Budget

Before you start searching for an online marketing agency in Arizona, you must figure out your company’s budget and the services required.

It is a complete waste of your budget and time to request a marketing proposal from an agency without first nailing down the amount that you have to spend. This initial step will save you time and money in the long run. You will also be able to articulate exactly what you are looking for before beginning your search.

Objectives and Goals

Analyze your business to see which areas need the most improvement. Once you know what your needs are, you can reach out to a marketing agency to help nail down which digital marketing services will be the most beneficial to improve your business. There are several services like social media management, social media training, content marketing, SEO, paid ads, content creation etc., that will help your business grow.

Client Testimonials

In today’s hyper-connected digital world, credibility is easily faked. It is always good to do background research on any company that you are planning on working with, especially if you have to hand over logins and such. One of the best ways to verify credibility are the client testimonials, word of mouth recommendations and review websites like google, or yelp. By doing your due diligence you will gain insights based on real experiences of people who have utilized the companies in the past.

Set Goals

Before searching for a marketing agency, you must have a clear set of goals and objectives. Next, break these goals and objectives down into short term and long term goals. As long as you can create a strategic action plan with clear and defined objectives, finding the right marketing agency will become a simple task. Once you have your goals are set, you will be better able to explain what your business needs are to prospecting marketing agencies. This helps you achieve your goals easily and effectively.

Agency Reputation

An important step in finding a marketing agency that will help you hit your goals is to verify their credentials. If you can verify their claims about their skills and expertise then you are headed in the right direction. Another important aspect of this would be to verify their own existence based on looking up the company on Google. Review the age of the company. If they started recently then they may not be the best fit for your needs. As stated above client testimonials and reviews are huge in helping verify a company. The next step would be to see if they have certifications, or awards for the work they are providing. If you do not take this step and end up hiring an unreputable agency, you may end up causing more harm than good.

Research Their Online Presence

Before hiring a marketing agency, evaluate how the company manages and handles their own marketing campaigns. Pay special attention to social media to assess their strengths and weaknesses. Check their website and see if it is mobile-optimized. There should be quality content, images and text on their social networks with a considerable amount of followers. Their blogs should post high-quality content, graphics and infographics. Get a general sense of their use of search engine optimization and see where their site appears in search engine listings. This will give you a decent sense that they will be able to create a well crafted marketing campaign for your company.

Choose Agency Based on your Niche

Many competitive marketing agencies specialize in specific services or niches. Being good at many things is extremely difficult and inefficient. Before hiring a marketing agency, ensure that they specialize in your niche. Hiring such a marketing agency specializing in your niche can have a lot of advantages as they will understand your business better. It always a good idea to ask if they have ever worked with a company like yours.

Size of the Agency

An additional area of focus would be to look at the size of the agency. If the agency is small with only one person, they may not have the time to dedicate to your account. A medium sized agency with a handful of people is a great option. With an agency that is too large, there is a possibility that your project may not get a dedicated team or the focused attention it deserves to deliver the desired results. Many of the biggest online agencies have only a few senior marketers who manage interns and junior marketers who in turn handle the bulk of the client load. There is a high probability that your project will be handled by junior marketers yet you will still be paying for the skill and expertise of the senior marketers. Our owner oversees and reviews everything.

 

Measure their Success

It is easy to make tall claims, but you should confirm with the agency if they can successfully deliver on their claims. You should hire a marketing agency that has tested methods to track their campaigns, successes or failures. Find out about past clients, campaigns, performance metrics, return on investment and the results they delivered.

Relationship

It is incredibly important to establish a committed relationship with the marketing agency you want to hire. Both you and the agency will be working towards the common goal of growing your  brand recognition and business via social media. Figuring out if you can work well with the agency, their resources and their management style is vital. Another key part of your budding relationship would be if they are accessible and open for communication and suggestions. Making sure your communication style aligns with the marketing team will alleviate headaches down the road.

Agency Type

There are various types of marketing and advertising agencies, some are creative agencies, website design, industry-specific agencies, global agencies and local marketing agencies. Failing to choose the correct agency type for the project or goals your team has, will ultimately end up not delivering the results you expect. Be very clear about what type of marketing you are interested in. 

At Premiere Social Media, we are your one-stop-shop for all your online marketing needs and can cover every type of online marketing, unlike many other agencies. Why not just worry about one agency, rather than multiple? Schedule a free consultation with our Internet marketing expert today.