Should you consider partnering with a digital marketing agency?
It’s estimated that 60% of today’s advertising will be digital by the end of 2024.
From social media advertising and affiliate marketing to PPC (Pay-Per-Click), analytics, and SEO (search engine optimization), business owners have varied choices for reaching their customers.
Digital marketing is a goldmine for business growth and development.
Unfortunately, many SMBs (small- to medium-sized businesses) are wary of changing their marketing strategies.
Whether you’re an SMB that has never invested in a digital marketing agency or your current one isn’t producing the desired results, consider hiring an agency with extensive digital marketing experience that can help you grow your business.
An effective digital marketing agency can help SMBs like yours increase customer engagement, generate more traffic, and improve digital conversions.
Let us show you when to partner with a digital marketing agency or find a new one to maximize your ROI.
When is it time to hire a marketing agency?
When working with new or existing clients, they are often stunned to learn that digital advertising can increase an SMB’s brand awareness by 80% when executed correctly. Yet, they often are unsure of the value of hiring a digital marketing agency or don’t want to leave their current one.
The following are a few clues as to when it might be time to hire a digital marketing agency.
Poor Sales
You have faith in the quality of your product, staff, and customer service, yet your sales numbers don’t reflect that. The problem could be your marketing strategy, precisely your digital marketing plan.
How can you be sure? Most successful digital marketing agencies begin with a thorough consultation. They can evaluate your digital marketing efforts and tell you where you need to improve compared to the competition. The results may surprise you by illustrating how much your current marketing plan stifles your business’s growth.
Not Enough Quality Leads
Suffice it to say that generating quality leads is essential for every business’s survival.
However, your digital marketing strategy may be to blame if you’re not amassing the quality of leads or your sales are declining.
That’s where hiring an effective digital marketing agency can help by optimizing your online presence.
Partnering with a knowledgeable agency can assist you to enhance your sales process and increase your lead generation.
Together, they can help you build a strong reputation and results, ensuring your marketing dollars are used efficiently.
Outdated Website
Is your website up to date? Does it load quickly? Is it secure and user-friendly? If you’re unsure of these answers, invest in a credible digital marketing agency.
An up-to-date website will ensure your SEO success, including specific key metrics to appear on the first page of a Google search query.
Also, don’t overlook your website’s mobile version; it must be current and optimized.
Not Tracking Key Analytics
It is critical to hire an agency to help you track key analytics, including how often your webpage loads and which pages are most viewed.
An effective digital marketing agency will help you analyze and record many metrics, including click-through rates, bounce rates, and time on page. The answers to these questions will help your business determine where to focus your attention to attract more customers.
If you’ve been tracking these analytics inconsistently or don’t know what these terms mean, it’s time to invest in hiring an agency.
Lack of Expertise
You may have turned to Google to answer all your digital marketing questions until now. SMBs often don’t want to admit they lack knowledge of digital marketing. Partnering with a superior digital marketing agency means they will take the time to get to know you and your business.
A highly qualified digital marketing agency has the experience and expertise in the following areas:
- Digital Advertising
- Google Analytics and Google Looker Studio
- Organic and Paid Social Media
- SEO (search engine optimization)
- Graphic Design
- CRM (customer relationship management) tools (i.e., HubSpot)
Hiring a reputable digital marketing agency will help you develop a marketing strategy that will help you achieve your goals.
Struggling to Define Your Brand
Your branding should tell your company’s story. If you can’t define your business’s brand, that’s a pretty good indication that you must develop a more precise corporate identity.
Most digital marketing agencies will specifically address your branding problems and help you develop a clear identity. Together, you’ll boost your brand’s visibility and target your audience so that customers will look for your product or service.
Your Content is Outdated and Inconsistent
Often, Optidge has found that our clients are stunned to realize that their Google rankings can drop if their marketing content is outdated or doesn’t meet the search engine’s all-important ranking factors, such as keywords.
A successful digital marketing strategy includes regularly publishing new online content, for example, weekly. That’s tremendous work if you’re trying to manage the other aspects of your business.
Hiring an agency with access to a copywriter or team of writers can help keep your content current and relevant. It will also relieve you of that responsibility.
What are the benefits of partnering with a digital marketing agency?
Suppose you’ve reached a point where you’d like to hire a content producer, social media manager, PPC specialist, or graphic designer but think the costs are prohibitive. Before you post any job openings, consider the benefits of hiring an agency that brings all these digital marketing specialists and more.
An Injection of New Ideas
Hiring an agency is like letting a newly trained chef into your kitchen. An effective digital marketing agency will provide fresh ideas, creative strategies, and untapped opportunities to maintain your revenue stream while attracting more customers.
Shifts the Responsibility
There was a time many years ago when your job was to grow your business, something you loved doing and did it well. Yet, over time, you became entangled in the reeds of digital marketing and couldn’t get back to what you love most: growing your company.
By hiring a digital marketing agency, you’re handing them the reins of marketing your business online. They will lead in this area, allowing you to work on the other aspects of growing your company.
Advice from the Experts
Trust the experts; in this case, that means your digital marketing agency. With their extensive experience, staff with diverse expertise, and a strong understanding of your goals, they’ll bring a team of highly trained professionals to fulfill all of your marketing needs.
An exceptional digital marketing agency will continuously prioritize your needs. You won’t have to worry about hiring more staff to handle the marketing work; it will be handled entirely by an external agency.
Research-Driven
A digital marketing agency’s specialty is understanding your industry in detail and the competitive landscape. By engaging them, you can stay relevant to your industry while widening your markets and increasing your growth according to the most recent consumer trends.
What is popular in the digital marketing industry changes frequently, thanks partly to social media platforms, search engine evolution, and algorithm changes. An outstanding digital marketing agency will stay on top of these trends and know how to apply them effectively to your company’s plan.
How do I hire an exceptional digital marketing agency?
Before signing on the dotted line and hiring an agency, you must ask a few questions.
- Are they up-to-date on current trends?
The digital world is an organic environment that is constantly evolving. As such, a first-rate digital marketing agency will possess a flexible mindset and be able to keep aware of different trends. They will understand that what is popular today may be entirely out of style tomorrow.
You must know how the agency stays one step ahead of changes and trends. How does it incorporate the newest tendencies or approaches into its work?
- What are their priorities?
If profit and a quick turnaround are priorities over gaining long-term clients through hard work and trust, move on! You want to find an agency that values relationship-building and long-term success. Yes, most digital marketers can increase your revenue, but so many times, it isn’t sustainable. A reputable agency will work to increase your revenue and customer base while building a long-term relationship with you.
- How do former clients view them?
Does the digital marketing agency you’re considering have a good reputation? Ask for references, call former clients, and view their current portfolio. You’re looking for an agency that is happy to share its current work and results without hesitation.
The more research you do, the more confident and relaxed you’ll be when you hand over the reins of your marketing strategy to them.
- Do they utilize data-driven case studies?
A marketing case study is an in-depth examination of a marketing campaign or strategy. Its goal is to determine what worked, what didn’t, and why. A successful digital marketing agency will have a wealth of case studies to draw from or the ability to conduct one based on your business’s past campaigns. The data from this research will help the agency make highly informed strategy decisions based on study evidence. Data-driven case studies are valuable for understanding your business’s previous marketing efforts and ways to improve future strategies.
Choosing Optidge for your Digital Marketing Needs
The global digital marketing industry is estimated to be worth $667 billion in 2024 and is predicted to grow to $786.2 billion by 2026.
Considering those numbers, if you are unhappy with your current one, now’s the time to consider a change.
Your online presence is crucial to your business’s success and survival. Let Optidge partner with you and help you realize your SMB’s full potential.
As one of Houston’s premier digital marketing agencies, Optidge has helped hundreds of local and national businesses flourish and develop. For over 14 years, our cohesive team of marketing professionals has built a solid industry reputation as a tenacious, honest, and client-oriented agency. From paid search and SEO to paid social, we have helped hundreds of local and national businesses flourish and develop. Contact us today for more information on how Optidge can propel your business forward.