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:
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:
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:
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:
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:
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.