It may seem complicated to find an online marketing company that will be the best fit for you. How can you know if one is better than another? There are some best practices that a top agency should follow, but much of the rest of the value will come from the firm having experience in your vertical. You’ll want to get verification of this experience and a detailed explanation of how the agency developed and managed the campaign. Let’s take a look at how you can find the right marketing company with some insights that you won’t get from the usual articles on this subject.

Get an Introduction with Your Account Manager

Often when you interview an Internet marketing company you’ll speak to the sales person and some of the principals of the firm. The person who you really need to talk with is your prospective account manager. This is the individual who will be your main point of contact and the one who will be in charge of the day to day operations. Also ask to speak to that person’s team – talk to the copywriter, the coding team, and all of the individuals who will be responsible for your project. Have these questions handy:

1) What campaigns similar to mine have you run and how did you manage the challenges they presented?
2) If you ran into obstacles, please explain these and how you handled them.
3) Talk about successes and how you used those to build more momentum for the campaign.
4) What numbers/results details can you share with me about these previous campaigns?
5) Provide me with an outline of how you would set up and manage my campaign.
6) How many months of work will need to be done before we start seeing the first results?

Get a Draft Statement of Work

Have your marketing company prospects write up what the Statement of Work (SOW) will look like. Then compare these SOWs for each agency you interview. You can show subsequent agencies the SOWs you have collected and ask them to match them, or show how their work will be superior.

Ask Each Marketing Company How Social Media Will Factor Into Your Campaign

Today there are no silos between organic search and social media. Each of the agencies you interview should have a plan on how they will use social media to get your message in front of your audience. Find out how they will integrate the keyword research they will do for organic into the social components of the campaign. See how they will use social to do competitive research and also to research your customers and prospects.

Keep all of these points in mind when you interview prospective agencies. The key is to find the marketing company that understands your business. It doesn’t have to be a big city agency; it can be a smaller agency that provides superb service and experience in your industry.

Organically is a small, growing digital marketing company that combines personal service with a sharp focus on detail and ROI. We serve Gatlinburg, Sevierville, and the Knoxville, TN areas and work with clients nationwide. Talk to us today about your online marketing challenges.