thought possible.
For a successful first date, it’s important to prepare. Your first step should be to ask yourself questions like:
- What do I need?
- What is my customer acquisition cost?
- Do I have any deal breakers for the agency?
- What are my online goals and objectives?
- What past data do I have to share with a digital marketing agency?
Once you have a clear idea of what you’re looking for, prepare questions to ask the agency. It’s important to ask smart questions that highlight if the digital marketing agency is the right one for you. Here are some essential questions to ask during your meeting.
What Services Do They Offer?
One of the most basic things to talk to them about is their services. It’s essential for you to ensure they offer what you need. For example, can they build a website for you, or do they strictly develop SEO strategies? Do they offer the email marketing help you need, or is social media marketing their only focus?
Take their service offerings a step further. Do they specialize in a service you want? Ask if they have experience or examples they can show you.
What Does Their In-House Team Look Like?
You deserve to know more about the staff at the digital marketing agency. Try to get a general feel for the team. See if they seem like a good fit for you and your business. Ask about how they handle their workload. Do they have an in-house team? Do they ever outsource work? If so, how do they determine what they outsource?
Don’t be afraid to ask about the skillsets of their staff. Find out what they specialize in or more about their experience. Also, ask who you will likely work with directly. A good agency will have an idea in mind of exactly how they could help you.
Can They Promise You Results?
Believe it or not, but this is a trick question for the agency! A trustworthy digital marketing agency will never promise you exact numbers or results. Instead, these agencies understand that yes, you can use proven SEO techniques and methods, but you can’t guarantee anything. If an agency promises you exact results, take this as your red flag to get away. Fast.
How Much Do They Cost?
While talking money is never easy, it’s imperative when talking to an agency. Find out what kind of pricing structure they use, such as:
- Per Project
- Flat Rate
- Retainer
- Billed Hours
Don’t be afraid to ask specifics about their rates. For example, do they offer a blended rate that applies to all of their services, or do they charge more for specific services?
Request an estimate for your project or the services you want. This helps you determine if the agency fits your business and budget.
How Can They Help You Achieve Your Goals?
Your first conversation with the agency shouldn’t just tell you what they can do. It should specifically cover how they can apply their capabilities to what you need. It’s your opportunity to see if they understand you and if your objectives align.
Learn more about their intake process. A digital marketing agency serious about getting you the results you’re after likely has a comprehensive intake process. This allows them to further delve into your business to better serve you. Don’t be afraid to ask what’s next.
How Do They Help You Beat Your Competitors?
This question is an opportunity for you to see how well the agency prepared for your meeting. Every top digital marketing agency professional knows to do plenty of research before a meeting. Find out how thoroughly they researched you, your industry, and your competition. See what they understand and if they seem to be able to help you.
How Do They Measure Your Success?
It’s important you’re on the same page with the marketing agency about what it takes to be successful. They should be willing to explain what any confusing jargon means as well as why it matters. Find out their benchmarks for success called KPIs, or key performance indicators. KPIs for your website may include things like:
- Conversion Rate
- Website Users or Visitors
- Organic Traffic
- Number of Sessions
- Length of Session
- Bounce Rate
- Cost Per Lead
- Cost Per Click
- Leads
An agency tracks KPIs through Google Analytics. KPIs indicates the success of your entire digital strategy. Find out how often they provide reports to you about these metrics. Furthermore, do they just send you a report, or do they meet with you to discuss it?
Your agency should be available to meet with you. Ask how often you’re able to meet with an account manager about your business’s success. Try to find out if they proactively check in with clients regarding their success and opportunities.
How Do Their Services Benefit You?
A full-service, top digital marketing agency provides everything for your website, top to bottom. Whether you need an entirely new website or just someone to help you manage your Google Ads, the agency should be able to help you exactly how you need it. Every service they offer strengthens your digital strategy and online presence. As an example, let’s review the digital marketing services we offer and how they benefit you.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
In today’s digital age, it’s impossible to be successful without a strong SEO strategy. This strategy aims to help you rank higher on Google, attracting and converting more leads to your website. SEO is an ongoing competition. It’s not a one-time remedy.
It’s important to seek a digital marketing agency offering white-hat SEO services. White-hat SEO methods preserve the integrity of your site and fall in compliance with search engine terms of service. Black-hat SEO methods, on the other hand, “hack” the system. These methods may quickly achieve results, but could ultimately jeopardize the integrity of your website. In other words, choosing black-hat SEO over white-hat SEO hurts you in the long run.
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising
With the help of expert Orlando PPC management, PPC advertising drives traffic to a website. However, unlike SEO, it’s a paid method. A specialist at the digital marketing agency finds keywords and phrases to target. When consumers search for those particular words, your business pops up first.
Think of SEO like a video game that has in-game purchases. While you can play the game and still succeed without buying anything, it may take more time and effort. Enter PPC advertising. This gives you a boost, helping you reach your consumers faster. Some phrases are harder to rank for than others. Using organic search and paid search is part of comprehensive strategy to get in front of your best prospects.
Local Search Optimization
Local search optimization, or local SEO, is a specialized version of SEO. This method focuses on improving your rankings for local searches. These are location-based searches which may include the phrase “near me.”
Nearly 50% of all searches have a local intent behind them, and many people search on their mobile devices. It’s important to appear in the Google Local Pack. This refers to the top three results shown on the map. Strong local search optimization can help you earn your spot at the top.
Content Marketing
Content marketing helps you better connect with your audience. Whether through a blog, social media, or videos, it’s important to continue to provide engaging material for your audience. If consumers trust your content, they trust you.
Web Design
Users want websites that tell them exactly what they want to know when they want to know it. Good web design ensures your audience enjoys using your website, finds what they need, and, ultimately, converts. Whether you need a complete website overhaul or individual page updates, an agency’s design expert can help you.
Social Media Marketing
It’s no secret social media influences everything we do. It’s essential for connecting with your audience. The mass audience of social media is simply too large to ignore. However, that same size creates a giant vortex for spending money. That’s why you must carefully plan and execute social media marketing.
When you work with a digital marketing agency, you get a cost-effective social media strategy. Social media seems so spontaneous, right? Maybe as a user, but not as a marketer. The best social media efforts look spontaneous, but are actually well-planned.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is a powerful inbound marketing tool. With this tactic, you regularly engage with your audience, updating them on the latest news in your industry. While some will argue email marketing is dead, it’s still a cost-effective way to create loyalty among your audience.
Landing Page Design
Landing pages are an essential part of any SEO or PPC campaign. These pages are simple with straightforward designs. Once the user opens the page, the goal is to keep them on the page and convert them. Strong landing page design is attractive, user-friendly, and converts and captures leads.
Link Building
You may not be able to create the perfect online presence using just your own website. That’s where link building comes into play. This SEO technique involves acquiring links to your website on other reputable websites. With link building, you can improve the domain authority of your website, influencing your Google ranking.
Display Advertising
While you may not know their name, you know what display ads are. These banner ads appear on the tops or sides of webpages. Display advertising methods are simple but effective in promoting your business or service to an audience. The targeting ability to find a highly specific audience with display ads is amazing.
Call Tracking
Call tracking helps you better understand your leads. This service or software captures caller information, such as where they’re calling from or where they found your number. This helps the digital marketing agency better understand what’s working well in terms of reaching your audience.
Remarketing
Remarketing is another thing you are familiar with, whether you know it or not. Also called behavioral retargeting, remarketing targets users based on their previous actions. For example, say you search for “yoga studio near me.” You click on a studio, browse their class selection, but don’t enroll in a class. In the following days, you see ads reminding you to visit their studio or sign up for a class.
How Can the Digital Marketing Agency Help You Achieve Your Goals?
While all of this may sound good, how do you know your money is well-spent? At the end of the day, when you invest in a relationship with a top digital marketing agency, you invest in your business’s success. Choosing an agency like ROAR! Internet Marketing provides you with benefits to reach your goals you can’t find anywhere else.
Real People Achieving Real Results
At our digital marketing agency, only real people work on your strategy. We never rely exclusively on software automation to deliver your results. Your business is not simply another business in category. Instead, we embrace what makes your business different and rely on the personal skill of in-house experts.
While your gut instinct may be that software or technology is better, think again. With a real person working on your strategy, you have a dedicated expert monitoring the success of your strategy. Their expert insight catches what software misses, and they adapt for your business’s unique characteristics. Furthermore, these people care about you and your success. Can you say the same about a computer?
Monthly Reports
Monthly reports are your monthly report card about our techniques and the results they create. In general, your report is a chance for you and the agency to check in with one another. The report highlights critical KPIs, showing successes and opportunities for improvement.
Reports are just as important for your digital marketing agency as they are for you. While they inform the analysts on what’s working well, the biggest concern to them is what isn’t working well. The numbers on your report may seem like just that to you. However, to our digital marketing experts, they’re a guide for success.
For example, we noticed the page speed of a webpage on our landscaping client’s website was slow. Page speed refers to how quickly your webpage loads. Our team made recommended improvements to the page, decreasing the page speed. The next monthly report highlighted an increase in conversion rate, pages per session, and average session duration. It also showed a decrease in bounce rate. By noting one small report metric, we were able to make edits that impacted the page in a significant way.
Monitoring the Google Algorithm
The Google algorithm constantly changes and evolves. Google, often seemingly without warning, adjusts their algorithm. In some cases, this could severely impact you and your search results. For example, sometimes they will penalize pages that focus on certain keywords in some areas of the medical field.
However, with the help of a digital marketing agency, you don’t have to worry about these changes. Our experts stay on top of the latest changes so you aren’t penalized. We keep a finger on the pulse of the latest marketing trends so you can focus on your business.
Focus on Quality Leads
The best digital marketing agency for you doesn’t just help you find leads; they help you find quality ones. This involves segmenting your ideal market and making every effort to reach them.
However, you know your business even better than we do. That’s why our in-house experts developed ROAR! Score, an exclusive lead grading tool. As your leads come in, score each one on a simple numeric scale to highlight how well they match your services. Indicating how good of a fit the lead was directly helps our experts seek your most valuable leads. You can only find a tool like this at our digital marketing agency, and we provide it at no extra cost to you. In essence, together we can all work smarter, not harder, to increase your conversions and profits.
Choosing the Best Digital Marketing Agency for You
Finding the best digital marketing agency for your business and needs ultimately depends on what you need. As you begin your search:
- Start with an idea in mind of what you want from the agency
- Find an agency you can trust that’s backed by clients, reviews, results, and case studies
- Look for red flags like bad reviews or overpromises
- Talk to the agency to see if your objectives align
At ROAR! Internet Marketing, we use decades of combined experience to provide results-driven digital marketing solutions. Forget the one-size-fits-all approach other agencies take. Our team builds a strategy tailored to your needs. We base everything we do on what tools and strategies will attract leads and elicit results. Our results-oriented mindset means we adapt on what works best for you, not everyone else. Work with real people who are passionate about your success.
Choose an agency backed by experience and professional certifications across all levels. Our president, Matt Weber, is a national Google Supported Trainer. He’s helped thousands of people refine their Google Ads to improve their ROI. His leadership and expertise guide our approach to build long-lasting results for you.
Take the first step in working with a digital marketing agency invested in your vision and success. Contact us today to see how we can help you.