How To Start An Agency Marketing Services Contract Off Right
Congratulations! You’ve found the agency marketing services provider you want to work with and the ink is drying on the contract. Now, how to ensure...
2 min read
Mark Parent February 9, 2015 1:00:00 PM EST
Inbound agency marketing services take time to bear fruit. They also take a lot of know-how (obviously). As these marketing methods become more and more specialized, it’s become much more difficult for businesses to find and dedicate the time and resources to learn about, much less implement search engine optimization, landing pages and social media campaigns (among other things).
Enter the third-party agency marketing services provider – an agency dedicated to any and all inbound marketing efforts you want and/or need. But, what makes a marketing agency one you actually want to do business with? Consider the following 3 must-have characteristics as you begin to narrow down potential partners.
They Specialize In The Services You Need.
Hiring a firm to redesign your website isn’t going to automatically earn you more visitors. It might seem like a cause and effect situation – but getting leads and web design are two completely different skill sets. One is design-oriented and the other is content-based.
To pull in more traffic and leads, an inbound marketing firm is what you need along with agency marketing services like content creation, social media campaigning, link building and SEO.
So, if more leads and customers are what you’re after, make sure you’re looking at marketing firms that are expert at high-end content creating, landing pages, marketing automation and the lot.
If a fancier looking website is what you’re after, then, by all means, look for a top-notch designer.
And, if you need both, you may need to hire two firms to work together or find a larger marketing agency that specializes in everything under the sun.
Their Creation and Campaign Processes Are Clear
Content creation capabilities and social media case studies are great, but the real value of an agency's involvement will be in how they put the pieces together into a comprehensive strategy.
Inbound marketing agencies should be able to clearly lay out and explain their methodology for prospective clients. Being able to clearly show you the order in which things need to happen and the amount of time and resources required at each step will indicate that the agency has delivered ROI to clients before. Thus, you will also be able to infer that it has the game plan to do it again for your company.
They Take Measurements Seriously
You have goals. You are trying to meet those goals by hiring the agency. Therefore, the agency should be as focused as you are on charting success of their agency marketing services in clear and data-driven manner.
So, look for buzzwords like "metrics," "benchmarks," and "analytics" when you read the pitch from your prospective agency. Progress made toward your goals should to be measured at every step of the way, and a solid inbound marketing agency will be able (and willing) to track all campaigns and report on performance regularly.
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