In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape where different social media platforms vie for marketers’ attention and social media trends come and go as quickly as they appear, brands need to partner with the right growth marketing agency to effectively and efficiently drive towards their business goals.
In this article, we outline important questions in-house brand marketers should ask digital marketing agencies before they start working together.
Understand the growth marketing agency’s experience
When deciding whether to work with a particular growth marketing agency, one of the first areas you should ask about is their experience. This includes understanding what sort of projects they’ve been involved with in the past and the industries they’ve worked within. Are they primarily a BCB or B2C marketing agency — or both?
Asking about the industries an agency has worked with before is crucial. For example, many of our clients fall under the health and wellness, pharmaceutical, and women’s health categories. This means we’ve built in-depth knowledge about these industries and understand industry regulations and audience segmentations along with other variables that make up a successful digital marketing campaign. (If you’re interested in reading more, click here to view our case studies.)
Questions about the marketing agency’s expertise:
- What digital marketing channels (e.g. website, social media, SEO) and platforms (e.g. LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram) do you specialize in?
- How do you stay updated with the latest trends and best practices in digital marketing?
- What industries do you specialize in or have worked with before?
- How do you ensure alignment between our business goals and your digital marketing strategies?
Understand the growth marketing agency’s capabilities
After getting relevant background information about the growth agency you potentially want to partner with, the next step is to understand their capabilities. In other words, how specifically can they help you achieve your business objectives?
Part of this is learning more about the services that an agency provides that will help support your goals. For example, if you don’t have the capability to create custom graphics and videos internally and you know you want to include these in your brand’s digital marketing strategy, be sure to find an agency that can support you with these services.
Also, take the time to understand what sets a particular agency apart from others in their category. Here are some ideas for questions you can ask a potential partner agency:
Questions about your specific business goals:
- What services can you provide that would help us reach our goals (e.g. social media marketing, content creation, SEO, etc.)?
- Can you provide examples of successful digital marketing campaigns you’ve executed for businesses similar to ours?
- How do you approach understanding our target audience and their needs?
- Besides digital marketing, are there any other capabilities that your team can handle, such as video and graphic design?
- What tools and technologies do you utilize to optimize digital marketing campaigns?
Understand the growth marketing agency’s process
Your partnership with an external digital marketing agency will be one of your core business relationships. Understanding how an agency works can help align expectations and give you a better sense of how they’ll support you and your in-house marketing team.
There are two areas to keep in mind. First is communication, an essential part of any professional relationship. Every business works differently — including your own — so spend some time discussing how an agency handles communication, not just with your company but internally within their firm as well.
The second major area to remember is reporting. Developing and launching a digital marketing program are just the first steps. Accurate, timely reporting and effective ongoing management are where top-tier growth marketing agencies truly shine. How agile is the agency when faced with new data and trends?
Ask questions about how successes (and drawbacks) are communicated, how positive momentum can be maintained, and how adaptable an agency’s communication process can be.
Questions about communication and reporting:
- What communication channels do you use to keep clients informed about campaign progress?
- How often will we receive reports on campaign performance, and what metrics will be included?
- How do you handle feedback and adjustments to the digital marketing strategy based on campaign performance?
- What metrics do you use to measure the success of your digital marketing campaigns?
The right fit can make all the difference!
Choosing the right digital marketing partner can truly make all the difference in achieving your business objectives and driving growth in today’s ultra-competitive landscape.
By coming into the conversation armed with the right questions and ensuring your goals are aligned, you can find a marketing partner that not only understands your needs, but also has the expertise and capabilities to help you succeed!