So there’s something weak in your online hood. Who ya gonna call?
Not so fast!
Any successful online marketing agent is going to have several questions for you before agreeing to start a campaign: it’s more than just about money. So it’s important to answer those questions for yourself before you reach out to a third party. Let’s take a look at some of these things:
Your campaign’s goals
With clearly defined goals, your marketing efforts will succeed; without them they won’t. Personally, I favor the S.M.A.R.T. system for defining goals – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. For example, a goal of creating an ad with a minimum click through ratio of 1.5% and publishing it within 1 week already meets three of the five criteria. If the ad benefits your business, and you have the resources to create it, that takes care of the other two requirements.
Your monthly budget for ad spending
Many agencies will demand that your ad budget be upwards of $3,000 a month before considering a campaign. Primarily, this amount gives them a comfort zone in which to run split tests and continually refine your ad.
Have all the stakeholders in your business agreed to the goals and budget?
Obviously you don’t want to sign a contract, only to have someone higher up in your company’s food chain deny approval.
How does your business position its products or services?
This is a fairly fundamental question to all types of marketing, and it’s very important that both you and the agency are on the same page with respect to positioning. For example, are you selling the gourmet product of the decade, made only with the rarest ingredients, or are you selling the bargain for the masses?
Have you seen any sites where your customers speak about your business, such as in reviews or on social media?
This information is key to any kind of social media effort, regardless of whether the comments are good or bad. Either way, they’re also going to influence how a good digital marketer handles your campaign.
How does your business currently prove its credibility?
Do you feature client testimonials? Media mentions and/or press releases? Third party endorsements?
Do you have any content or creatives to support your ad campaign?
There are marketing agencies that are willing to supply this material for an additional charge, but many others will demand that your business supply all of them in order to work with you at all.
As you probably guessed by now, you really need to do your homework before you venture forth.
See you next time!
