In the time of big data, it’s important to understand how we have changed the way we communicate. There is so much to learn in the dynamic field of digital marketing, and the digital age has created an entirely new problem-how do we have time to learn it all?
New software and social platforms, tools and tricks come out all the time. How can companies find their best marketing practices? After all, what works for one company, may not work for another. For many business owners, there is just too much to learn and do and why hiring a digital marketing agency is key to your business’ success.
Today’s Digital marketing Agency is vast and intricate. One could spend years only learning search engine optimization (SEO) and still be considered a beginner. Understanding website traffic activity, forecasts of traffic and conversion rate are just a few details fundamental to a successful digital presence. This doesn’t even include what takes place off-site.
Who has time to learn all these techniques? Many companies think they can hire one magic marketer who will know about all the different facets in digital and traditional marketing. Not so fast.
People searching online have little patience or desire to wait for a slow website. They have even less patience when they are required to dig to find information or purchase the product they are looking for. Why be patient when the next website will probably be easier to navigate? A frictionless experience is necessary for a website to succeed. Making a website easy to use is where the rubber hits the road online for most businesses.
If your company wants to be a major hit on the Web, you must use the proper techniques and tools – much as you would if you were building a physical store. But in this case, the tools and techniques are digital.
In the past, all companies had to do was rely on brick-and-mortar locations. A robust digital infrastructure is now a requirement for most companies.
The Internet the “Field of Dreams,” and the adage of “build it and they will come” proves false on the digital frontier. Companies can no longer sit and wait to grow. Modern businesses must create a significant digital presence that they actively maintain. Look at Amazon for a case in point. Amazon has almost single-handedly changed the entire retail landscape.
Business owners must catch up, and quickly. If you are not already working on your digital marketing, make no mistake, you are behind and must work to catch up.
Hosting a “brochure website” with static information doesn’t cut it. Most businesses need an attractive, well-designed website. If your business sells products online, a reliable e-commerce system is a requirement. You also need effective online marketing tactics to drive visitors to the site.
When hiring an agency, it’s important to understand what your goals are. You should have an idea of what you want the agency to accomplish on your behalf. Your objectives may change after you hear what the agency can do,, but doing some homework before contacting an agency will help you to make the right choice. At first glance, digital marketing agencies might look as if they are all the same. However, vast differences exist. Ask for references. And also, try to find someone that has worked with the agency before that’s not on the reference sheet. No agency is going to provide you a reference that’s going to share dirty secrets. It’s also important to talk to the people you will work with, not just the sales staff. Frequently, they are not the same people. Finally, make your own decision based on who you want to work with, not the promises made by the agency. Even agencies with the best of intentions sometimes exaggerate expected results during the sales process. At WrightIMC, we try to set realistic expectations. And if we like working together, there is no limit to what we can accomplish together.
No agency is the best at everything. But there are agencies that are really good at knowing where they provide value, and knowing when someone else might be better at the job. For instance, at WrightIMC we are one of the best out there for SEO, but we don’t do affiliate marketing or videos. We rely on our partners for that. But we do know how all the pieces fit together – and we know how to make them fit. Having a partner that understands how all the parts work is extremely important – even if that agency can’t make all the parts themselves!
The IMC in our name stands for Integrated Marketing Communications. We specialize in making sure all the parts work together. Tactics change over time. You want a partner that knows how both the new and old tactics work optimally. At WrightIMC, that’s what we do.
Everyone seems to be becoming more specialized all the time. It’s no different in the digital marketing world. You wouldn’t want that brick-and-mortar business built by one person, so why hire one or two marketing associates? A solid agency hires, trains and keeps people who are specialists in certain areas, but has the know-how make all the tactics and strategies work together. In the long-run, hiring an agency that can create an overall marketing strategy will save significant time and money over hiring an in-house SEO or single-specialty digital marketer. And it won’t just save you money in the long run, it will make you money too.
