There are many variations to this question, what should a digital marketing agency do for you? Should they increase your online traffic, improve your Facebook likes, should they improve your Google rankings? These variations all could be true, but the main objective should be to increase the business profits, by online marketing.
What I mean by this, that a website that increases its visitors does not automatically increase its profits, if they are the wrong visitors, and/or the wrong demographic for your product or service. Ranking for the search terms that will not engage a customer and put money in the till also has no value, and as far as Facebook likes are concerned, well this really is “old hat”.
A good digital agency will work to understand your business, your ideal demographics and build a campaign around this. It may mean less website visitors than other campaigns, but if these visitors have money to spend and are looking for what you sell, then that means more profits. Getting this strategy right is the key to making money.
Some of the Digital Marketing Services an Agency Could Offer
Search engine optimisation can be the most cost effective in the medium to long term, for converting customers into sales using organic traffic. There are many aspects to SEO from link building to creating content that engages people. There is also a technical side, ensuring your website loads fast and is mobile friendly. I said “can be” the most cost effective not always, for certain smaller businesses, it may just cost too much in the current climate. It is unlikely that SEO will be effective in the short term (unless a website recovery), it takes time to create a strong authority website that Google will want to rank.
Pay Per Click marketing can give a very fast boost to online visitors. Pay your money and there could be buyers on your website today. Some real thought needs to put into PPC campaigns though, as the costs per click have spiralled and for low profit services or products this just may not be commercially viable. A good digital marketing company will know how to calculate the real costs, as it can get cheaper as click through rates (CTR) are improved and page quality scores get better.
Video Marketing using YouTube, “TikTok” and other social media platforms. There are some companies that can benefit massively from having videos of their products, business address or even the staff or business owners. Videos give a visual of trust and benefits, the fact that an investment has been made into a video can also create sales.
Social media, for some smaller businesses can deliver results just on its own using messages, images and videos, with only a brochure website to back it up. The key strategy here is engagement and regular posts. A business with a Facebook page that has not been uploaded for a while, suggests nothing is happening in that business. In fact it may be better not to have a Facebook page at all than one with outdated information. Of course, this advice also relates to twitter, Instagram and in some cases LinkedIn.
Email marketing still has some impact in certain industries, although it is frowned upon sometimes. This has become more specialist in recent years with spam filters removing bulk email shots. Make sure a specialist is used if this is a chosen way to go.
Not all of these sectors need to be used within a digital marketing campaign, a good agency will help understand your business and be honest with what it thinks it can achieve. It is then up to the business owner to decide if the cost will deliver a suitable profit, or increased branding value.
What About Web Design?
Website design may not be offered as a service, in fact many digital agencies may not include the word “marketing” within their business service list, at all and just stick to web design or development. In my experience there is a crossover unless the sole purpose is to be a brochure site and its visitors to be driven by other forms of marketing such as TV, Radio, Newspaper, or social media. Yes a google optimised web design can help a website rank easier, load faster and convert better.
To summarise, do not buy digital marketing services based only on visitor numbers, likes or rankings, base it on improved online visibility directly to your chosen demographic. It is about the right customers, not the quantity. Do your marketing sums, can you make a profit from this? If the answer is yes, then go for it.
With all this said, do not employ a digital marketing agency that does not understand the importance of conversion. Remember a 1% conversion that increases to 1.5% is a 50% increase in sales for the same marketing budget. This has to be part of the overall strategy of the agency.