What is it that makes a digital marketing agency great? There are many other factors that go into making a great digital marketing agency. These include testimonials, cultural fit, and a variety of digital marketing services. We also discuss how to find the best digital marketing company Bangkok.
To get the best results, include the agency in your team whenever possible. They will be able to act as good stewards of you business with similar contexts and information as you do. A partner who is interested in your business and wants to learn as much as you do, that will be a good partner.
7 Key Factors to Help You Choose the Right Digital Marketing Agency
- Specialization
It is not uncommon to find a compromise between “full-service” agencies that offer all-inclusive services and specialization. The ability for an agency to provide multiple services depending on the client’s needs or on a larger, more holistic strategy.
This does not mean an SEO company Thailand can’t offer a broad range of services. However, there are some areas that you might want to focus on.
Web Design vs. User Experience Design
While some agencies are skilled in creative, artistic web design, others specialize in user experience (UX), creating more functional, user-centered designs. This is often supported by heat map data and user research.
A website can often tell you what kind of design an agency is specialized in. If you see glamour and glitz, it can help you gauge their design expertise. UX Design agencies care more about metrics and KPIs – the things that actually move the needle in your organization, your customers and your users, not just impressing your executives.
TIP: Find out if your agency considers them to be a creative or UX design company. You will likely hear them say “both”, but you can examine their portfolio, case studies, and service offerings to find out for yourself.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO is about writing quality content that matches people’s search intent. SEO is about writing high-quality content that matches the intent of people searching. This is similar to asking an agency to be your SEO agency. Although this is possible, it’s not the best way to go. The agency must have a deep understanding of SEO. Otherwise, your results may be inconsistent. SEO is best when content creation happens in partnership between your agency and your internal teams.
TIP: Find out more about the SEO philosophy and process of your agency. You should question the motives and trustworthiness of agencies that claim they can do everything and will write content for you. However, they may not have the expertise to create high-quality content.
Content Marketing
Content marketing is closely related to SEO. This marketing is a specific way to get content to rank high through inbound marketing. It also allows for other websites to link to it, via either natural or intentional outreach and linking building. Next, content must promote lead generation and link to email marketing. This requires a lot of expertise, especially if the agency also manages your website and digital strategy.
TIP: Find out how your agency handles content marketing and link-building. They may be able to explain what their agency does in terms of content marketing and link building.
Paid Advertising and PPC
Many agencies and paid advertising consultants can help you run paid marketing campaigns. An agency that doesn’t specialize is unlikely to have the resources to create, align, and optimize ad copy and landing pages.
TIP: Talk to your agency about “ad smell” and how they optimize landing pages for ad campaigns and ads. Avoid agencies that don’t fully understand “ad smell” and don’t have an optimized process.
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Case Studies, Testimonials, and Reviews
You should always seek proof. Although it is possible to find talented, competent agencies that lack proof, this can be a red flag. They are often too busy to market themselves or rely on referrals and word-of-mouth. These agencies should, however, be able show some solid proof.
TIP: Don’t rely solely on Google Reviews. Ask the agency for examples and proof.
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Honesty, transparency, and a good-natured character
This is difficult to measure and there are many agencies and practices that may be harmful. However, it is possible to find out more by speaking with the agency or other people who have worked with them.
Here are some things to keep in mind:
Are they offering SEO without clearly defining what you get and how they do it strategically? I.e. Are they only selling SEO solutions and not snake oil?
Are they trying to lock you into their proprietary hosting platform, or other similar systems? Or are you able to take control of the ownership by giving it to you free.
Are reviews and testimonials a reflection of their character as human beings or just a matter of opinion?
TIP: Trust your instincts. Honesty and human character are important deciding factors. This is perhaps the most important factor in deciding.
- Metrics as the Focus
A good digital marketing agency should focus on your company’s success, and that means focusing on KPIs.
TIP: Make sure the agency mentions metrics and data in its proposal, website, and any conversations with you.
- Marketing Strategy Competency
Without a solid digital marketing strategy, digital marketing is inefficient and wasteful. Although you might have the strategy in place, it’s better to have an agency who understands and adds value to your strategy. Marketers have plenty to do. Agencies should have strategists who can help them follow a marketing plan and meet their business needs.
TIP: Marketing strategy should be listed as a core competency by the agency.
- Partnership
Agencies that want to be independent of your in-house marketing team and take on every task are only interested in their own success.
TIP: Always seek partnership.
- Pricing
It is important to know the difference between the services offered by different agencies. Value is the most important thing at the end. If one agency charges social media management (which is simply posting content and tracking social channels), and another charges social media marketing (actually doing strategic planning with your social media to bring new business to your SEO efforts), then you shouldn’t consider these prices to be comparable.
TIP: Never buy based on price. Always consider the value. Ask agencies to explain clearly the value behind pricing.
