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3 Tips on How To Choose A Digital Agency
3 Tips on How To Choose A Digital Agency
At Sydney Digital Marketing, we receive interest from clients every day.
We sit down and brainstorm, research, fill out briefing forms, conduct audits, all to come to a final meeting for them to ask if they can stay with us for “just a month and see how it goes”.
Here’s where we pause.
You came to an agency to fulfil a problem you were experiencing, probably for quite some time, and want a quick fix solution.
This could be anything from not enough leads or sales, or maybe a bad experience with an agency in the past and you aren’t ready to commit long term.
Digital Marketing, in very few but lucky cases, is a quick fix. Beyond campaign learning phases and onboarding processes, an agency’s goal from the outset should be to transform your business from the ground up, and this extends beyond learning and onboarding phases.
Partnering with an agency is not a short term solution, we cannot promise results in timeframes where we haven’t even had time to understand you yet.
If you’re looking for a short-term solution, ask yourself:
- 1. What is it I really want?
- 2. Why do I want this in ___ time?
- 3. How much more can I achieve in double that time?
- 4. In one year, will I have the capacity?
Now if you’re searching for an agency to partner with and learn with, here are 3 things you should look for;
1. Are they asking questions?
Make sure your agency takes the time in the first stages to get to know you thoroughly. Your marketing agency should be wanting to understand who you are and how you work, so that together, you can answer long-standing questions of;
What’s missing?
Where can we improve?
What can we achieve together?
Building a framework from the beginning means that you have the grounds for a perfect partnership where innovation and ideas can flow, and in the end, produce results for you.
2. Is there that “special connection?”
Cheesy as it may sound, we’re all about the ‘vibe’. Gut feeling is something you can’t ignore, and that includes when prospecting for an agency. Partnering with a digital agency means increased communications between you and another person, behind them is an entire team too, that’s a whole lot of heads that need to be able to come together and work This means that in times of stress or confusion, and especially in times of excitement and success, you want to make sure that this team makes you feel comfortable and will make you feel like there are no ‘silly questions’, only ‘things to learn about!’
3. Have you set expectations?
I’m sure you’ve heard of the saying, ‘if it’s too good to be true, then it probably is’. As an agency, we see your goals and your dreams and of course we want to reach them, but we are also realists.
We can’t promise to quadruple your sales in 6 months…
We can’t promise to quadruple your leads in 3 months…
…That’s not to say it can’t happen, but it’s definitely rare (and we assume, out of the realm of our possibilities).
…That’s also not to say we don’t aim for it.
Your potential agency needs to be real with you about the possibilities, for your sake and for their own. The last thing you want is to commit to an agency who promises insane otherworldly results and then are left without it.
We recently onboarded a client, who in our discovery workshop asked for us to “be realistic” about what they were asking from us.
We had discussed their bigger picture goals, and were presented with a challenge that is really a ‘bigger picture’; so something that would be an ultimate goal to them.
We explained that digital marketing does take time, and results are very rarely an instantaneous thing, but stick with it, and us, and we can promise to deliver results that propel you on the uphill to amazing long term growth and results.
It’s not easy… of course we want to be able to tell you we can do it, we can smash it for you, but in the time frame you’ve given us, it’s just not possible, but truly we aim to!
So in conclusion…
- 1. Mutual understanding
- 2. Collaborative communication
- 3. Honesty
- 4. Realism…
- 5. …and a whole lotta vibes!
It takes time to build a relationship, so we don’t rush our commitment to doing the best for you, and neither should your potential agency.
Partnering with a digital agency is not a short-term solution, we’re ready to take you in for the long-haul and focus on YOU, and in turn, skyrocketing your sales and leads.
It’s a journey and a process, but we’re here for the ride, it’s truly what we love doing.
For more tips on what to look for when choosing a digital agency partnership, speak to NatBot, our virtual match-maker chatbot in the bottom right hand corner of your screen.
Thanks for reading and we hope it was helpful! And naturally, if you’re ever beginning your search for a digital marketing agency, we would love to chat.
Article by
Simon Gould
CEO / Founder / Dad
Founder and leader, Simon established SDM back in 2012. Since then, he has helped 150 clients (and counting) to achieve their digital goals.[…]