Does Your Digital Marketing Agency do their Homework First?

The ability to check off every task on an order form is no guarantee of success. If the Digital Marketing Agency you’re considering just offers you a “package” without any proof they did the research on you, your target market and your competition, I would question their ability to move the needle in your favor. I’m sure they can check off every task on their list, but without knowing what they are up against, how can they be confident it is the correct strategy for you?

This is an expanded excerpt for the eBook “The Digital Marketing Smell Test”. You’re welcome to download your own copy here.

What do They Know about YOU?

Your provider should be learning about your business; what you sell, who you sell it to, and where you sell it prior to offering you a “package”. If they haven’t established a baseline of where you are now, how can they possibly determine what needs to be done?

Let’s start with the basics…Your Web Presence. That includes the health of your existing website, your search ranking status, and social media presence. These are all key components of your digital marketing plan.

If they do a full website audit to determine what they have to work with and what challenges they will need to overcome, you’re off to a good start. If they ask you about your competitors and your target market, and the geographic area you are trying to penetrate, that may indicate a sincere intent to focus on your bottom line.

A thorough WebScan™ style site audit can uncover issues with your existing website that need to be addressed before you can mount a successful digital marketing campaign. Without some sort of website analysis, I would be leery about making an investment in digital marketing.

What do They Know about Your Market?

They should be investigating trends in your industry before they promise you results. Is search volume increasing or decreasing for specific keywords over time? That might indicate the popularity of specific keywords, but may also indicate trends in popularity of your specific products or services in specific geographic areas.

Digital-Marketing-Insights

What do They Know about Your Competition?

Admit it, you’re fascinated by what your completion is doing and how you stack up. There is a lot that can be gained by benchmarking your competition; ranging from what to emulate (what they are doing right), to exploiting their vulnerabilities. Just knowing which battles to pick and which to pass on is a great strategic advantage.

Competition

The virtues of choosing a marketing partner who actually listens is obvious...

But the best firms are the ones who ask YOU questions. Do they dig deeper into what you are trying to accomplish, or are they just there to take your order? The virtues of a marketing partner who actually does their homework BEFORE offering you a solution is priceless.