The best digital agency for your business. How do you choose one?

We live in a world where everything has moved to the Internet, and if a brand is not online, it’s as if it doesn’t exist at all. This makes more and more entrepreneurs choose to work with professional digital agencies responsible for comprehensive online marketing for companies. How to choose the best digital agency (360 agency) so you won’t regret your decision? Let’s check out the tips that will allow you to bet on a professional digital agency that will take your marketing to the next level.

What is a digital agency?

Digital Agency is a company specializing in providing comprehensive Internet marketing and online advertising services for business clients Its main goal is to promote brands, products and services through the use of various digital channels. Digital agencies offer a wide range of services that may include, but are not limited to:

• Positioning of websitesand stores (SEO) – activities aimed at improving a website’s visibility in organic search results, which contributes to increased traffic.
• Social Media Marketing (Social Media Marketing) – managing a brand’s social media presence, creating and publishing content, engaging audiences and running advertising campaigns.
• Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC) – advertising campaigns on a pay-per-click model that can be displayed on search engines, websites and social media, such as Google Ads, Facebook Ads.
• Content marketing– strategies for creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content designed to attract and engage a specific audience.
• E-mail marketing – communication with audiences and customers via email to promote products or services, build loyalty, trust or brand awareness.
• Influencer marketing and affiliate marketing– The effectiveness of influencer marketing is based on selecting the right influencers who match the brand’s values and have reach within the client’s target audience. Digital agencies, in this regard, can help the company handle the collaboration, generate contracts or act as an intermediary with the influencer.
• Web design and development involve designing and creating websites that are aesthetically pleasing, functional, and optimized for users and search engines.
• Web analytics – is the analysis of data on user behavior on a website, in order to optimize marketing strategies and improve user experience.

Why-it’s-worth-working-with-a-digital-marketing-agency?

What are the benefits of investing in working with a digital agency? Let’s check it out with practical examples:

Increase reach and brand awareness

Example: Company X, a local health food manufacturer, decided to work with a digital agency to increase its brand recognition. With an effective content marketing and social media promotion strategy, the company doubled its Instagram and Facebook followers within a few months, which contributed to increased brand awareness among consumers interested in healthy eating.

Access to expertise and tools

Example: Small business B, which offers accounting services, commissioned a digital agency to run a PPC (pay-per-click) campaign to attract more business clients. The agency used its expertise and advanced tools for keyword analysis and landing optimization, which resulted in a 40% increase in conversions from online ads compared to the company’s previous independent attempts

Optimizing marketing costs

Example: Start-up C, developing a mobile app, had a limited marketing budget. Working with a digital agency, they decided on a targeted email marketing campaign and activity on selected social media. Thanks to precise targeting and cost optimization, the campaign achieved a 3 times higher ROI (return on investment) compared to previous, more general advertising efforts.

Increase conversions and sales

Example: E-commerce D, an online clothing store, saw a decline in sales despite high traffic to the site. The digital agency applied advanced SEO and UX (user experience) techniques to improve the site’s visibility in search engines and make it easier for users to navigate. The improvements and optimization of the shopping process resulted in a 30% increase in conversions in the first two months after implementing the changes.

Access to new technologies and trends

Example: E, a company specializing in sports equipment, wanted to use new technologies to promote its products. The digital agency proposed using virtual reality (VR) to create an interactive product experience for online customers. This campaign not only set the company apart from its competitors but also significantly increased product interest and online sales.

5 characteristics of Effective Digital Marketing Agencies

Don’t know how to choose a digital agency? In our article, you will not only learn how to check a 360 agency before making a business decision but also learn about the characteristics of good digital agencies. What distinguishes the best 360 agencies in the country?

1. Effective digital agency website

A digital agency is supposed to take care of your company’s marketing on the Internet, including Google search. Since it employs experts in SEO or Google Ads, the agency’s website should not only be clear but also visible on Google. That’s why when looking for a 360 agency, it’s worth doing a quick research on the search engine and seeing what agencies appear in the top 10 positions. If they can effectively promote their own site, they can probably achieve similar results for your site. However, simply positioning a store or site is not enough. Good digital agencies also have intuitive and clear websites (in terms of menus, navigation, etc.), making it easy to find information of interest, case studies or success stories of your clients.

2. Diverse 360 agency team

The strength of digital agencies lies in their diversity. That’s why in 360 agencies you’ll find specialists in various fields – from SEO, to Google Ads, to experts in design and User Experience or User Interface, email marketing or influencer marketing. This diversity means that you can benefit from a wide variety of services within a single agency. Good digital agencies pride themselves on working with experts who are certified in their skills, such as running various formats of Google Ads campaigns.

3. A wide range of tools and the ability to use them

The best digital agencies can’t afford to operate in the dark, so they use specialized tools to help measure the effectiveness of various marketing campaigns. These range from SEO campaign tools (Ahrefs, Senuto, Surfer and others) to email marketing tools (e.g. MailChimp, SALESmanago) or social media analytics (e.g. SproutSocial). They give 360 agencies insight into advanced data about your company’s online marketing health.

4. Rich experience in various areas and industries

A good digital agency should demonstrate extensive experience, gained from working on a wide variety of projects. It is important that the agency has not only theoretical knowledge, but most importantly practical knowledge, gained from implementing campaigns in different industries. Such experience allows the agency to better understand the peculiarities of different markets and adapt marketing strategies to the specific business goals of clients.In addition to general experience, it is worth noting the agency’s specialization in specific areas of online marketing, such as SEO, SEM, content marketing, social media marketing or mobile advertising. Specialization in a specific area can indicate deep knowledge and advanced skills, which is especially important when dealing with complex projects. Proven SEO agencies provide potential clients with case studies or client portfolios, making them available during the negotiation process or, for example, publishing success stories and brands they work with on their website. Good case studies should show concrete numbers, such as an increase in website traffic, improved search engine rankings, increased conversions or ROI. Analyzing case studies not only allows you to assess an agency’s skills, but also to understand how they work on projects and how they measure success.

5. Education of digital agencies

The best digital agencies on the market educate their clients completely for free, usually through a blog. And while the power of textual content seems to be diminishing, websites without blog content are limiting their chances of building visibility for many valuable phrases (advice and education, question phrases). If a 360 agency itself runs a well-read blog and shares its knowledge, it will probably take similar care of your site and, in cooperation with your company, create attractive and valuable and substantive content for your company blog. See also: 

• 9 ways to create engaging blog content,
• 10 tips on how to run a corporate blog,
• 41 tools useful for content marketing,
• 13 common content marketing mistakes

6. Scope of services offered

Some digital agencies specialize in specific services, such as Google Ads campaigns, SEO, social media management or content marketing. When looking for a digital agency, you need to answer the question of what you expect An important aspect in your decision-making process should be the comprehensiveness of your services. This will save you time spent contacting experts, as you are likely to have a contact person on the agency’s side looking after your project. You will also reduce the time required to generate and send invoices.

7. Consistent organization culture

If you choose a digital agency well, you may be working with it for many years. This means that you will also have close contact with the digital agency’s team. Therefore, when choosing a 360 agency for your company, take a look at the organization’s culture presented. Take care of your well-being and friendly relations in the collaboration process. Look for a digital agency and people who will treat you not as a client, but as a partner to work with, whom they will take care of as they would their own business. Also pay attention to whether the team members feel comfortable with each other when meeting with you – if they do, there’s a good chance they will also work well and effectively together in the process of delivering services to your business.

How to choose a digital agency for your business so you won’t regret it?

We already know what a digital agency does and why you should work with one. However, to choose the right 360 agency, you need to learn even more.Find out what steps to take to choose a digital agency that you will work with for a long time.

1. Define your digital marketing goals

Defining your goals is a fundamental step before working with a digital marketing agency. This allows you to define the expected results and tailor your marketing strategy to meet the needs of your business. Goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound (SMART method).

Practical example: 

Let’s say you run an online store offering organic food products. Your main goal is to increase sales by 20% in the next 6 months. To achieve this, you set the following specific goals:

• Increase website traffic by 30% through SEO optimization and social media advertising campaigns.
• Improve the site’s conversion rate by 5% by optimizing the purchase path and testing different versions of product pages.
• Improve the site’s conversion rate by 5% by optimizing the purchase path and testing different versions of product pages.
• Build newsletter subscriber base by 25% to increase repeat purchases through regular e-mail marketing campaigns.

Specifying such goals will allow a digital marketing agency to develop a personalized strategy that focuses on specific actions to deliver the expected results. Cooperation with the agency will become more targeted and effective, which will enable you to achieve your business goals.

2. Check out the experience and portfolio of the digital agency

Checking a digital agency’s experience and portfolio is essential to assess whether its competence and style of work are in line with your expectations, and whether it has a proven track record of success with projects similar to yours. What steps should you take to verify the experience of a 360 digital agency?

• Research the portfolio – go to the agency’s website and review their portfolio or case studies section. Note the variety of projects, client industries and solutions used. Look for projects that are similar to your planned assignment, both in terms of industry and marketing goals.
• Search for detailed case studies (or ask for them) – find detailed descriptions of implementations (case studies) that present specific client challenges, strategies used and results achieved. Analysis of such case studies will allow you to understand how the agency approaches problems, what marketing techniques it uses and how it measures the effectiveness of its activities.
• Inquire about the digital agency’s experience in your industryy – this is especially important if you operate in a competitive or little-known industry.

3. Get reviews of 360 agencies

Already have a preliminary list of 360 agencies you are considering working with? Great! Now check whether clients are satisfied with their services. To do this, look at online reviews and testimonials. You can trace company profiles on Google, social media profiles or industry portals. Also visit a digital agency’s blog – you may find brands that the company has worked with, success stories and customer testimonials. You can also ask a representative of the agency to contact former or current clients and talk to them.

4. Learn about digital agency reporting and communication methods

To be sure of transparent cooperation, you need to know the reporting and communication methods used by a given digital agency. Constant contact will enable you to react quickly to changes and monitor results on an ongoing basis. Elements to consider when entering into a partnership with a digital agency include:

• Reporting frequency – determine how often the agency will provide reports – whether they will be weekly, monthly or quarterly.
• Format of reports – note whether reports will be delivered in written form, as presentations, or perhaps discussed in regular online or face-to-face meetings.
• KPIs -ensure that the agency is focusing on the key performance indicators (KPIs) that are most relevant to your business goals.
• Tracking and analytics tools – find out what tools and software the agency uses to monitor performance and whether you have real-time access to this data.
• Accessibility and communication – determine how easy it is to contact the agency if you have questions or need a quick response to changing market conditions. Good digital agencies offer direct contact with the project/campaign supervisor by phone and email.

5. Compare digital agency pricing

How to choose a digital agency? Consider price proposals, but remember that price should not be the main determinant of the decision. The pricing model used by a 360 agency should be transparent, flexible and tailored to your needs and budget possibilities. How to choose a digital agency wisely and within your specified budget?

• Check what fee structure the agency uses. Possible forms of billing include:
  • Fixed monthly fee – check if the digital agency offers fixed payments for comprehensive marketing services. Such a model is budget predictable, but make sure you know exactly what is included in the fixed fee.
  • Fixed fee.
  • Project fee – For one-time projects, such as website development or an advertising campaign, 360 agencies often apply project fees. Ask for a detailed scope of services and any additional costs.
  • Pay for performance — some digital agencies may offer a performance-based fee model, such as a percentage of sales generated or number of leads. This is attractive because you are paying for real results, but it is important to thoroughly understand the criteria and how results are measured.
  • Hourly rate – in this model you pay for actual hours worked. This can be a good solution for smaller tasks, but requires close monitoring of the agency’s time.
• Please ask questions – don’t be afraid to ask for any details about fees, additional costs (e.g., for external tools, licenses) or conditions for changing the scope of the project. The more information you get, the better you’ll be able to assess whether the pricing model is favorable to you.
• Compare offers – gather offers from several agencies and compare them in terms of price and scope of services. Remember that the cheapest offer does not always mean the best choice. Focus on value for money and matching the offer to your needs.
• Negotiate terms – if you find a digital agency that perfectly suits your needs, but its pricing model slightly exceeds your budget, try to negotiate. Sometimes it is possible to adjust the scope of services or payment terms.

Also find out if the digital agency offers scalability of service You may not need some of the services today, but in the future you will want to add to their offerings.

6. Inquire a digital agency about tools and technologies

The tools and technologies a digital agency uses can affect the effectiveness of activities and the time spent on specific tasks. Getting to know the toolkit allows you to better understand how the agency collects data, analyzes results and optimizes activities. In the interview process, ask about:

• tools used for site positioning – Popular solutions include SEMrush, Ahrefs, Moz,
• tools for managing social media presence, scheduling posts, monitoring engagement and analyzing sentiment (solutions such as Hootsuite, Buffer or Sprout Social are the most popular),
• marketing automation platforms (e.g. HubSpot, Marketo, Salesforce Marketing Cloud) to enable effective management of leads, email campaigns and content personalization,
• analytical tools used to track website traffic, conversions and user behavior (Google Analytics 4, Google Data Studio). Knowledge of reporting methods will help assess whether the agency is providing data in a meaningful way.

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Summary. Best digital agency

Choosing the right digital agency is a process that requires thoughtful analysis and understanding of your own business needs. It is crucial to identify the goals you want to achieve through the cooperation, and then make a selection based on the experience, competencies and tools available to the potential partner. Remember to pay attention to the pricing model, reporting and communication methods, which will have a direct impact on the transparency and efficiency of the cooperation. It is also important to choose an agency that not only understands the specifics of your industry, but also shares your business values and is flexible to the changing needs of your company. When making your decision, be guided not only by cost, but more importantly by the potential to build lasting value and achieve real results that will contribute to the growth of your business.