12 expectations when commissioning a digital company

Hiring and working with a digital agency involves many considerations.

Not only do you need to think about how to adequately review a digital agency, but what the working relationship will be like.

Take these factors into account to make sure you are getting the most out of your digital agency and not driving it crazy.

1) Proposal and strategy

When starting out with a digital agency, expect to receive value upfront before investing in their services.

This can take several forms, such as:

Proposals – The agency you are speaking to should at least prepare a presentation on strategy and execution.
Test project – In some cases it can be worthwhile to hire the agency for a test project first. This works better with some services like content, but not so much with something like SEO, which takes longer.
Audit – Agencies may offer you a free audit such as: B. Information to optimize your technical search engine optimization or to improve your design.

Adding value upfront can be a great way to evaluate the agency's expertise and show that they are serious about helping you.

2) niche specialty

Any agency you work with should ideally have experience working with other clients who are similar to you in terms of both your specific needs and the market in which you operate.

Market – Not all markets are created equal and require different strategies. A B2B company selling machine parts needs a completely different approach to ethical fashion brands in terms of marketing channels, messaging, and sales cycles.
Marketing Channel – Your digital agency should also have real experience with the marketing channel that works best for you. Remember, you are competing for customers on every channel. So you need someone who knows the nuances that allow your message to stand out.

3) contracts

If you understand the legal side of your relationship with your agency, you won't be in for any nasty surprises.

When signing a contract with an agency, you should expect:

No guarantees – Of course, an agency will likely do their best to make sure you get results. However, you will never find an agency that guarantees a range of results in the contract. While they may be competent, there is absolutely no way they can be sure that you will get results.
Set time – Most contracts are for a fixed period, e.g. B. 3 months, agreed. This means that when you start you cannot simply terminate the agreement unless there is a clause to allow it.
No responsibility – An agency is not responsible for any damage that its marketing activities may cause to your brand. This is one of the reasons why you need to be careful when evaluating different agencies.

4) cost expectations

When you hire an agency, you are doing some form of outsourcing.

Despite the connotations, outsourcing doesn't necessarily mean cost savings. When you work with the best agencies, you have to pay appropriately for their expertise.

Some agencies may promise to do the same job for less, but there is always a logical reason one agency charges more than the other. Chances are they have more experience and expertise.

It's important to also consider the cost difference between hiring an agency and building an in-house team. Think how much it would cost you to hire the best talent in a particular field instead of hiring an agency that already has them.

5) project scope

Entrepreneurs often work with an agency without knowing exactly what they want.

While understandable, speak to your agency and get a crystal clear idea of the scope of the project.

You need to consider the following:

Timeline – How long do you see your working relationship with your agency? Is it a short contract project to complete a content series? Or do you need a permanent partner with whom you can work for an indefinite period?
Evolving Needs – You can hire an agency to take care of your search engine optimization, but you quickly discover that you actually need help creating great content. You need to identify all the ways in which you will need help and incorporate this into your project scope.
Budget – Longer and more complex projects cost more, so you need to have a realistic understanding of how far your budget will go.

6) Result expectations

Getting results for your business is the ultimate goal when hiring an agency. However, it's important to have a realistic perspective of what success looks like.

Test phase – When starting a relationship with a new agency there will be a period of adjustment and testing before the two of you find the right cadence. This can be a matter of months, depending on what matters.
Error management – Even the best digital agencies have no magical powers. While they can do their best, sometimes there are factors that are beyond their control. For example, the competition in your market can be very tough. You should accept that there is always a risk of failure when working with an agency.
Quantified Results – With product services like design or programming, it's easier to agree on the end result. In marketing, however, there are many more variables that are difficult to predict in advance. For example, a PPC agency cannot tell you exactly how many leads they can get without running the appropriate tests.

7) Hiring multiple agencies

You may be thinking about hiring multiple agencies or just one that can do it all.

Working with different agencies has the following advantages:

In theory, you can find highly specialized agencies for any of your marketing needs. This should give better results
You can use and gain knowledge from different perspectives
You diversify the risk of relying on a team

But there are also some restrictions.

Managing multiple agencies can be a lot more work. If it is poorly managed, performance can suffer
Not all agencies may be as good as the others
Getting agencies to work together on a holistic marketing strategy can be difficult

Hiring multiple agencies can be helpful when you need to solve something very specific. For example, if you are in a niche market and you need content creators who have extensive knowledge of your market.

8) Personal workload

When you work with a digital agency, you employ an outside team that can help you achieve your goals.

However, that doesn't mean they will take over your business and do all of the work for you. Especially if you work with a digital marketing agency, you still have a few tasks:

You need to make sure that your landing pages are well optimized so that you can convert the increased traffic into customers
At the beginning of the relationship, you need to complete tasks such as: B. access to software, creation of customer profiles, etc.
Depending on the type of work you've been hired for, you may need to complete certain tasks, such as: Take high-quality product photos or ask your team for ideas for content

9) micromanagement

Micromanaging is usually never a good thing, but working with a small in-house team is more likely to make it successful.

Working with a digital agency is a different story.

Your digital agency has its own processes and ways of working that you cannot easily monitor and get involved in.

Remember that an agency works differently from your employees and that they are not just there to do what you tell them to do.

There are logistical barriers as well, even if you want to micromanage an agency. You may only have direct communication with an account manager and not with the other members of the team.

And not only is the agency not in the same location as you, but chances are they're in a completely different time zone.

10) Business Basics

That's the deal.

If you have bad business, it doesn't matter if you hire the best digital marketing agency in the world. They would just send traffic into a black hole.

You need to fully understand whether your current challenges stem from your marketing strategy or from a weak business itself. Before talking to a digital marketing agency, think about the following:

Have you validated your product?

If you barely have clients, hiring a digital agency probably isn't the best idea. First, find out if there is a strong demand for your product.

Is there a large addressable market?

Digital agencies help you build scalable marketing channels. And for the best results, you need a product and market that is scalable. Selling personalized homemade cookies near you is likely not suitable for a digital agency.

Do you have proof of marketing potential?

Not only do you need to prove that you have a product that sells, but also that digital marketing channels work for you. For example, are your competitors doing well online in your field?

11) Agencies have multiple clients

Digital agencies structure their business in such a way that they can work with multiple clients. And like any other business, they usually try to grow, which means getting new customers.

What you need to keep in mind here is that a particular digital agency will never use 100% of its resources and focus on your specific goals.

You will be assigned an account manager and, depending on your work, you may have direct contact with the team members who are executing the marketing strategy.

But you probably won't have access to the senior team unless you are one of their largest and most important customers.

It's also important to keep in mind that even the account manager and marketers you work with are likely to be working on other projects as well. You are unlikely to work with agency members who are 100% focused on your project.

12) Agencies have their own processes

When you start out with a digital agency, you will quickly find that you are essentially integrating with another company.

This means that there has to be a good symbiosis between the different parts of your company and theirs.

Crew – Since agencies are mostly about human relationships and not software, you need to check that your team is actually getting along well with their team. Even when it fits right in terms of skills and track record, sometimes different personalities don't see each other on an equal footing.
Culture – You need to examine the culture and values your agency partner embodies and see if they suit yours well. For example, you can prioritize a slower and steadier approach, but one that is definitely focused on the results.
Processes – You can expect an agency partner who is always ready and willing to get involved, while possibly structuring himself more around long periods of intense work. They may be more methodical in how they work, with more focus on basic execution. You need to make sure that your processes and work styles are also synchronized.

Conclusion

If you have the right expectations, you can be successful and develop a more harmonious relationship with any digital agency you work with.

The main thing here is to understand what an agency can and cannot do for your company.

As talented and experienced as they may be, they can only work with what you give them.

You need to make sure your own house is in order first so that when you work with an agency you can scale the agency that is already working.