How To Pick The Right Digital Marketing Agency For Your eLearning Business
In the post-COVID era, the market of digital marketing agencies has grown overwhelmingly. More and more eLearning businesses aim to find a path into the digital world in order to survive. This factor has increased the demand for experts in the industry to arrive and guide eLearning businesses. As a result, new digital agencies come to the surface promising to offer the online remedy.
The unstoppable growth of digital marketing has brought up the issue of trust. Nowadays, a simple Google search can bring you numerous choices of agencies ready to offer their services. However, this does not make it easy for the eLearning business manager. With a plethora of choices, it is harder to find the right one for your business since everyone is promising but few deliver.
Worry not, though; in this article, we will clear the mist around digital marketing agencies and offer you some advice to take into consideration in the decision-making phase. With the following tips at your disposal, you will be wiser to avoid red flags along the way.
Tips To Choose The Best Digital Marketing Agency For Your eLearning Business
Βefore you start looking for the best digital marketing agency, let's dive into the decision-making process. There are some valuable tips listed in this section which will help you choose the best agency for your eLearning business. Without further ado, sharpen your pens and let's begin!
1. Take A Look At Their Website And Social Media
We can all agree that the first thing someone would do in this case would be to Google-search for a digital marketing agency. Let's assume that you have arrived on their website. Do you like what you see? This is an important question to answer since you will be trusting this agency with your brand image. If they can make their brand appealing, then they might be able to do the same with yours as well.
Make sure that you look according to your goals. For example, if you are looking for an agency to handle your social media, then check their social media to see how they are operating.
2. Check On Their Portfolio
Would you try a service that would take a long time without being sure about it? We think not. Let's say that you're looking for a content marketing expert to help you get more organic traffic and better rankings in the SERPs. That is why checking the portfolio of the potential content marketing agency is of high importance. Usually, such agencies tend to present their portfolios on their website, so it will be easy to find.
What to look for:
- Important clients
- The outcome of their work
- Clients from your industry
Making sure that you search for the information listed above will minimize the risk of failure and narrow down the list of digital agencies. Moreover, you can get content marketing ideas for the campaigns they might build for you.
3. Have A Look At Their Team Members
Cooperating with a digital marketing agency often feels like extending your own business. During the process, you get in touch with their marketing team almost as often as with your own team. Therefore, you might want to consider checking their team members as well. Specifically, ask yourself:
- Is their team experienced enough?
- What is the expertise of the team members?
- Are they communicative?
We can't state enough the importance of regarding their team members as part of your team. Look for values that you would like your team members to have. This can ensure a sufficient and successful collaboration.
4. Search For Client Reviews
Social proof is the backbone of decision-making. People tend to value reviews more than descriptions. That is because it is in our nature to trust someone who is more familiar with us. Yes, the other clients and their experience with content marketing campaigns of this agency. Therefore, make sure that you read the reviews carefully and aim for the clients that match your own industry standards.
Nowadays you can find client reviews almost everywhere in the online world. Start by looking at a Google search with specific keywords to find reviews regarding your potential partners. Continue by finding their social media accounts where you can see comments and reviews. Lastly, feel free to check out relevant directories in which the digital marketing agency might be featured. All the above-mentioned places can offer you enough social proof to make the right decision.
5. Ensure That Their Company Culture Matches Yours
As we previously mentioned, you will be working closely with the agency for a long period of time. So, you need to make sure that this new collaboration will not affect your company culture negatively. For this reason, you might prefer collaborating with a company that shares the same values as yours. Or maybe you'd like to work with a company that has won an award for best company culture. Such a collaboration could have a great impact on your own team. Also, notice how they talk to each other during the meetings. If their employees are happy, then the partners are going to be, as well. This will eventually help you build together and execute effectively a strategic marketing plan.
6. Avoid "Over-Promises"
Digital marketing is a vague area with almost no certainty. Even if you have tons of experience and years of practice, you cannot be 100% sure that your next campaign will meet the goal. Even more so when you partner with someone for the first time.
Therefore, if you hear over-promises, stay away. Shady agencies tend to do this until you sign a contract with them. To avoid this unpleasant situation, prefer the companies which mention the "downs," the risks, and promise more achievable goals.
7. Find A Cooperative And Communicative Agency
This section adds value to the ones we previously mentioned. Digital marketing collaboration is a long ongoing process. It is a cooperation of both giving and receiving. Spot the green and red flags in communication and collaboration from the first meetings. Are they asking you questions? Are they offering availability for support? Do they value communication?
Keep in mind that the digital marketing agency you will be working with will be like a part of your internal team, so look for values like you would in the recruitment process. In general, the profile of your partners should align with the profile of your team members, at least regarding the soft skills.
8. Aim For Transparency, Honesty, And Accountability
Collaborating with the right digital marketing agency is often a long-term relationship. Especially if your cooperation includes SEO initiatives. In such a long run of teamwork, you should aim for certain values that can turn your choice of agency into a success.
Specifically, the values you should look for in an agency are:
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Transparency
Transparency is a must-have value if you want to reach your marketing goals. We stated above that you will need to provide even full control over some marketing aspects to the agency. However, you should remember that you are the one who should have the last say. Make sure to spot from the first point of communication that the agency you are addressing is operating under full transparency with the customer. This will ensure your bird's-eye view over the process and help you avoid any shady initiatives.
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Honesty
There is no need for a full-length description here. Honesty is a remarkable value in both individual and business relationships. You should prompt the agency you will work with to be honest with you along the way. Make sure that they not only present the successes but the failures as well. This will add prestige points to them and make the cooperation smoother.
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Accountability
Nothing is promised in the marketing world. Most of the strategies agencies use include trial and error. Therefore, there are times in which things can go wrong. That is not necessarily bad. What is bad is when the agency puts the fault of their mistakes on you or on third parties. In this scenario, you have a clear indication that the potential relationship can soon go sideways.
What To Know Before You Start Looking For The Best Digital Marketing Agency
There is no one-size-fits-all in digital marketing. Since every business is different, so is the service they require. Therefore, before even looking for the best digital marketing agency, you need to know who you are and what you need from the potential collaboration.
To do so, you might want to consider the following.
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Know Your Goals
Every business is different, so every service should be tailored to the business's needs. This is why it is important to analyze your goals prior to picking a digital marketing agency. Knowing what you want to achieve from the potential collaboration will help you pave the way to a successful partnership.
This is important not only for large organizations but for SMBs as well.
In small businesses, the process is easier. Generally speaking, small businesses tend to have more achievable goals. Therefore, analyze the goal-setting process you have made with your team and be ready for the next meeting with the agency.
Imagine a case in which your SaaS eLearning business wants to increase organic traffic by 15%. Then you might want to look for an agency that specializes in link-building services and has clients from your industry. This process narrows down the search and increases the chances of success.
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Get Prepared In Advance
Similarly to the previous paragraph, we need to state that you might want to do your homework prior to the decision-making process. Undoubtedly, no one knows your business better than you do. That is why it is necessary to be ready to provide the agency with the information they need. Getting everything ready in advance will help the digital marketing agency do its part more efficiently.
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Do Not Hesitate To Ask
In many steps of the journey, the agency will have full control over your digital marketing strategies and initiatives. That is not necessarily bad. However, you should be aware that you are the customer here and you can ask anything about the process. Be prepared to ask questions about parts of the process that might seem unclear to you, since you will be the one making the final decision.
Key Takeaway
Making your eLearning business stand out in an enterprise world often feels like a survival game. Understandable, since the competition is huge.
Thus, you need the appropriate guidance to rule the online marketplace.
Moreover, budget-wise, there is not much space for risks. These factors increase the importance of choosing the best digital marketing agency for your eLearning business.
In a plethora of choices, there are tips like the ones we mentioned in this article to help you out.
Make sure that you implement them according to your business and industry.
Following these will help you find the "missing piece" of your business, the connection to the digital marketing sphere.
