5 questions to ask before choosing a digital marketing partner

If you’re teaming up with a third party for your digital activity, there are a few factors that need taking into account. Whilst the right digital marketing partner could help you to create valuable content, killer campaigns and incredible sales conversions, the wrong one could cause the foundations to crumble and everything to come tumbling down. Here are five questions that you should ask before making the commitment.

1: Do you offer performance guarantees?

If the answer is vague, they may not be the one for you. If the answer sounds too good to be true, it probably is. After all, if an agency can guarantee that they’ll get your site to rank #1 on Google, they’d be able to do it for literally every client. We understand that you want to have as clear a picture as possible but nothing can be guaranteed, especially when the digital world fluctuates daily due to competitor updates, new competition and altered algorithms. Instead, agree on set goals that are desirable whilst achievable and go from there.

2: Can you provide a list of references for current clients?

Digital marketing is a bustling industry, which means that it’s attracting fledgling companies, ill-prepared graduates and even people who are entirely inexperienced but want to give it a bash. If a prospective digital marketing partner doesn’t have any references, you could be taking quite a risk. If they say they do have references, make sure you receive them before proceeding.

3: What do you look for in a successful client-agency partnership?

What they see as effective, you may consider totally inadequate. Find out exactly what they expect in terms of performance and business relationships and see if it matches the way you work. A good agency will allow a certain level of adaptability, so if you need them to do something a little differently to what they’re accustomed to, don’t be afraid to ask.

4: How much experience does your team have and is it in my particular industry?

“We have over a century of collective experience” sounds impressive but doesn’t really mean very much. What you need to know is the nitty-gritty and whether it applies to your industry and requirements. Also, “experience” is quite subjective, so make sure that it’s of a high standard, relevant and scalable (anyone can use Facebook, for example, but only some can use it as an effective business tool). If they don’t have the right experience, can their other skills be applied and developed to suit your needs?

5: Who specifically will be working on my account?

You could have a powwow with someone that’s smart, witty, insightful, an effective communicator and a natural salesperson, then they put an unmotivated newbie in charge of your digital activity and suddenly you feel cheated. By meeting the individual who intends to control your digital activity, you can ascertain whether or not they’re the right one to take your brand forward. Plus it’s always good to put a face to a name; even though we live in a digital age, it’s still very much about the people behind it.

So there you have five questions you need to ask before choosing your digital marketing partner. If you want vividfish to take your online activity to the next level, we’ll first ensure that you have total peace of mind. Get in touch today and ask us anything you want!