Why Use A Digital Marketing Agency?

What Is A Digital Marketing Agency?

Digital marketing agencies are predominantly advertising agencies who utilise the ever-changing digital landscape to promote a business’s products or services online. 

There are some digital agencies which specialise in one particular service - for example, creative digital design - but these are often termed as creative agencies. The benefit of choosing a digital agency over a creative agency is that a digital agency will understand the value of investing in marketing technology. A digital agency is also better placed to provide multiple digital solutions which work in tandem to help you achieve your growth targets - often additional sales or revenue at an agreed return on ad spend (ROAS). Furthermore, a digital agency will recognise the essential balance between aesthetics and success, with all work undertaken having the end goal or targets front of mind.

What Does A Digital Marketing Agency Do?

Core services offered can typically include a variety of PPC, SEO, CRO, content marketing, website design and development, social media marketing and email marketing. Due to the dynamic nature of the digital marketing industry, agencies must constantly learn, adapt and sometimes reinvent themselves to keep up with the latest advancements in marketing technology. 

With consumers now empowered by mobile and becoming more curious, demanding and impatient than ever before, they will shop around before purchasing. This means it’s vital for businesses to utilise the latest technologies and best practices to stay competitive. With more and more online competition, there is added pressure for businesses to have an edge and anticipate the changes in both consumer behaviour and technological evolution, and this is where digital marketing agencies can prove valuable. 

Ultimately, digital marketing agencies should help you to meet or exceed your business goals digitally - whether those goals are to generate leads or sales, increase revenue and profit or simply increase brand exposure.

What Should I Expect From A Digital Marketing Agency?

• Credibility - Any agency you interact with should be able to showcase their credibility, whether this is through the experience of previous projects, being readily able to demonstrate their capabilities or by being recognised by third party suppliers such as Google.
• Benchmarking and forecasting - Your agency should be able to set your expectations from the outset when it comes to the return on investment from your digital marketing activity.
• Honesty - In line with forecasting, your agency should be open and honest with what they believe to be achievable within your current budget and personnel constraints.
• Initiative - Having a “Yes Agency” who says yes to instructions from clients is not healthy for either party. Your agency will need to feel comfortable pushing back to you, having healthy discussions and debating, not simply following instructions. 
• Expert knowledge and advice - Your agency should quickly be able to show their competence by applying their extensive knowledge and demonstrating how their combined previous experiences can help improve the performance of your digital campaigns.
• Transparent reporting - You should receive a report which clearly illustrates the metrics of success which matter to you. Ensure your required business goals and targets are reported on, along with any predetermined KPIs in a way that you understand and can discuss comfortably.
• Collaboration - It’s not a “you and them” situation. To facilitate growth, your agency should be able to collaborate effectively with you and or any other third-party agencies or freelancers you may be employing.
• Idea generation and problem-solving - Your agency should be able to solve any issues you have with your digital campaigns. You should feel comfortable approaching them for new ideas, with questions on the latest advancements in digital techniques and to help with any issues which may arise.
• Efficient and effective communication - Your agency should communicate with you in the manner which suits you best. This includes the frequency and method of communication, a mixture of email, calls, video and face to face - whatever suits your schedule and promotes an effective working partnership.
• Dedicated point of contact - Ideally you will be assigned an account manager. This person will be your go-to point of contact for any day-to-day queries, who will be responsible for the overall maintenance and growth of your accounts.
• Trained digital marketing specialists - The agency staff who you are interacting with should be fully trained and up to date with the latest best practices and features available to them to help maximise your return on investment. 
• Translating the nitty-gritty - Your agency should act as a link to third party providers or platforms such as Google. They should have all the specifics in hand and be able to assure you that the work they are doing is mapping into tangible returns.
• Results - It should go without saying that if you’re not getting the results you want and there is no mutually agreed timeline for success, then you should consider changing your agency.

With a crowded industry and many different agencies on hand to help you, it’s vital you make the right decision. You need to ensure your budget is invested wisely and that you’re confident your investment will give you the return you require. In our next article, we’ll take a look at how you should go about choosing your digital marketing agency.