E-dreamz Company Blog

We have created an interactive Online Marketing Agency Evaluation form to help you as you choose the right company to handle your Internet Marketing. Go to the form.

In January I wrote about the Top 10 ways to spot a bad Internet marketing agency. Now that you are better equipped to avoid the bad agencies you still need to find the agency that is the best fit for your company. I continue to see companies that make decisions to go with certain agencies only to regret it down the road when they realize they made the wrong choice.

10 Topics To Consider When Evaluating Online Marketing Agencies

1. Price - It is common that this is at the top of most company’s list, so it is at the top of my list. If I can give any piece of advice at all it is that you should NOT make your decision based solely on price. This is where I see the most mistakes made.
   
   When choosing an online marketing agency it is important to find a budget that is comfortable for you, but do not just go with the cheapest company.  In fact, if the lowest bid is significantly lower than the other agencies you are considering that should send up warning flags. You probably want to eliminate that agency from consideration. Those agencies might show initial results only to flatten out over time.  9 times out of 10 you will not see the results you were originally promised.
   
   Now I am not telling you the best agency is the one that recommends the most expensive budget either.  If an agency is recommending a budget that is not realistic for you at all than you can eliminate them too.
   
   After you decide on an online marketing agency make sure that you are getting value for what you are paying. If your campaign goals are leads or sales ask your agency to report on Cost Per Lead, ROI, Number of Sales, Average Sales Value, or any other metrics that you can measure against your investment. You might actually learn that you want to invest even more into a campaign that is exceeding your goals.
   
   
2. Flexibility - You might not even realize that this is important when evaluating online marketing agencies. A reputable online marketing company will not sell you a set "package."  Many of the agencies that offer the extremely low prices explained above will offer packages that are not flexible. That is the reason you will see results flatten out over time.
   
   Make sure when you choose an agency that they are going to build their strategy around your business and goals. A vendor should not even make a proposal with scope of work or budget until they have a good grasp of your company and goals. If an agency gives you a list of their set prices right up front you probably want to eliminate them from consideration.
   
   Flexibility to change your strategy is important. Good agencies study analytics and make recommendations based on their findings. Getting locked into a package that cannot change strategic direction will mean that you are going to miss out on huge opportunities to improve performance.
   
   
3. Capabilities - You will find many different options when considering capabilities of people to take on your Internet marketing project. Some examples might be: a one person freelancer; a web development company that offer SEO as a onetime website tune-up; an Internet marketing agency that do not develop websites in house; an agency that works with freelancers and outside vendors; or a full service agency with developers and marketers in house.
   
   It is pretty clear which agency would probably be the best. A full service agency allows all of your work to be done under one roof.  I find that the more different parties get involved on a project the more obstacles you will uncover. Unless you can handle everything in house you have potential for outside elements to slow your campaign’s performance or limit services.
   
   There are certainly great agencies that can offer online marketing strategies and other agencies that have very strong relationships with outside vendors to get the job done. A full service agency might not always be the best fit. Some “full service” agencies really are not truly strong across the board. You will find some of those agencies that are much stronger at either marketing or development.
   
   
4. Creativity - If you are talking to companies about Internet marketing the chances are you will hear similar things. Of course there are more advanced agencies with superior knowledge but it might be difficult to pick who those are.
   
   I have always felt that the best online marketing agencies are the ones that are the most creative. The majority of agencies know the basic things to look for and what to do.  How they plan on applying these tactics to your campaign is where creativity can be so important.
   
   Look for the agencies that bring creative and unique ideas to the table. These are probably the smartest marketers that will take online marketing elements and combine them with the type of creative strategy to take your campaign to the next level. This also goes back to the topic of flexibility. If an agency does not have flexibility then they will not be able to be creative either.
   
   
5. Transparency – If you are talking to an online marketing agency that continues to tell you they cannot show you certain things that you request, based on any number of reasons, you should be suspicious. The best agencies are 100% transparent. You should be able to see any results you want and also know exactly where your money is going.
   
   Especially if you are considering a PPC campaign, you need to know exactly what is being spent on your monthly click budget. Do not go with an agency that rolls your click budget and management fees together. Make sure that you know the exact amount of money that is spent on clicks monthly.
   
   
6. Experience –You can look at several things when evaluating an agency's experience. You can look at how long they have been in business; how many clients they have; and what types of clients they have. Look to see if they work with clients similar to your company.  That does not mean they need to work with clients in the same industry, but just that they work with clients as big or small as your company.
   
   If they do not have any clients in a similar industry look at the entire portfolio and make sure that they work with a diverse range of clients. This will let you know that they have success regardless of the subject matter.
   
   The last thing you can do when evaluating experience is to ask for client references. Reach out to current clients to find out how happy they are with their campaigns.
   
   
7. Attention – If you have decided to invest time and money into an Internet marketing campaign I know you want to make sure that the agency is paying attention to your questions and requests. If you go with a company who is understaffed and unorganized there might be long periods of time before they respond to you.
   
   The agencies that offer the cheap packages have a business model based on quantity over quality. They try to get as many clients as possible which unfortunately mean less of a focus on your campaign.
   
   
8. Location – For some people this is important and for others it is not. This is really a personal preference. Do you choose a local agency or not? You might feel more comfortable having face-to-face meetings with your agency. If this is important to you choose a local agency. I would make sure to ask them if they plan to meet with you in person frequently though. Even though an agency is local sometimes they will still run meetings over the phone.
   
   
9. Analytics and Reporting – If you are talking to an agency and they do not mention the importance of analytics you can eliminate them from your consideration. The great thing about Internet marketing is it does not need to be a guessing game. The best agencies make decisions based on analytical data. They will also report these numbers to you and chart out your progress over time.
   
   
10. Gut - Sometimes you might want to throw everything out the window and go with your gut. I wouldn’t recommend that but your gut is important when considering an agency. Maybe I shouldn’t say your gut as much as your level of comfort. Do you feel comfortable with the agency?  Are you going to have a dedicated account manager that you communicate well with? Is the agency listening to you?
    

Now you are ready to choose the right online marketing agency for your company. You can print out our interactive Online Marketing Agency Evaluation form to take with you to meetings to help you score each agency. You can also use our online interactive form. You may weigh the importance of some of these factors more than others but looking at the big picture will allow you to make an informed decision that you will not regret.

Share this: