How savvy are you when it comes to knowing how to vet and evaluate a marketing agency? As these companies proliferate, it’s important to empower yourself with knowledge as you go through the process of determining who to partner with.
Consider these three important offerings when deciding on an inbound marketing company.
The Four Key Digital Services:
Every inbound marketing company needs to be proficient at:
- Traffic generation- traffic coming into your website, as measured KPIs and related metrics
- Lead generation- interest in the product or service being sold
- Leads-to-customers- converting leads into customers or purchases
- Analytical-focused service packages- gathering and analyzing data that is then used to optimize web content to create more leads.
These four services are critical to ensuring customers reach your product or service. Traffic is routed to the website through effective SEO and other inbound marketing, and once there is converted into solid interest by content that is geared towards generating leads.
The next step is converting passive interest into active leads or sales. What has taken place behind the scenes, on the path, is extensive analysis that is then used to create new content and tweak existing content, in order to make it even more powerful and effective.
Setting a critical path
You are relying on the perspective inbound marketing company to have the expertise and experience to set your business up so that it is primed to achieve your goals. The proof, as they say, is in the pudding. Can the potential inbound marketing company convey specific plans about how they intend to accomplish this? Remember- they have the experience, and as such it is their job to explain the systems and processes that they utilize, in a cognitive fashion.
They should be able to answer your questions at the start of and throughout the process. A responsive agency can pivot midstream, as new data and analytics come in, as well. You’ll want to see solid results, in the form of metrics and measurements.
Walk The Walk
While you might not be able to judge a book by its cover, you can get a good idea about a company by investigating its website. Does the potential inbound marketing company’s website hit all the right notes? Do you find their content on their website and social media platforms fresh and relevant?
How has the company itself utilized the tools that they offer their customers? Do some probing, and ask questions about how they have experienced inbound marketing. They should be using their own programs and systems on their website, thus producing relatable data. A solid company will be more than willing to share their success stories, as well as what they learned from the inevitable forks in the road or momentary stumbles.
It is well worth your while to do some research, ask questions, and evaluate any company or companies that you are considering entrusting your marketing strategy to. Today’s online marketplace has tremendous potential- a fact that is not lost on the many inbound marketing agencies out there. Be sure you choose the right partner.
Image: MessageBus.com
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