To be fair, we have to say that the topic is not really objective when we, as an digital marketing agency, write about the selection of a good digital marketing agency, but it is always a topic that concerns interested parties who inquire with us and cannot assess whether we are good now or promise the blue from the sky.

Due to the “black sheep” in the industry, the skepticism of those interested is absolutely justified and in this blog post we would like to show you which methods you can use to separate the wheat from the chaff. Of course, our tips are only tips for evaluating a suitable agency.

We recommend that you speak to several agencies in any case, because at the end of the day it is not only the competence of the digital marketing agency that is decisive, but also the chemistry in the cooperation.

Here we go!

How do you recognize a good online marketing agency?

I would rephrase the question: How do you recognize real passion in digital marketing ? – Good online marketers are convincing. You do not optimize websites because you primarily have to, but want to challenge yesterday’s KPIs (Key Performance Indicators).

Passion has many faces in digital marketing. It shows up in the form of specialist articles, lectures & seminar series or a well-kept blog. The core is the communication of specific online marketing knowledge in order to offer the user better user journeys.

As an online marketing agency owner, I ask every employee the question about their “why” – what drives them out of bed in the morning. Here the answer must not be: “The salary.” – Rather, it is the passion for his digital marketing activities and customer projects. Not always, of course, and not every day – we are only human. But on average, the topics are not without passion.

Bad agencies often have no passion for the topic and are exclusively sales-driven. So pay particular attention to the agency’s expression and methodology in the initial interview. Does the agency focus on its services or budget?

Criteria for reputable & good online marketing agencies
Passion is the fuel in the engine of a good online marketing agency. However, there are other criteria that show how sustainable an online marketing agency is. We consider the following points to be important from the agency’s point of view and this is where you as the client should take a closer look:

Acquisition :

Does the agency run OutBound activities or are leads only generated through its own digital marketing activities? – An agency that does acquisition doesn’t have to be bad. It depends on the methodology. Basically, customers like to be made with promises (especially in SEO ) like: We guarantee you a ranking in 1st place with the keyword “XYZ”. Statements like these are not only wrong and unrealistic, because the rankings are dependent on the search engine algorithm and therefore only to a limited extent remain influenceable by the agency. Look out for promises aimed at a sales deal.

Communication :

Successful digital marketing projects require a lot of coordination and communication. In the initial meeting, ask how communication is guaranteed and with whom you are communicating. In good agencies, contact persons are defined before the start of the project and fixed processes such as project management software are provided for communication.

Transparency :

The basic requirement for good communication is transparency. In the course of the project, all work packages should be defined and the agency should keep you up to date. Ideally, you always know who is taking care of what and why.

Honesty:

Difficult to assess – but not every digital marketing activity will be successful. That is part of it – crucial for you: The digital marketing agency must pull the rip cord in good time and show you alternatives for your online marketing budget. Advice based on your own margin situation is not expedient at this point.

Contract terms :

Contracts that run longer than 6 months are no longer up-to-date (from our point of view). You must have the chance to react promptly and to respond to volatile markets. Terms of> 12 months are (from our point of view) not reliable. You should also make sure that the created advertising accounts belong to you and not to the agency in charge. This is a popular way of creating dependencies, rather than tying you up with performance.

Experiences & references:

For whom was the agency already active and what is the result of the cooperation. Let us show you reference projects. Case studies are also a popular way to show your passion for the topic and to show pride in the success of a project.

Our criteria are certainly only an excerpt from topics that are important in agency support. Let the agencies explain to you what they consider important in online marketing and collaboration and how the agency would like to bring you forward.

Skills from good digital marketing agencies

Specialist or generalist? Everything from a single source or maximum expertise? Synergies or single-channel performance?

Ask how your agency is set up. For example, we pursue the 360 ° full-service approach because we are convinced that synergies between the channels can be demonstrably used to generate better budget performance. Other agencies focus on one channel and you quickly need coordination effort to control the agencies accordingly.

Pay particular attention to the team at agencies. “Pseudo teams” with stock images are popular. You can quickly see who is artificially inflating the size of the agency.

Goals in cooperation with an digital marketing agency

Before you start scouting for your digital marketing agency , you should be clear in advance what the actual goals should be when working with the online marketing agency.

We often get inquiries for which the goals and thus also the expectations of our agency are not clearly defined. This is an ideal breeding ground for false expectations and corresponding disappointment on the customer side.

Basically, an agency is only as good as your briefing. Think in advance about the goals you want to achieve with the help of the digital marketing agency and how you want to measure success (keyword: digital marketing KPIs).

A good digital marketing company will provide you with professional support in defining your goals.

Professional agencies can only start something with clear goals and ideas and advise you accordingly. With the clear definition of goals, you and the agency can create an ideal framework for successful cooperation. As early as the scouting phase for a good online marketing agency , you should confront the agency with the availability of your goals. You will quickly notice at this point whether the online marketing agency is working here in a goal-oriented manner or whether it is promising you the “blue sky”.

Why does working with an digital marketing agency make sense at all?

The crucial question to ask yourself before the question “How do I find a good online marketing agency?” should ask is the question “Does working with an agency make any sense?” and if so, what are the advantages of working together?

Online marketing agencies are employers. You employ people, ideally specialists with a wealth of experience. To benefit from this experience costs the agency money and at the end of the day you as a customer too. So that the agency can spend hours on your project, it is important that a budget is made available with which success can also be achieved. With small budgets, success can only be achieved to a limited extent and here you should better invest the money in your own further training in order to A already optimize your own website and B to be able to monitor and control agencies better in the future.

The cooperation with the online marketing agency, on the other hand, creates many synergies for you as a company and you can benefit from the experience of the agency much faster and adapt learnings to your own company. Depending on the strategy, it can make sense to onboard an agency, especially at the start of online marketing activities, in order to avoid the most common sources of error in online marketing and skillfully achieve faster digital speed in the form of performance. In the long term, the agency’s activities can be replaced by internal positions and the agency takes on an advisory role in cooperation in digital marketing.

Conclusion

So check who binds. Due to the few black sheep on the market, the situation is not only difficult for companies that are looking for a suitable online marketing agency, but also for serious agencies it is more difficult, especially in the first contact with potential customers of to delimit the dubious working agencies.

Unfortunately there is no general recipe that can save you from wrong decisions. But we hope that our tips have given you a few ideas that will help you to better assess the work and attitudes of the agencies.