Are you considering to hire an agency for your marketing needs? There could probably be many reasons you are considering one – save you time, effort, and money and, most importantly, bring in some expertise for your marketing campaigns.
Making the jump to get some outside help is such a big decision. As a construction business owner, you should not take this lightly. While some agencies can fully transform your business and help you generate much revenue, others may need to meet your expectations. It concludes that not all agencies are the same.
In this blog, we will help you discover a couple of boxes/items you need to tick before you decide when looking for a construction marketing agency. The insights we will provide will help you make the best decision for your brand in the future.
Before You Start Contacting Companies
This might not come as a surprise anymore, but not all marketing agencies out there employ experts in each aspect of online marketing. Some agencies focus only on SEO, social media, PPC, brand awareness strategy, and PR. This is fine, especially if you only need expert support in just one aspect of your marketing campaign.
In addition, it is easier to find an agency that specializes only in one channel than to look for one that offers specialization in multiple areas of digital marketing. Again, some agencies only offer one to two marketing solutions and usually offer basic support to round out their service offering.
Overall, it boils down to two important things – who you want to hire to do the work and what aspects of your digital marketing campaign you are looking to outsource.
Below are some of the most common marketing solutions you need for your campaigns:
- Social media campaign management
- SEO consulting and full support
- Link-building campaign management
- Content creation and marketing
- Brand strategy
- Email marketing
- Website design and development
Once you find a list of agencies specializing in the right marketing services, you are ready for the hard-hitting questions.
What You Should Be Looking for in an Agency?
1. Are their methods updated and current?
The digital marketing landscape changes more often than you think. Take the following platforms as an example. Updates to algorithms to features of these platforms can have a big impact on how you can successfully market the services you offer to your construction clients and potential leads:
- Good Ads
- Google algorithm and ranking factors
- Amazon search and rankings
- Amazon Ads
- Social networks
- Social media ad platforms
- Email marketing platforms
- Other search engines and their ad platforms
Again, the platforms above are constantly rolling out updates! So, when you decide to hire an agency, ask as many questions as possible to find out whether they are aware of these recent changes and their methodologies.
Pro Tip: To be able to do this, you should have at least some level of familiarity with digital marketing. You don’t need to understand the majority of it. In fact, you can simply start listening to recent news about digital marketing. You can also stay up by subscribing to newsletters about social media, local SEO, PPC, content marketing, and more.
2. Are these agencies well-rounded?
Even if you are hiring a specialist to focus on one area, hiring a team that is well-versed in all aspects of digital marketing is a good decision. Determine how well-versed they are with the below:
· On-page and technical SEO may be completely different. However, both are necessary.
- Social media contributes indirectly to Search engine optimization
- SEO, socials, and emails drive content marketing results
- Link building is a chief part of SEO and is usually tied to content marketing.
- Most channels drive new leads to a particular or customized landing page on your construction website.
It is still okay if the agency does not offer certain marketing services. However, always be wary of agencies with no better understanding of other marketing components or tell you not to bother at all and cannot provide data to support their recommendations. These are red flags.
3. Do they present your receipts?
What we mean here is case studies! When hiring an agency, one of the first things you want to do is ask for proof of their work. While this can be tricky since sometimes, there is a requirement to sign NDA agreements, which means the agency may not reveal the name of the campaigns they run.
If that is the case, you can ask questions about the previous campaigns and clients they worked with. Even if they cannot tell you the name of the campaign or give you more information, it is important that they can break down their work in full detail, including their marketing approach, strategies they used, and the outcome of everything.
Finally, also check the testimonials and reviews on their website.
4. Do they practice what they preach?
Practicing what is being preached is as important as ever. So, if an agency is going to handle your digital marketing campaigns, make sure that:
- Their website is fully optimized and ranks for relevant key terms
- They must have at least one or two engaging and active social media profiles.
- Their GMB profile must be branded, claimed, and populated.
- Any social posts, ads, or emails must feel cohesive and on-brand.
Another tip is to search the agency online and look at the results to determine how well it optimized its metadata.
5. Are they using the best tools and strategies?
Metrics matter in digital marketing, and if you are going to hire an agency, you must know what tools they are currently using for their client’s campaigns.
For instance, lead acquisition campaigns may be the same as any other campaigns you have. However, this particular campaign often requires an end-to-end experience. The agency you want to work with must use the right tools and strategies to achieve the best results.
Apart from that, you should also know what communication tools they used, how they can give you reports and keep up-to-date on the progress of your campaigns. This may seem like unnecessary details for you to inquire about. However, this can help you differentiate digital marketing agencies from the top players.
6. Is their reporting effective?
Reporting is important to success when building a relationship with your chosen marketing agency. A solid reporting track record can show how transparent the agency is with its clients. And while an agency reports to their clients completely differently regarding formats or frequency, ensure you are always in the loop. And these people are capable of putting on the loop without fail.
Always remember that a great agency can provide you with a baseline report and involve you in reaching your marketing goals.
7. Is their pricing fair?
When searching for an agency, a lower price does not mean a better deal. Be cautious because whenever an agency is quoting you at a super low price, there can be a reason for it. And sometimes, this reason can be a motive. Ask them why their pricing is quite low and how they manage to keep it low while offering quality marketing services.
While some agencies offer high pricing, sometimes these agencies are more established and more willing to dedicate effort and time to your marketing campaigns – mainly because you have paid them reasonably. In many cases, reasonably priced agencies treat their clients with the utmost respect, with more integrity and commitment.
8. Ask additional questions
Ask as many questions as possible about the agency you want to partner with. You are entering into a business relationship, and all you should be hoping is to be mutually fit with them. That is why asking questions can help build relationships between you and your chosen agency.
Quiz them about every aspect of their agency, operations, and service offerings. Also, make sure to know more about their experience level in their industry and in your industry, too. As a construction business owner, partner with an agency with a strong construction background and know the ins and outs of your sector.
Seek Professional Help from ConstructionMarketing.io
You may often ask yourself, “How do I choose the right digital marketing agency?”. The questions we cited above can help you determine the agency of your choice. Make sure to ask those questions and tick each box. Know that the benefits of hiring an agency are manifold.
If you are looking for a team with an agency with expertise in multiple areas of digital marketing and a strong background in construction, take no further than us!
We are ConstructionMarketing.io. As a full-service construction marketing company, we offer a range of digital marketing solutions – from SEO, social media, Content creation, website design and development, PPC, and more. We can help you devise the best marketing campaigns for your construction business. Working with us can bring tremendous benefits, including increased traffic, more leads, boosted ROI, data-driven insights, wide reach, etc.
Reach out to us today. We are excited to be working side by side with you.