What are the traits of a good digital marketing agency? How do you get the most suitable agency for your work? Several organizations, big or small, face this question.

Organisations are often confused between investing in a marketing team who can manage all the activities in-house and hiring a good digital marketing agency. If its in-house team, how big should be the team? Should it just be the one-man digital army? Would you get the right talent capable of managing all digital campaigns and promotions by himself?

The stepping stone for this decision is to identify your marketing objectives based on your business goal. The second most important thing is the budget.

Marketing Objective Planning

• Set quantifiable goals. For example a 30% increase in traffic, 200 new leads, a 40% increase in followers in 6 months etc.
• Identify calculable deliverables. For example 4 campaigns, 8 posts, etc.
• Set timeline and milestones to ensure you are in the right direction

If your finding point towards hiring a digital marketing agency, then here’s what you should look for.

Traits of Good Digital Marketing Agency

1. Good people make a great team

A good digital marketing agency is like an overall package. They employ above-average to experts in the fields including design, copywriting, content marketing, SEO, analytics and performance marketing. Working with an agency team that matches your wavelength, energy and creativity will make the whole process fun and fruitful.

2. A good agency maintains clear and transparent communication

Successful digital marketing agencies consider their clients as partners. They maintain an open, honest and clear line of communication. Transparency between your company and the agency is very important to achieve the set deliverables on time.

3. Some agencies specialise in certain digital activity

On-boarding a digital agency with specialized industry experience is an added advantage. Only if the digital marketing agency possesses in-depth knowledge of your industry and of your niche, it will be able to guide you better.

4. Strong and sizeable portfolio

Most agencies proudly display the work they do. This helps gauge their passion and potential. While checking their portfolio, remember to check their website too. A good digital marketing company knows the importance of an easy to use, fast loading and SEO rich website. 

5. Open and honest social proof

Although agencies might list a number of projects and clients in their portfolio, the testimonials and client reviews are the actual proofs. They showcase a great deal about the agency’s working style and expertise. They also put a spotlight on their work as well as their struggles.

6. Agencies should be agile and solution-oriented

Look for an agency that adapts itself quickly to the ever-changing world of digital marketing. Its always beneficial to working with agencies who are flexible, action and solution-oriented. They respond to changes swiftly and fix potential problems effectively.

7. Agencies demonstrate strategic decision making in their proposal or client presentation

Digital marketing is all about analyzing data and identifying opportunities. Based on this, taking the right course of action at the right time. If the account manager is able to understand your business, able to support it with data, and propose a realistic plan, they should be good in strategic thinking.

8. Good company culture and values

The final and most important trait stems from the agency’s own culture and core values. Understanding whether the agency brings the same values to the table and operates in an environment similar to yours is essential. This is because, ultimately, they will be an extension of your business and represent your brand on social platforms. 

In nut shell,

Choosing the right digital partner can make or break your brand. It can have great implications on your bottom line. The wrong one can do heavy business and reputation damage and drain your budgets too. The right one can elevate you and help your business flourish. We hope that now you know what traits to look for in ‘THE’ digital agency you want to work with.

Also remember, you have the freedom to ask the why, how, when and what questions. So, before you zero down and finalize your digital agency, prepare a checklist of
all the traits that you definitely want to look for.

Contributor: Shreaya Bajaj, Shweta Baid