Maximize the Value of Your Outsourced Digital Marketing Services
When you decide that your business needs marketing support beyond what your internal team can currently handle, you want to make sure that you choose the right partnership.
You want all the value and expertise that a full-service digital marketing agency can provide without having to over-manage the relationship. You’re already spread too thin for that.
However, you do need to have oversight and ownership over the services you’ve chosen, while putting your trust in the agency’s expertise and results. Here’s how to build a strong business partnership with an outside digital marketing company.
Ensure the Team You Choose Knows Your Industry
It all starts with the agency you choose. If you think of your outsourced digital marketing team as an extension of your internal team, they have to be as fit for the job as someone applying to join in-house. They must have experience in your industry or other relevant experience that they can apply. Alternatively, the agency must be a proactive, responsive, and highly curious team that sets aside time to truly understand your business.
In-house and outsourced relationships go south quickly when the team you’ve chosen doesn’t understand who you are, who your audience is, or the nature of your industry. Select a team with industry know-how or other traits, like a deep inquisitiveness, that make you feel confident in their ability to grasp what you do and how to execute campaigns that your customers will respond to.
Collaborate on Strategy and Goals Together
You already know that a strong digital marketing strategy is your playbook for success. A strategy created with your chosen agency explains what the team will do; how, when, and why they are doing it; and what results are expected.
Aligning on the strategy playbook gets everyone on the same page right away and serves as a guide that you can return to when realignment is needed. Creating strategy and goals together also helps to flesh out specific responsibilities.
Create a Seamless Workflow Between Your Team and Your Agency
Everyone on your marketing team and the full-service digital marketing agency you’ve chosen should understand their role in getting deliverables across the finish line. For a highly efficient workflow, select a digital marketing company that has experienced success working with in-house teams.
A team with experience will be able to make recommendations and create a process to implement the strategy, pass resources back and forth, get feedback from your team, and deliver expected, finished marketing materials.
Keep Communication Channels Open
It’s always important to keep the lines of communication open with your agency for conversation, pivots, realignments, concerns, and questions. The last thing you want is to feel like your B2C or B2B digital marketing team is distant, unavailable, or disconnected from your in-house team.
Look for a team that has been responsive since your first call. Ask them about their recommended pacing for regular check-ins, including in-person and video meetings, or emails. A highly engaged team goes a long way in keeping you in the loop and on track to meet your marketing campaign goals.
Rely on a Digital Marketing Company With Robust Reporting Tools
Ultimately, you will want to know if your decision to work with a digital marketing service team was worth your investment. Your marketing budget isn’t unlimited, and you need to be accountable for the efforts you’ve made to meet your company’s growth goals.
The digital marketing company you choose to supplement your in-house team should always be focused on meeting your goals and know how to regularly report on their progress. A team that’s worth your investment should possess reporting tools, dashboards, and other resources that transparently chart your campaign’s success. They should also be open to feedback when pivots and revisions are needed, along with their own ideas for how to improve the campaign.
Choose a Team That Delivers on All Fronts
Leveraging a B2C or B2B digital marketing agency for your marketing team’s specific initiatives is a smooth, rewarding process if you properly vet the agency you wish to work with. As you begin your partnership, look for these values:
- Independence: Ability to meet your expectations without oversight.
- Collaboration: Willingness to work with you on the best marketing approach.
- Strategy-focused: Understanding that goals can only be achieved with a clear strategy.
- Goals-driven: Agreement that the ultimate measure of your partnership’s success is meeting your goals.
- Workflow: Commitment to seamless back-and-forths to complete your campaign.
- Communication: Openness to feedback, questions, concerns, and updates.
- Flexibility: Responsiveness to pivots and changes as necessary.
- Transparency: Dedication to resources and tools that clearly articulate a campaign’s effectiveness.
Continue learning about how to take advantage of the talents of a superior digital marketing company by reading these recommended articles:
“Why Hiring an Advertising Agency Is the Best Investment for Your Business”“How to Vet an Advertising Agency”
Peter Mishler is a senior copywriter. He enjoys learning everything he can about your business to help build your authority and web presence. Peter is the author of three internationally published books, for which he has received critical acclaim and national writing awards. He loves spending time with his wife and two children.
