Selecting the right inbound marketing agency is an important step to a successful inbound marketing strategy.
Many inbound marketing agencies are out there. Each of them promise to boost your online traffic and increase your leads, and it looks like any of them will meet the specific needs of your company. How do you select the right one?
Here are some tips to help you narrow your search:
Step 1: Review their website
When researching a potential inbound marketing agency to hire, the first place you should look is their website. Consider their website a representation of their services and standards, and an example of what you can expect for your own website. When reviewing an agency’s website, ask yourself:
- Is the website visually appealing?
- Is the website well organized?
- Is the website design mobile responsive?
- Does the website provide you with knowledge about inbound marketing?
If you are not happy with the overall look and feel of the website, that is a strong indication that you should continue your search for inbound marketing agency contenders.
Step 2: Read their content
The creation and leveraging of content is one of the most important responsibilities of an inbound marketing agency, so you want to make sure the potential agency you are researching can provide you with unique, quality content. The best way to determine this is by reading the content that is posted on their own website and social media profiles. Blog content is especially important when it comes to content marketing because it keeps visitors engaged and interested in your company. When reviewing the agency’s blog, ask yourself:
- Is it getting updated regularly?
- Do the blogs include call-to-action buttons?
- What kinds of comments are the blogs generating?
- Does the blog focus on more than one area of expertise?
Step 3: Determine if they offer core services
Be clear about what you are looking for in an inbound marketing agency and see if the core services of the potential agency match those needs.
Core inbound services include:
- Generating traffic by using SEO, keywords, and social media to attract visitors to websites
- Creating premium content, such as using blogs and email marketing to target and engage the audience
- Generating leads (by finding potential leads and passing them over to sales)
- Analytical reports to measure progress on campaigns
Step 4: Find out what technology they use
Most inbound marketing agencies rely on at least one marketing automation software that helps simply import an aspect of inbound marketing, such as content creation, lead nurturing, email automation, and collecting analytical data. You should investigate the potential inbound agency’s software and decide if that software will fit your needs. Find out:
- What kinds of marketing tools are available?
- What reviews is the software receiving?
- What kind of support does the software provide?
- What kinds of subscription plans do they offer?
Step 5: Meet the agency
Hiring an inbound marketing agency means you are about to embark on a very important business relationship with its team members. You will be investing a lot of time together when developing and applying inbound marketing techniques. You will also be educating them on your business, product, and customers. Getting to know the team is a crucial step in making sure you will be working with people you can trust. You can learn a lot from the initial meeting, such as:
- How prepared the agency is with providing necessary information
- How passionate they are about inbound marketing and their service
- What kinds of ideas and strategies they have to offer
- How well they work together as a team
Hiring an inbound marketing agency may take up a lot of your time and effort, but by probing potential partners with the right questions and closely taking your business’s needs into consideration, there is a greater chance for you to make the right decision.
Topics: marketing