Tips to Find the Best Digital Marketing Agency

When push comes to shove, many companies get stuck on the question of how to find the best digital marketing agency to fit their needs. After all, you don’t want to hand over control to just anyone. You need to find an agency that you can trust and deliver a return on your investment. But with so many agencies to choose from, the perfect partner can seem elusive.

Tips to find the best digital marketing agency

We’re going to assume that you are able to use Google and any industry contacts to draw up a list of potential digital marketing agencies. Instead, these tips are going to focus on how to narrow down that shortlist to find the best digital marketing agency for you.

1. Scan their website thoroughly

The first thing you’re going to want to do is to check for any major red flags. What do we mean by red flags? We mean anything that makes you think twice about using or trusting the agency in question. The first place to start looking is their website. Is their website modern or does it look like something from the early 2000? Does it have all of the pages you’d expect, as well as an office address and telephone number?

As soon as you land on a prospect’s website, three things should be easy to identify: Who they are, what they do, and where they do it. If the basics are missing, move onto the next one.

2. Check out their social media presence

If they have accounts on Facebook and Twitter, are they up to date? When was the last time the agency posted something? As a digital marketing agency, you would expect them to have fully branded social media accounts that are regularly updated. Consider crossing any agency off your list that doesn’t have a complete social presence.

3. Don’t hesitate to ask about current work

When agencies show you their portfolio, virtually every piece of work will have already been completed. Some may have been completed years ago. It’s hardly the best example of how an agency works. You need to understand the work that the agency puts out at the moment.

During your consultation, don’t be satisfied with just seeing examples of previous work, make sure you ask to see examples of work they are doing at the moment. Generally, they may not be able to show you everything for privacy reasons, but any decent agency should be able to show you some of the campaigns that they are working on and the improvements they have seen month on month. If an agency isn’t willing to do so, consider crossing them off your list.

4. Understand what you need and want out of your partner agency

What do you want out of your relationship with a digital marketing agency? Is there a particular area of digital marketing that you need help with—SEO, PPC, content marketing? Are you looking for a short-term fling or a long-term relationship?

While talking to agencies, it’s important to make sure that you are both on the same wavelength and share the same goals. For instance, there’s no point partnering with an agency that specializes in PPC if you want to improve your organic ranking. Similarly, if you’re a home contractor company, there’s no point partnering with an agency that specializes in marketing E-commerce stores.

By talking through exactly what you want to achieve before committing to a particular agency, you can make sure that the agency you choose understands precisely what you want and can help you achieve it.

5. Ask for references

By now, there may only be one or two agencies left on your list. That’s great, you’ve nearly found the perfect agency. There’s one more thing you need to do, though. You need to make sure that everything the agency has told you is the truth. Have they provided a case study that shows what they have achieved for a particular client? Make sure that you pick up the phone and speak to that client to check credibility.

Ask the agency to speak to a number of current and previous clients. The current clients can help you understand what it’s like working with the agency at the moment, and it can be helpful to understand why previous clients have left. Remember to ask probing questions where possible. Make sure to tease out any hiccups or difficulties the client had with the agency and ask them to explain how they were overcome.

Need more help?

We know that it’s tough for companies to find the right digital marketing partner. That’s why we try to be as open as possible. We offer all prospective clients a free consultation so that they can understand what we do and how we work. It also offers us an opportunity to get to understand you better. When you’re ready, request a free consultation and we’ll get back to you ASAP.

I'm a digital marketing enthusiast that specializes in strategy and growth in the digital world, currently working with Dignitas Digital, a leading digital marketing agency in Delhi, India.