Print is passe’. So too airwaves.
Bulldozing them with sheer volumes and price-competitiveness is “digitization”. Helping digitization in no small means is the internet. In all, the world of advertising and awareness creation has moved from being a self-contained, time-and-space-specific activity to something which needs to be 24 x 7 x 365. Digitial marketing, more so smart-phone specific marketing is thus beyond space and time. With the help of data analytics, DM thus has the ability to pin-point advertising campaigns to the exact audience.
That said, the same does not always happen as planned given that the best of schemes have a certain human element which differentiates between the best digital marketing agency and those who fall in the category of mediocre.
Today we give you some tips on how one can identify digital marketing agencies for one’s business to get one’s money’s worth.
- Be clear with what you want
This may not be have a direct relation to the working of any digital marketing agency but is still relevant. In fact, this point comes much, much before even the thought of approaching the agency comes on any organization’s radar. Do you want the whole suite of services right from branding to digital marketing to communication to lead generation or is it simply social-media presence or branding or marketing communication? Yes, this is a very, very confusing and confounding activity which an organization should attempt slowly and steadily, and preferably in the presence of an agency who can lead them to the right conclusion.
- Be clear on what you are ready to pay
Big activity means big pay-out- AND, not necessarily big results. This is the truth, irrespective of what the world has to say. With big activities come big bills which may not always result in big results. It should thus be clear as to what an organization is ready to pay a digital marketing agency where the deal is finalized. Yes, of course, it makes sense to approach as many competing agencies as possible. If nothing else, it can give the best output for a price. Alternatively, it can bring the lowest price for an activity!
- Formulate KRAs
Even before finalizing on the cost and scope of work, one should formulate some guidelines on the minimum expectation in terms of output from any chosen agency. Key Result Areas (KRAs) should be clearly laid down in quantifiable terms to the extent possible. Also to be clarified are the steps to be taken where KRA remain unmet. The KRAs should be both qualitative and quantitative since not every aspect of digital marketing can be quantified with exact precision.
- Portfolio of work/ body of work
You can never go wrong on this one…ever. After all, it is one’s work which differentiates one from others. But it is equally possible that those big names end up giving you very mediocre work and smaller agencies do a great job. Something, the end can never be foretold with absolute certainty and one has simply to wait and watch.
- Talk to people about your chosen agency’s working style
Before finalizing a deal with any digital marketing agency, it is best to do a double-check with both satisfied and dissatisfied customers. The first set, as is rather obvious, could give a rosy picture given that everything, as expected, is honky-dory given that things are progress well. It is from the 2nd category i.e, dis-satisfied clients that one gets to know some not-so-palatable bits of insider information about the working of the digital marketing agency. If these seem non-issues, one can simply set them aside. If not, one may be forced to do the entire exercise all over again.
The above are some of the steps when choosing the right digital marketing agency for one’s business. Hope they come in handy.
Suggested links:
How to prepare for Digital marketing jobs in India
