You’ve decided to take the plunge and you’ve hired a digital marketing agency. You’re ready to grow your online sales, and you weren’t sure what to do so you brought in professionals. Great move! Marketing yourself online is very much like building a website. There are tools out there that can help you do it. But if you want the best results, hire a professional.
So now what?
When it comes to coming on board and getting started, here’s what to expect from your new digital marketing agency.
Step 1. Access
Your agency will need access to:
- Google Analytics – This is a must for any agency to see historical data on your website visitors. If you don’t have Google Analytics, be sure to ask them to set it up for you and give you administrative access. This way if anything were to happen you can set who has access in the future.
- Google AdWords – If your agency isn’t handling your Google AdWords it’s still good to give them read access. AdWords has insights on search terms that can help your agency in SEO and page optimization.
- Social Media Accounts – Your new agency, again, may not be handling your social media, but it’s good to let them know what you’re doing on social. They may have insights that will help you grow your presence in that space. If they are, granting them access as an administrator or page manager will allow them to make changes. And if you don’t have social media the same rule applies to it as it does to your analytics. Make sure they’re adding you as an administrator too.
- Your Website – Sometimes a marketing agency isn’t also the web design agency. But to do any SEO or content marketing they’ll need access to your website’s content management system and also FTP access to manage your SEO properly.
- All Other Marketing Efforts – Let them know what else you’re doing. If you have a calendar of marketing events, let them know so they can schedule content and social media posts accordingly.
Step 2. Communication
This part cannot be stressed enough. Having a regular communication schedule with your marketing agency is essential to know everyone’s heading in the right direction. Get a calendar event scheduled for regular check-ins with your marketing agency. Plan with them when each party will be bringing deliverables.
Depending on your time budget those meetings can range from once a week to once a quarter. But regular email contact will help ensure everyone’s on the same page and working toward your goals.
Step 3. Setting Goals, Expectations, and Accomplishments
When you’re coming on board to a new marketing agency, set the goals with them. Inform them what you’d like to see in terms of marketing and / or sales achievements. This sets the expectation from their side on what they need to be doing in terms of strategy. If your goals are not in line with your budget, a reputable agency will tell you that.
Also be prepared to share information such as sales figures, other marketing budget items, and key business information during the onboarding process. A digital marketing agency is an ally and a partner in your growth, so informing them where you stand is important.
As you move through the process each side should be willing to share the accomplishments and where improvements should be made.
On a side note, if you’ve been working with another agency, be sure to bring everything they’ve done during their tenure to the table. This gives your new agency a place to start from. If you don’t have that information, request it from your former agency.
It can be hard to know what to expect from your new digital marketing agency when you first come on board. They’ve told you they can manage a lot of things, have given you lots of information, and now you’ve got to trust they can deliver. A reputable agency will set expectations from the onset and will continue to set those expectations as they go.
The final segment of this blog series will touch on what to expect from your digital marketing agency on an ongoing basis. If you haven’t read on what you should expect during the initial sales process – read it here.