Home » Blog » What To Look For in a Digital Marketing Agency
There are many things to look for in a Digital Marketing Agency like Valenta. As we started to write this blog, we saw that what we thought was important fell into two broad categories,
- A digital marketing agency or social media marketing company should be able to fill and provide a variety of roles
- A digital marketing agency should be able to perform a variety of functions
Let’s take a closer look at these two broad categories of requirements.
Able to provide a variety of roles
A digital marketing agency should be able to fulfill several distinct roles for the clients they serve. In our experience there are many highly skilled individuals available for hire that meet a specific role that we have identified. However, it is next to impossible to find one individual skilled in all the areas of digital marketing. In our experience we have also found that there are some excellent digital marketing agencies available for contract, … but they can come at a hefty price tag. The following are the roles we believe are critical for any digital marketing agency or social media marketing company.
Strategist
A digital marketing agency should be able to sit down with a client and design an end-to-end digital marketing and social media strategy. A senior person knowledgeable in all areas of digital marketing is required for this. Please note we stated knowledgeable, this person does not need to be a specialist in all the areas of digital marketing. They need to be able to plan strategy for all areas and then manage the team of specialists who will execute the online strategy. A strategist will need to have experience with similarly sized businesses and other businesses in the segment of a client to know what works best.
Website Developers
Websites are the online presence of today’s information age companies. They are the first impression that people will form about a company. We all know how the saying goes about first impressions. A poorly designed website, or a website without a clear message, is a bad look for any business. Websites are living and evolving. They need continual updates of new content and the latest information and updates on a company. They also need to look fresh, and current compared to other websites. We all have visited websites that look like they were designed in the 1990’s and never updated. Any digital marketing agency must provide skilled website developers to manage the back-end updates needed at various times of the year.
SEO Specialists
Having a good website is just part of the battle. Having a website that is optimized for search engines is critical. Having a company rank as high as possible for search results is vital for large and small businesses. SEO or search engine optimization is a specialty that not every digital marketing person possesses. It is constantly evolving and knowledge in this area must be current. Any digital marketing agency must provide expert SEO specialists to assist their clients.
Copywriters
A digital marketing agency or social media marketing company absolutely must be able to provide relevant and engaging content for their clients. Not only do copywriters need to be good writers, but they also need to be able to write about topics that are relevant to a client’s business. This combination of writing skills plus being able to write as an SME or subject matter expert is a hard-to-find combination. It is best to work with a digital marketing agency with experience in the market segment for a particular business. It is for this reason that different marketing agencies or partners at an agency specialize in specific industries. Since content drives all digital marketing activity, having good copywriters is critical.
Designers
Creating content and being skilled at the back end of websites is important – but content must look good too! It is especially important to have good graphic designers and video editors on staff at a digital marketing agency or social media marketing company. Being able to create infographics specific to a client’s business is extremely helpful. A picture, after all, can tell 1,000 words. Video is also a super relevant way to tell a story in today’s modern world where people have limited time. For these reasons, and more, graphic and video designers are necessary for any good digital marketing agency.
Able to perform a variety of functions
With all the above roles considerable valuable work can be completed for clients of a digital marketing agency or social media marketing company. In our experience that work can be categorized as the following functions, customer engagement, back-end work, and front-end work.
Customer Engagement
Customer engagement is all about creating content that customers will want to interact with. This content needs to be compelling and may take the entire team to develop properly. Content to engage customers which can include webinars, podcasts, content brochures and collateral, plus PR. Customer engagement also includes branding. Staying on message and staying on brand will be a large part of any digital marketing agency or social media marketing company’s focus. Influencer strategies can also be a part of the customer engagement strategy … this is especially important for B2C businesses.
Back-end Work
Back-end work is exactly what it sounds like. It is making sure all the digital platforms and tools are optimized and working at peak efficiency. Website creation, website management and updates are key here. SEO and SEM (search engine marketing) or PPC (pay per click) is also key. A good digital marketing agency will be able to develop and manage PPC campaigns to improve search results for any client company. All of these under the hood roles play a vital part in the success of a digital marketing strategy.
Front-end Work
CRM optimization, email campaigns, social media campaigns and posting are all functions of front-end work. Proper delivery of well prepared and relevant content to customers and prospects is critical. Drip email campaigns, and social posting that is part of an overall messaging campaign and strategy reinforces the message a business wants to deliver to the market. The entire digital marketing agency or social media marketing company team is typically involved in this stage too. Having a team, and a well-organized team at that, to deliver on the strategy is beneficial to any business.
Want to learn more?
As we mention at the start, a digital marketing agency or social media marketing company should be able to fill a variety of roles and fulfill a variety of functions. Strategists, website developers, SEO specialists, copywriters, and designers all need to be available to execute on any worthwhile digital marketing strategy. At Valenta we offer managing partners, local or regional senior marketing experts and offshore staff that can economically execute back-office tasks for digital marketing.
Digital marketing can be overwhelming and sometimes businesses, especially the SMB clients we serve, do not know where to start. We are here to help and can bring a cost-effective team to assist your business. To understand more, Please read about Why do you need Digital Marketing for your business to succeed in this digital era
Please read more about our Digital Marketing Services to know how Valenta can help your business.
If you would like to speak with us on this topic, or any other, please Contact Valenta