Our goal has always been to make Formada one of the Portland area’s top digital marketing agencies. It’s been our vision from the start.
What would make us a “top” agency in our minds is a combination of the quality of our work, meeting and exceeding client expectations, team satisfaction, and hitting our revenue goals.
Pretty normal stuff, I’d say. Create an environment that attracts top talent, give them the space to do great work, and help people grow their businesses.
But this is all an internal definition, more or less, of how you’d define “top digital marketing agencies.” What about you, the client? What factors will best serve you and your goals?
Keeping in mind that everyone’s needs are going to be a little different, here’s what I would recommend looking for in a digital marketing agency.
Your Digital Marketing Agency Should Make You Feel Important
Who wants to feel like they’re just another business on a list? No one does, right? With every single one of our clients, I feel lucky that we have the opportunity to work together.
And if we’re a good fit for each other’s businesses, then we also have the opportunity to accomplish incredible things — increased brand awareness, more client opportunities, not to mention growth.
In my experience, top digital marketing agencies are able to achieve these things when they provide their clients with a more personalized experience and approach to service.
At Formada, we offer all sorts of services under the banners of Paid Media, Content Marketing, and Design, but precisely what is going to work best for your business depends on considerations that neither one of us will know until we start talking to each other.
I always cringe when I open my inbox and see sales emails that are soliciting our business for specific services. One, we’re a digital marketing agency. We probably offer what you’re selling. But more importantly, you don’t know me. You certainly don’t know my business. How can you possibly be pitching me in this way?
While I understand that some businesses operate in this way with great success, this approach is antithetical to how we work.
I am not coming to our first call with a pitch deck. Ever.
What I will come to that call with are some questions that I’ve created based on the research I’ve done on your business, but I’m most interested in what will be revealed in that conversation.
- What do you want to accomplish through your business?
- What does success look like?
- What roadblocks are you facing?
As a fellow entrepreneur, I understand how vulnerable asking for help can be. I want us to build rapport. To build a sense of trust that we can build a strategy on. That’s how we create success.
If the agency you’re vetting works exclusively through an impersonal system of off-the-shelf pitch decks and communications, then their approach to service is likely similar. Tread carefully.
Your Marketing Strategy Should Be A Collaborative Process
I know that some of you might be thinking, “Ugh. More work? No, thanks.” I get it. Making your work life more complicated is not the goal here. Not at all. But, again, this is where the importance of personalization comes into play.
Top digital marketing agencies don’t want to just launch a campaign and see what happens. A top agency wants to understand every nook and cranny of your business.
That’s a perhaps not so well kept secret in the agency world: The opportunity to create a unique strategy or winning campaign exists virtually everywhere in your business. We just need to learn about it.
The “It’s Toasted” scene in Mad Men probably sums this idea up best. The more knowledge we have about your business, the stronger our ability to differentiate you and reach your ideal customer.
But similarly, the opportunity for a campaign to completely fall apart can also exist virtually anywhere in your business.
If the strategy isn’t dialed — if we don’t know who is responsible for what and when, then it might hinder us from achieving our collective goals. We don’t want that. And we know that you don’t, either.
So, again, if your agency is eager to launch a new campaign and you’re not entirely clear on the strategy, who is being held accountable to what, or what your metrics for success are, then you might be disappointed with the outcomes. You deserve better than that, especially from someone describing themselves as a “top agency.”
A Top Agency Is Adaptable In Its Communications
A simple way to describe this is “good reporting,” but I think it goes a little deeper than that.
We’re not under the illusion that every client we work with has a deep understanding of digital marketing, and honestly, it’s not really fair to assume that anyone outside of the industry should.
What most clients want to know is, “Am I making money when I spend money?” They don’t necessarily want (or need) to know about the metrics that aren’t related to their goals.
Top digital marketing agencies meet their clients where they are. If you’re a business owner that wants to get deep into the mechanics of your campaigns, then your agency should support that. If you’re content in knowing your strategy at a more surface level, then your agency should adapt their communications to reflect that.
Some of our clients want to meet on a regular basis to discuss certain aspects of their strategy to ensure that we’re both making the appropriate adjustments to our operations and maximizing their investments. Others desire a more hands-off approach. We work just as hard for each of them.
At a minimum, each and every one of our clients receives a monthly report with a detailed overview of every service they’re subscribed to, with notes from their respective specialist.
These reports aren’t just about performance metrics. They’re also about how we can improve existing campaigns, the reasons why a campaign might not be working how we thought it would, as well as recommendations for new marketing opportunities. Every month gives us new data, and that data gives us more insight into how we can create more growth for your business.
Success exists everywhere. You simply need someone to help you find it. That’s what a top agency should always be doing on your behalf. It’s what we’ve always strived to do, because it’s exactly what your business deserves.
Interested in learning more about how a digital agency can help grow your business? I’d love to speak with you! Contact me today to learn more.