5 Important Tips for Hiring Your Digital Marketing Partner

Hiring an expert to work on your company’s digital marketing campaigns pertains to taking advantage of years of expertise and new ideas. Whether or not your business is in the city, a Chicago digital marketing agency can help successfully promote your brand, products, and services online.

Let us help you find the best digital marketing partner by using these tips:

1. Find out what you want to accomplish

2. Match your goals with the agency’s services

3. Review previous clients and projects

4. Consider your level of involvement

5. Identify a positive connection

Find the agency for your campaigns. Let’s go!

Are you looking for a full-service digital marketing agency? See the DAP difference below!

1. Find Out What You Want To Accomplish

Before looking for a digital marketing agency, set specific goals and objectives. These could be matters that you want to accomplish or get done, such as improving lead generation. With a goal in mind, you can easily find the right digital marketing agency that’s expert in lead generation strategies.

Sometimes it is not easy to pinpoint a specific objective, especially if this is your initial campaign, or first time hiring an expert. It can also be confusing, particularly if you do not have sufficient data on which to base the objectives. Follow the S.M.A.R.T. strategy to create better goals and objectives.

• Specific. Your goals must be well-defined and clearly state what you want to accomplish.
• Measurable. Create goals that you can evaluate. Decide how to assess marketing goals.
• Attainable. Based on enough resources, time, and knowledge, formulate realistic goals.
• Relevant. These goals must be crucial to your company’s growth as they impact how you achieve higher goals.
• Timely. Set a specific deadline or timeframe for achieving your goal.

2. Match Goals With the Agency’s Services

As said earlier, you can quickly look for a digital marketing partner after formulating your goals. Some agencies specialize in one or two digital marketing services, such as search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM). Others are social media marketing experts, while a good deal more are email outreach experts.

Thus, if the goal is to improve leads through email marketing, ensure that this is part of the agency's services. You will find marketing partners that offer various services because they have a bigger team that can handle multiple accounts and campaigns. For this kind of agency, make sure not to lose sight of your goals and specify precisely what you want to accomplish.

Remember these strategies to find an outsourcing digital marketing agency with services that match your needs:

• Check their website for a complete list of services. Use this to guide you in selecting candidates as you conduct a consultation, either online or in a face-to-face meeting.
• Schedule a consultation to discuss your goals and learn more about their expertise. Ask for an explanation of how their services can you help achieve your goals, as well as what would be their approach to helping you reach these goals. 
• Evaluate the agency's proposal. Review it carefully to ensure that their services align with your needs and budget.

3. Review Previous Clients and Projects

Learning about the agency’s previous clients and past projects can help gauge whether they are the right partners for your campaigns. Aside from digital marketing services, agencies also specialize in specific industries, i.e., healthcare, automotive, finance, travel, etc.

If you are selling pre-owned cars, partner instead with an agency that has rich industry experience and knows your audience or market. An agency specializing in healthcare may not understand your market or audience. Review an agency's previous clients and projects by:

• Checking their LinkedIn profile helps you find out what businesses in your industry say about the agency.
• Looking at their pages, or search for the agency on social media, to learn what clients, companies, or organizations say about them.
• Asking the agency for links to pages that they have previously managed, to evaluate their digital marketing expertise. 

4. Identify a Positive Connection With the Digital Marketing Agency

The next tip on our list is identifying a positive connection with the digital marketing agency candidate. Remember that you will work extensively for weeks or months with this team. Therefore, having a partner with whom you can develop a good working relationship would be ideal.

They must possess the following qualities to connect positively with digital marketing:

• Have good communication skills such as responsiveness and proactiveness and understand and address clients’ needs and concerns.
• Possess a strong understanding of your business, goals, and target audience. They must ask the right questions and gather the necessary information to create a customized strategy that meets your needs.
• Promote a trusting relationship, as you should feel comfortable that they will deliver on their promises and provide transparent reporting on your campaign progress.

5. Consider Your Levels of Involvement

As different digital marketing agencies vary in their services and methodologies, companies may also have specific preferences regarding project involvement. You may want a full-service marketing agency that can take care of all the aspects of digital marketing. There is very little involvement on your part, as the agency only contacts you for updates and results.

Some agencies fully involve their clients in every aspect of the campaign, from budget allocation to project approvals. Thus, it would be best if you were also specific about your desired level of involvement in your campaigns.

Ask the agency about their project management strategies and where you’ll fit. If you plan to get involved, set rules about schedules, budgeting, and other aspects.

Summing Up

When partnering with an agency, like a Chicago digital marketing agency, find out what you want to accomplish, match your goals with the agency’s services, and review previous clients and projects. Additionally, to guide you in accomplishing your goals, consider your level of involvement and find a positive connection to help identify the right digital marketing partner. 

Hire the right marketing partner; contact Digital Authority Partners today.