So you wish to have the best digital marketing work done for your small business. After assessing your resources, talents, and duties, you conclude that it is best to outsource your marketing needs. Who then do you hire?
Running a small business needs all your focus. A wise move is to hire experts in specific fields to ensure you access and deliver quality products and services in areas where you are not an expert. Since you need to prioritise and cleverly plan for your resources, digital marketing is may be the optimum solution.
What is digital marketing?
Digital marketing is all marketing efforts and processes that occur on the internet. Therefore, any avenue your business has online is a way for you to conduct digital marketing. For example, a post on the Instagram page of your business about a new product launch that captures the attention of your followers is a form of digital advertising.
What are the benefits of digital marketing?
Digital marketing is cost-effective.
Traditional marketing is expensive and rigid. For example, the cost of creating an ad to run during prime time TV slots is staggering. As an SME, you may not have the finances nor the patience for that old structure. Digital marketing is more versatile, fluid, dynamic and affordable. For example, running a 30-second ad on TV costs thousands of pounds. The same clip costs nothing to post on social media. You only have to pay the same bill for creating the clip.
It’s easier to track the effectiveness of digital marketing
A 30-second clip, for example, can be effective yet tricky to measure its effectiveness as a TV ad. Digital marketing is different since you can tell how many people viewed the ad, how many liked it, how many proceeded to your CTA, and such metrics.
Digital marketing aims at a specific audience
A TV ad is broadcasted to anyone who cares to watch TV. Digital marketing has different channels that attract different demographics. For instance, you can post about your paediatric care services to moms online by targeting social media platforms and groups they frequent.
You can reach people as they begin the buying process
People rely on the internet for information before making a purchase decision. Digital marketing affords you the chance to be the source of that information or voice of authority in your sector. Additionally, you can place links to your products and services in their search results.
You can change your marketing approach faster as the market changes
When you put up billboards all over the city, it’s hard to change their layout or message. You’d have to take them down first or print new ones and replace those. The same billboard online allows you to pull it down, edit its message, and put it back on in a matter of minutes. You can also have as many digital billboards as you like passing the same message.
What does a digital marketing agency do?
A digital marketing agency is tasked with overseeing the structure, process, and direction of all your online channels so you can maximise engagement.
Digital marketing needs planning, analysis, adapting to changing market conditions, execution, modification of action plans, and an accurate market reading. An SME lacks the creativity, flexibility, and resources to handle such work while managing other business processes. Hiring a digital marketing agency solves this problem.
How do you pick the right one for you?
Before settling on a specific digital marketing agency, you need to address these concerns:
Determine your marketing needs
Everything you do at this early stage needs to achieve specific objectives, and marketing is no different. Therefore, ask yourself if the marketing is meant for a new product or service or capture a broader market share. Additionally, is the marketing to accelerate your market growth in specific areas? Could the marketing be a brand sensitisation exercise?
You should also determine what marketing duties you can effectively handle in-house and where you need the agency’s input. You also need to see how much you can spare for digital marketing services.
Effectively communicate your marketing goals to prospective agencies
An internal analysis of your marketing needs should present the details necessary to explain your expectations to a marketing agency. Different marketing agencies are experts in specific niches. Only those who can deliver on your goals will grasp them and engage in meaningful correspondence afterwards.
Check an agency’s portfolio
A marketing agency might get what you need, but you need to see if they can deliver. The prospective agency’s portfolio reveals their area of expertise, growth over time, how they handle clients’ expectations, and the nature of their relationship. The portfolio is also proof that they have previously managed digital marketing campaigns for clients. You can’t afford to risk the future of your business to an inexperienced service provider.
Define your working relationship
Once you settle on a specific agency, you need to lay down several rules regarding your working relationship. Such a start prevents future friction and misunderstandings. For example, you need to ask who the contact person or team will be and how frequently you will communicate. Next, ask for a breakdown of their processes for your business’s marketing efforts. It’s essential to get a sense of their chosen direction. You need to see clear, realistic, and inspirational goals with the necessary strategies and resources in place.
Find out the feedback from previous clients
Apart from their portfolio, read some of their previous clients’ feedback. A good digital marketing agency welcomes any efforts to reach its prior clients. If there’s little feedback, chances are they haven’t handled such work before, or they have mostly negative feedback.
Conclusion
Digital marketing gives your SME access to quality, flexible, and affordable marketing. A digital marketing agency takes away the worry of establishing and profiting from your presence online.
DPOM is your preferred digital marketing partner of choice. With a decade of experience in digital marketing tailored to the needs of SMEs, we understand what you need to succeed. Call us today, and let us show you how we’ll take your business to the next level.
