As an organization, you are only as successful as the company you keep, which is why understanding how to find the right fit with a digital marketing agency is essential.
Partnering with an agency that aligns with your values can help you reach your goals so your business thrives and stays ahead of the competition. Finding a marketing agency committed to continuous growth and improvement is essential since the modern business landscape changes in the blink of an eye, requiring constant adaptation.
At KWSM, we have assisted hundreds of companies in telling their unique stories for over 13 years. I have worked as a copywriter for 6 years and can attest to the difference compatibility between agency and clients makes. Here’s how to make sure you find an agency that aligns with your goals and company culture.
How to Find the Right Fit with a Digital Marketing Agency
Working with a digital marketing agency is an excellent way to ensure your marketing strategy is executed effectively. But with so many options, choosing the right agency can be daunting. Choosing the right agency requires:
- Researching each agency’s website and reputation
- Ensuring they operate in a way that is transparent and honest
- Verifying they have metrics to back up their claims
- Defining your goals and ensuring the agency can help achieve them
Let’s take a look at why each of these elements is important.
“Working with the right digital marketing agency is like having a skilled navigator on your journey to success. They steer you towards the right strategies, navigate through obstacles, and help you reach your destination faster and smoother. On the other hand, partnering with the wrong agency is like setting sail without a compass. Choose wisely, and let the right agency steer your brand toward your goals.” – Greg Colacino, Director of Content, KWSM.
Website & Reputation
When understanding how to find the right fit with a digital marketing agency, first assess each agency’s website to determine whether they offer solutions that match your needs.
Take some time to read and review their services, industry experience, strengths, and whether or not they have competency in creating digital marketing strategies, the latter of which should be non-negotiable because this is the basis for outlining and defining your goals and implementing the right processes and tactics to achieve them.
Also, as a digital marketing agency, websites are a key component of their work for clients, so it only makes sense that their site should be exceptional. Take some time to review the quality of their site.
After reviewing the website, assess the agency’s reputation. We advise evaluating reviews on their website and testimonials on sites like Google Reviews and Yelp. Focus on learning about the client experience.
You should also peruse their case studies and portfolio. Many reputable digital marketing agencies will gladly provide case studies, portfolios, and testimonials.
Transparency
The next step in determining how to find the right fit with a digital marketing agency is ensuring they are transparent and forthcoming.
From the moment you are first in communication with the sales team, ensure they provide clear, concise answers to your questions about the pricing, team size, scope of work, content creation process, deliverables included, client packages, and their abilities.
An agency that promises absolute success right away is likely not providing a realistic timeline. In this situation, the adage is true: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
When entering your first meeting, bring clear expectations and relevant questions. Have a clear idea of the onboarding process, how well you fit the company culture, and when you can realistically expect results before committing.
Metrics
Getting numbers that prove their value is one of the most crucial aspects of learning how to find the right fit with a digital marketing agency.
In some ways, this is inseparable from transparency. You need accurate, digestible data and the assurance that you will be working with an agency that understands your key performance indicators (KPIs) and uses the newest technologies and approaches in digital marketing.
When an agency understands your KPIs and can present reports that interpret metrics, data, and raw numbers, it saves you the trouble of making sense of data yourself. On top of that, you deserve to understand what is being done on your behalf, and why.
A lot of agencies are not transparent about the work they are doing. It is essential to understand what you are accomplishing, how it is being accomplished, and how it aligns with your goals, which a quality digital marketing agency will outline clearly.
Mindset
Only partner with a digital marketing agency that has the right mindset. Agencies should collaborate with your in-house team in their marketing efforts.
An agency that wants to take over every single task and exclude your team from the process is often more concerned with its self-interests. Most importantly, the agency you work with should have a growth mindset.
Having a growth mindset means that an agency believes it can always develop and hone its capabilities and processes through learning, dedication, and hard work. Most importantly, however, this mindset reflects a belief that it should never rest on its past accomplishments.
As a result, they will be constantly refining the marketing tactics they use on your account. The digital world is ever-changing, and the agency you work with should be committed to evolving alongside it. Today’s trends can easily be obsolete tomorrow.
Ensure that the agency you partner with has a long-term plan to keep up with industry changes and developments and a system for incorporating innovative technologies (though steer clear of agencies that rely on AI for content creation).
Clear Goals
Defining your goals is key to understanding how to find the right fit with a digital marketing agency. You must clearly outline what you want to achieve and express it clearly to convey the results you expect. A reputable agency will give you a clear idea of what’s possible (and what’s not).
Identify internal needs and decide on your budget, but the biggest consideration is why you want to hire an agency to help with your marketing. Are you rolling out a new product or service? Do you want to create an online community? Are you more interested in employer branding? Or lead generation?
These questions are just the tip of the iceberg, but answering them is essential to deciding whether an agency can help reach your goals.
“The perfect client-agency relationship is centered around communication and collaboration, and we need to understand our clients’ goals, which can pivot at a moment’s notice to deliver great results,” said Jeff Soto, KWSM VP of Strategy and Client Relations.
Case Study: As a copywriter at KWSM, I write monthly blogs for several clients. For one client in particular, an accountant who specializes in overseeing the finances of seniors, I write weekly articles highlighting her services.
This client enlisted our marketing services years ago because her leads were coming in slowly. She expressed an explicit desire to ramp up website traffic and generate more leads. The articles I write highlight her expertise and share her insights on trending issues.
I have leveraged blog writing and SEO to help her achieve the goals she laid out. In the last 3 months alone, her website has had nearly 770 first-page keywords, 11,700 clicks, and 387,000 impressions.
Now, during our weekly calls, she expresses a different problem. She now gets several leads weekly and often complains about being too busy, which is a welcome change.
Looking for a Marketing Agency that is the Right Fit?
Choosing the right digital marketing company dictates the success of your marketing efforts, so learning how to find the right fit with a digital marketing agency is critical.
Like all partnerships, however, compatibility is key. From assessing their reputation to ensuring they have metrics to back up their claims to aligning on realistic goals, this process requires extensive consideration.
Fill out the contact form below to schedule a consultation with the KWSM team to learn how we can help you define and achieve your marketing goals. For more case studies and testimonials of our work, feel free to reach out.
