By The selection of a good online marketing agency nowadays presents itself for many companies as a gauntlet run. Not a week goes by without a service provider presenting his great offers by e-mail, telephone or advertising media that promise great success on the Internet. But which digital marketing agency delivers what it promises? What should one look out for to distinguish the good from the dubious online marketing agency offers?
How to recognize a good online marketing agency?
If an agency introduces itself to me via spam e-mail or cold call, I would reject it directly. Even if someone makes explicit ranking promises, you are welcome to take your hat directly. Both are no longer so common, however, so that you are spoilt for choice.
Primarily it depends on what I want. For example, if I’m interested in content marketing, but the agency doesn’t even have a blog, I’d question it critically – so: “If that’s supposedly so important and you’re supposed to be so good at it, then why don’t you use it yourself?
References would also be important to me. It’s not primarily about the melodious names, but about whether an agency knows its way around an industry. The thinking in B2B is often different from that in tourism or mail order. And as an agency you should already be familiar with them. It’s not just about finding a technical solution, it’s about taking the company with you. And that’s where experience within an industry is very important. And then I would simply make it dependent on the impression. Calling, squeezing people out, asking for ideas – that’s how it works.
Transparency is an important criterion for us
We not only try to understand the goals of companies precisely in order to give a recommendation for meaningful measures, but also to explain the necessary steps in a comprehensible and understandable way. A serious online marketing agency advises openly and objectively, does not promise miracles and is not afraid to address unpleasant topics.
Cooperation always begins with an individual analysis and conception, combined with a mandatory workshop. We have experienced over and over again that this preliminary work is extremely worthwhile during the later implementation. The greater the mutual understanding of goals, expectations and possibilities, the easier it is to coordinate the work process.
Paradoxical, but the better you know yourself, the more likely you are to find an agency that does what you want. Conversely, if you have very little knowledge of online marketing yourself, you’ll find it easier to find a bad agency because you can’t judge its work properly. My most important tip is therefore: at least read yourself so far that you know which strategies are possible and which you can and want to represent yourself.
The second important tip is the question of the philosophy that characterises the online marketing agency. How does it work, what are the basic building blocks of the working method? Here there is no right or wrong, but the approaches must fit to those of your company.
Ask the agency exactly how it will work.
Every serious agency will answer this question openly and honestly – every dubious agency will avoid it.
The same applies to questions: Are your questions answered in detail or are people deliberately trying not to explain too much to you? Or does it even explain that certain information is “secret”? Then you should refrain from the corresponding agency.
Companies should not send masses of identical requests to hundreds of agencies and define clear, realistic goals for cooperation. If we find out in the song of an inquiry or even if we have only the assumption that it has been sent to other agencies in identical form all at once, we will treat it accordingly. We make an effort with initial consultation and offers. We expect the same from companies interested in cooperation.
In addition, the case of more extensive pitch preparations or workshops, the effort of the respective agency must be adequately rewarded financially. Unfortunately, this variation of the agency acquisition is not yet extinct.
In general, it is very difficult to distinguish a good from a dubious online marketing agency. You can usually only see the sales shell of an agency and this often looks almost identical in comparison to the agencies. Logos, seals, references and great brochures. All no points to recognize a good online marketing agency. Some hints and tips, however, increase the chance that a company will not burn its fingers when searching for an agency.
