How to Find the Best Marketing Agency for Your Business
By Natasha Gayle | SEO Specialist, BGD Digital Marketing
January 13th, 2021
We finally made it to 2021! It’s hard to believe, but we can say goodbye to 2020 and hopefully put away the Jumanji game. Anyone else ready for the game to end?
We may not want to face it, but the start of the new year also means reflecting on the year that came before. How did your company fare in 2020? And, more importantly, what do you plan to do differently in 2021 for your business?
Is it finally time to move past survival mode and kick things into high gear with your digital marketing?
Have you found your brand’s voice and how to effectively speak to your customers?
Are you prepared to flip the switch on your brand’s messaging and digital marketing strategies at the drop of a hat to adjust to whatever this new year might bring?
Whatever marketing strategy you have in mind, working with a local online marketing agency or marketing consultant could guarantee your success for the year.
The best digital marketing agencies will free up your time so you can focus on running your business, gain a new perspective on your current digital marketing strategies, and develop an overall, sound strategy for your brand messaging to provide a return on your investment.
But how do I find a marketing consultant or the right digital marketing agency for my business? It’s not as easy as choosing which outfit to wear for work in 2020. Sweatpants or sweatpants?
Use this 5-Step Plan to find the Best Digital Marketing Agency for your company.
Step 1: Figure Out What Your Business Needs
What Are Your Business Goals?
Do you want to drive more traffic to your website?
Do you need help rebranding yourself to be more appealing to your target audience?
Are you looking for increased brand awareness for your business to help you stand out among your competitors?
While a marketing team or agency can certainly help you evaluate what you want, doing some introspection before searching for a marketing company can save you some time.
What’s the Difference Between a Digital Marketing Consultant and a Digital Marketing Agency?
What is a Digital Marketing Consultant? What Do Digital Marketing Consultants Do?
A digital marketing consultant is one individual who can assist your company with one or two services (i.e. strategy, planning, or execution) and may specialize in a few areas of marketing (i.e. social media, SEO, or web design). Consultants are often cheaper than digital marketing agencies, but they have more limitations as a one-person operation.
What is a Digital Marketing Agency? What Do Digital Marketing Agencies Do?
A digital marketing agency is a company composed of a team of marketers who can help you strategize, plan, and execute a marketing plan for your business. These teams have several services they specialize in (i.e., Social Media, Branding, Graphic Design, Website Conversions, etc.).
Should I Hire a Digital Marketing Consultant or Digital Marketing Agency?
Hire a Digital Marketing Consultant if…
You already have marketing systems in place that are working; you just need someone to take a look at your current systems, make recommendations, and fill in any gaps.
You have a large in-house team that could help with your marketing efforts if they knew how. A marketing consultant could train your team.
Hire a Digital Marketing Agency if…
You have limited resources and want to have an effective marketing strategy that you don’t have to worry about overseeing. A digital marketing agency can cover all areas that are needed: strategy, planning, execution.
You need to get results quickly. As a team, a digital marketing agency can likely help you tackle your marketing tasks quicker than hiring a consultant, depending on your budget and the plans they offer.
Step 2: Start Your Search
Ask Business Owners You Know for Their Recommendations
One of the best strategies for finding the best digital marketing agency or consultant you will enjoy working with is asking colleagues about their experience. Can they honestly say they had a great experience or do they regret every penny and Bitcoin they spent?
Look at Local Directories for Marketing Agencies Near You
If you’re in the Dallas-Fort Worth area or open to working with a company not local to your area (it is digital marketing, after all), here’s a list of the best dallas and Fort Worth digital marketing agencies to get you started:
Best Digital Marketing Agencies in DFW
Do They Lead by Example?
A great way to decide between the many digital marketing agencies you find listed online or recommended to you by colleagues is to visit their websites and social media pages and let their marketing speak for itself.
Are you trying to find a good social media marketer? Look at their social media marketing and see how it holds up.
Which websites stand out to you? Which company’s messaging and personality speaks to you? Can you relate to any of them? Are you impressed by any of them?
What Results Do They Promise?
Does it seem too good to be true? Do they not promise enough?
If you find yourself in doubt, consider reaching out for more information or examples that showcase their work. Then look at reviews available about their business to help you understand what other clients have experienced with them.
How Much Do They Cost?
As you research marketing agencies and consultants in DFW, you’ll find that some charge a lot while others charge very little. This can be challenging. A common recommendation is to look for a company that falls somewhere in the middle.
How Much Does a Marketing Consultant Charge?
Most marketing consultants charge an hourly rate of $100 to $500/hour depending on their level of experience, overhead, and the market demand for their work.
How Much Does a Marketing Agency Charge?
Most marketing agencies will have an hourly rate, but they will more often charge by project or an ongoing marketing plan that was agreed upon at the beginning of their contract. This can cost anywhere from $1,500 to $15,000 or more depending on the size of your company, the amount of work needed, and the level of experience and tools they bring to the table.
How Much Does a Social Media Marketing Company Charge?
Social media marekting companies can charge anywhere from $300 to $20,000 per month for marketing. This could include the cost of coming up with the content, sharing the content, creating graphic designs to share, engaging with followers, pursuing new followers, social media advertising, and more.
When deciding on a social media marketing company, it’s best to understand what your company needs, how much you can allocate toward your social media marketing, and finding a company that has a good track record of profitable social media marketing campaigns.
And when we say profitable, this can mean a few different things. For social media, a profitable campaign is often one that generates engagement on your page, increases your brand’s awareness so that more people know about your business, and drives people from your social pages to your website.
Should you pay someone to run your social media?
You may be wondering if this is something you can run by yourself or if you need to pay someone to run your social media campaigns. While it can seem like an easy task to take on - we all use social media, right? - it can be more time-consuming than you might think and calls for planned strategies.
Hiring a social media marketing company or consultant to help get you started can be a really good thing. Eventually, you may be able to take it on in-house if you have the team and the resources. But, if you have a good experience hiring it out, it’s probably worth keeping things that way.
Digital marketing services are an investment, but it’s an investment that can offer your company significant return in new sales, new customers, repeat customers, customer referrals, and more. It’s not always quick - sometimes these results take time - but you’ll often find the results were well worth your initial and ongoing investment.
Step 4: Schedule a Consultation
Many marketing agencies and consultants offer free marketing consultations. During your consultation, consider the following:
What results do they promise?
Do they listen to what you need?
Are they conscious of your budget?
How is their availability? While it may be unrealistic to expect a time slot right away to start work, if they have to schedule you several months out, they may be too busy to spend enough time on your website and marketing strategies.
Do they offer ongoing support to their clients? Are they available for questions?
Do they have a range of services based on what you need, or can they refer you to someone else in cases of service gaps?
Step 5: Decide on a Company to Hire and Give It Time
As mentioned earlier, most marketing takes a while to return the results you’re after. After you make your decision, give the marketing agency or consultant time to work.
Does that mean you can’t follow-up or ask questions? Absolutely not. You should work with an agency or consultant who welcomes that follow-up and keeps you informed on the progress, even if that means they are still waiting for the results.
If you continually hear (we’re talking months in) that there haven’t been better results and they don’t have an action plan for trying to get those results after giving their marketing strategy ample time to work, you may want to reevaluate your working relationship with that company and try finding someone else who can help!