Hiring (the right) marketing agency for your business the do's and don'ts
•Download as PPTX, PDF•
0 likes•130 views
In this webinar, Scott Freeborn and Dan Sundgren of FreeGren Digital will discuss everything you've ever wanted to know about finding an agency for your small business. For more digital marketing webinars geared towards small businesses, visit: http://bit.ly/2bf2YjK.
More Related Content
Similar to Hiring (the right) marketing agency for your business the do's and don'ts
Similar to Hiring (the right) marketing agency for your business the do's and don'ts (20)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
Hiring (the right) marketing agency for your business the do's and don'ts
- 1. Hiring (The Right) marketing agency for your business. The Do's and Don’ts DAN & SCOTT FREEGREN DIGITAL JANUARY 30TH 2018
- 2. #bitzwebinar @MarketingBitz About LSA LSA Stands for “Local Search Association” Not-for-profit trade association based in Michigan More than 300 members in about 20 countries Traditional and digital providers of advertising and marketing services and technology Many work directly with local business owners
- 3. #bitzwebinar @MarketingBitz Meet the Speakers-Who are these guys?
- 4. #bitzwebinar @MarketingBitz Do you even need an agency/partner?
- 5. #bitzwebinar @MarketingBitz What are your goals?
- 6. #bitzwebinar @MarketingBitz How do you find a great (not good) partner?
- 7. #bitzwebinar @MarketingBitz Things you NEED to ask
- 9. #bitzwebinar @MarketingBitz Google Owns the Hand Raisers
- 10. #bitzwebinar @MarketingBitz RESOURCES & LINKS
- 12. #bitzwebinar @MarketingBitz THANK YOU FOR JOINING US! If you have any questions or would like to be connected to today’s speakers, please email info@marketingbitz.com for more info.
Editor's Notes
- *Quick intro to FreeGren-we do SEM, SEO and Website Development and Hosting. We are at our core Direct Response marketers primarily focused on Google and Bing. We make the phone ring and generate leads/business. We also focus on SMB’s in the Northwest in service industry verticals. We do a little B2B as well. *Scott & Dan career overview.
- *Is your business maxed out? Do you even need more business? These are actually good questions to ask. Maybe you are a seasonal business and only need the phone to ring during your shoulder seasons? If you are slamming busy and happy with where you are as a business, then the question turns to “What does your existing marketing look like?” *This question should never be answered by your existing marketing partner (if you have one (or several). You need a 3rd party opinion, objective and fair. Someone you can trust. *Do you do marketing in house currently? If you do it in house, do you have the time, knowledge and expertise to be doing it on your own? Is the ROI there for doing it on your own? How do you *think* it is performing? *Common goals are typically: Phone Calls, Lead or Reservation Forms/Contact Us Forms, Bookings, Text/SMS Engagement, Generating Quality/Pre-Qualified Traffic to your site. All of which generate $$$ Revenue for your business at the end of the day.
- *Growing your business? Are you a single or multiple location company? How do you view different locations if so? *Maintaining your business as it is today? *Getting higher value customers? *Improving your digital footprint/digital presence across the entire internet? *Understanding your current metrics and how to improve your data insights? EG-Google Analytics, GMB, Google Insights etc
- *You can use the partner directory https://www.google.com/partners/ but don’t discount word of mouth. LSA Vendor directory as well. http://www.marketingbitz.com/marketing/Provider-Directory.aspx Even something as simple as checking the Google My Business for an agency and looking at their reviews is helpful. *What other business owners you know well can you talk to about their marketing? What agencies in your local market have good (or terrible) reputations? You can learn a lot just talking to other SMB’s. *You absolutely need to “right size” your new partner. Some agencies require a min fee of $5,000 a month, that is the FEE. Some are literally a one man operation in the basement (which might fit you perfectly you never know) What we will tell you is the larger the shop, the more expensive and the lesser your chance of even getting a response if you contact them. *Big Box-in our humble opinion, the large marketing platform companies out there do a marginal job at best. They rely on a one size fits all templated approach because they have to in order to scale. You simply cannot give stellar service to 1000 or 100,000 + companies all under one umbrella. A smaller, more hands on agency that A) truly cares about your business and goals AND B) is great at their craft will ALWAYS outperform and outhustle a big box. *Technology is changing incredibly fast, your marketing partner should be on top of these changes and know what is important for your business. *From your first contact and initial discussion, do you genuinely like the partner? They should be amicable, easy to work with and willing to do what it takes to drive your business. You should NEVER feel put out by talking with them or get a sense that you are too small to matter? If you are too small for their minimums and level of service, they should tell you and let you continue your vetting process. It’s ok, there are a TON of different sizes of companies and agencies, and you need one that is a GREAT fit for you. *This process takes TIME, it is time well spent because when you find the right marketing partner, you can sleep well at night knowing your hard earned dollars are being spent to help you grow your business. *Speaking of dollars, you should KNOW where your media is being spent and what work is being done for what services. SEO & SEM should be clearly outlined. Is the agency willing to give you a detailed breakdown of all work? GREAT partners are 100% transparent.
- *How do you work with clients? What kind of reporting? How often do you interact with clients? How much time do you spend REALLY understanding my industry, my business and most importantly MY GOALS? *References? Should have at least 2 you can call and talk to. *What are your areas of expertise? How do you measure success? What is your track record of driving RESULTS? *How much experience do you have? Do you focus on national vs Local clients? Do you have expertise related to my business? *This sounds trite, but if I call you what is your typical response time? What level of service should I expect? *How big is the agency? *Who is going to be working on my business? Am I able to reach them when I need to and can I talk to them before we get up and running? *How do you stack up on the pricing continuum? Cheapest is rarely the best. Conversely the most expensive usually is not either. *What do sample reports look like? What kind of metrics and data can I expect to receive? Communication cadence is critical! *Will I own my data? ALL of my data? My AdWords account? My Google Analytics data? Can I log into all my data sources? *How do you charge fees? What are your minimum spend amounts? Are budgets flexible for seasonality? *Do you require contracts? If so, what are the out clauses? Are there early termination fees? Do you require setup fees for both SEM and/or SEO? *What accreditations does your team have? Is the person or team working on your account Google Adwords Certified? Do you stay on top of the continual changes in the Google SEO landscape? *Where are your marketing dollars going? Do you break down all media spend by channel?
- *Our philosophy is that if you follow the preceding questions, really open up a solid line of communication and level set the understanding of the work and your goals, you should NEVER be bound to an onerous agreement. This is going to be an evolving relationship and there needs to be a trust level up front. As a client, you need to invest some time (and of course money) into your digital marketing programs so please don’t go into it with a “set it and forget it’ attitude. Client involvement can make or break good strategy and execution. Conversely, your marketing agency/partner should be showing you the results, continually optimizing what does (and does not) work and have a solid line of communication with you in GOOD times and when things get TOUGH. (it happens!) Situations will arise when you can be more impressed by how they handle an obstacle or error, screw up, whatever, than when they are kicking ass for you and everything is rainbows and unicorns! *We prefer a Service Agreement. It is a month to month agreement and clearly outlines the scope of the programs and work we will perform. Simple, two pages, it is clear and you DO NOT need a lawyer to read it! *RED FLAGS-An agency wants you to enter into a contract on THEIR timeline, NOT yours, an inflexible long term contract you are bound to, flat rate or contract buy out penalties even if your PPC or SEO spend is zero, no clear understanding of how much budget is allocated to what channels, Guarantees-for either SEO or SEM, for Organic or Paid this is a red flag.
- *On Desktop Google accounts for roughly 65% of Desktop searches and Bing/Yahoo appx 30%. Mobile however paints a different picture with Google owning the market at 95%. *Search is the purest for of direct response marketing. People are literally looking for your company to spend money. With targeted keywords and the correct targeting, once they visit your site or call your phone they are yours to lose frankly. *It’s Google’s World. We just live in it.
- www.moz.com Great resource and some solid free tools https://moz.com/free-seo-tools www.searchengineland.com https://searchenginewatch.com/static/glossary This is a solid glossary so you can quickly be up to speed on the “lingo” AND SEW is a great resource in general
- Always love fielding any questions we could not get to so email us anytime at info@freegren.com