Not everyone can understand what a digital marketing agency does. Many business owners think they’re just people who advertise on Facebook and Instagram, which is true to some extent, but is a huge misunderstanding.

Essentially, a digital marketing agency manages the entire online advertising side of your business. That is, getting your website to rank on Google, managing your online ads, content creation, social media management, and reporting on metrics. Each agency provides a different set of services – some are specialized on SEO, but others are more of a jack-of-all-trades.

Every company looks for the most cost-effective and efficient way to complete and achieve their goals. Every company looks for the most cost-effective and efficient way to complete and achieve their goals. That is why companies become interested in marketing agencies versus building in-house teams. It is clear agencies are better financially and cost less. Consider the marketing in-house team that would need to be assembled. You would need to hire specialists in SEO, content writing, management, and analytical reporting. That is 5 to 6 full time employees for a single function. Plus, the cost of hiring, training, collateral, and software. You could spend thousands of dollars and the agency will keep up with the software updates and new marketing channel changes. They will have the newest marketing collateral and best practices.

When marketing agencies take on new clients their first stages are to develop a strategy and marketing plan. They will not simply start posting content and running ads. Agencies will meet with clients to understand their goals. More visitors to the website may be a goal but it is not good to have visitors who do not buy or contact the company to purchase. Agencies will generally develop a plan in three phases; pre-marketing, marketing, and post-marketing. They should be improving the quality of the leads that are being generated. The marketing agency should be driving leads and not just clicks. More low quality leads do not mean a better marketing plan or strategy. The marketing agency should be driving low quality leads. More low quality leads do not mean a better marketing plan or strategy. You should spend less and see the leads generated goal reached. Marketing agencies should be moving leads down the funnel or closing the leads.

After creating a strategy, the next step is the execution phase, the part that really matters. This includes the actual website optimization for technical SEO and SEO content. It also includes Google and social media paid ads, blogging, video creating, email marketing, social media management, and the list goes on. Most agencies focus on lines that make the most sense to the business, helping avoid spreading themselves too thin across every channel. However, to be fair, some clients push to do that even when it is not a smart way to go.

Reporting is very important, but it’s also the easiest area for everything to get muddled. It is not uncommon to see clients receiving a lot of reports showing that some things are working and some things are not. Metrics like website traffic numbers are nice to look at, but they’re not important. What’s important is how many people that visited are inquiring about services, how many people purchased something, how much did each lead or sale actually cost. Even when the results aren’t what everyone expected, a transparent agency will show you everything.

Let’s appreciate the facts – results take time. Especially in SEO work, you may have to wait 3 to 6 months before you start seeing a jump in rankings and traffic. On the flipside, paid ads show a faster increase in traffic but it also requires constant optimising and is a recurring cost. When the online competition is so stiff, it’s understandable, but unrealistic to expect instant results. 

Not every situation can work with the agency model. If you are dealing with a serious budget and a heavy volume of work, an in-house team provides you with better control and a closer integration with the rest of your business processes. However, in most cases, particularly for smaller companies or those who do not have a lot of digital marketing knowledge internally, it is generally more rational to work with an agency. You get seasoned marketing professionals without the employment cost, and you can adjust the scale of your marketing initiatives in line with your business performance.

Choosing the right agency is vital. Don’t be fooled by fancy slides and talking points. Instead, ask about their real process, how they define and measure success, their communication style, and most importantly, what do they do if campaigns are underperforming? A great agency will explain what is and isn’t realistic given your budget, not make baseless promises.

The best agency-client relationships involve great collaboration. Both of you must really understand your business and what goes into the budget, timelines, and actual work. It is not an exchange where you give money and take your competitors spot on Google. That is where most agency relationships fail.