When you’re selecting an online marketing agency, knowing what to look for and what to look out for is critical to the success of your business.
The best online marketing agencies understand you, and they understand your market.
Understanding you and your marketplace will allow them to create an effective online marketing strategy. That will communicate your mission and vision to the right people in the right place at the right time.
The end result of a great online marketing strategy is more customers and more revenue.
Selecting an online marketing agency to create and execute online marketing strategies is hard. You’re barraged with advertising, promotions, and offers to have someone do your marketing. And these offers often promise astronomical or unrealistic results.
As a result, you stand at a crossroads when it comes to your online marketing strategy. You might even find it challenges your entrepreneurial gut instinct. On one hand, you think, “We can do this on our own.” But you’re also thinking, “I know I need help, but I’m hesitant to hire someone who doesn’t know my business.”
Maybe a marketing agency promised you the world, but you never saw a return on your investment. Maybe your personal attempts failed miserably or didn’t achieve the objectives you desired.
It’s not your fault. Marketing, when done right, requires a combination of steps, practices, and procedures that marketers need to execute to the right audience in the right way.
With so much information available at your fingertips, finding where to begin and then deciding what to do can be overwhelming. And with one bad decision, you could blow your marketing budget.
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At the end of the day, you want your business to grow and thrive. You desire to spend your time doing what you do best: serving your customers.
With great marketing strategy in place, you can free up time to work on your business. Because your strategy will promote you where your customers are, they can easily learn about the benefits of your product or service. A good online marketing strategy also gives you an advantage over your competition.
According to Statista, over 4 billion active internet users exist worldwide. Chances are, some percentage of users are searching for what you have to offer right now.
Keep reading to see the components of a GREAT marketing strategy. You’ll also learn how marketing can prepare and nurture your targeted audience to make a purchase, giving you an advantage over your competitors.
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Online marketing promotes your message on many online platforms:
Promoting on all these platforms serves one goal. That goal is to spark, develop, and nurture a relationship
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But, there is one problem—no one can find you on the web to make that purchase. This is why SEO is a mandatory component of any successful marketing strategy.
It’s not uncommon for business owners to balk at the thought of investing in SEO. Some were promised the sky by agencies with little or no results. Others mention that people find them fine or they rank well for their company name.
Good SEO is more than just ranking high for your company name, getting your business listed in multiple directories, and putting together a profile on the search engine.
Search engine optimization is a critical component that successful marketing agencies offer. It’s the catalyst for customers to enter your sales funnel and begin the buying process online. It opens the door for your marketing content to work its magic.
In short, SEO allows your website to rank higher in search engine results pages so people find you when they search the web.
Over the years, SEO as a strategy has become more complex. This is due in part to advances in technology. It’s also due to search engines recognizing tactics used to manipulate the system. To the credit of the search engines, they do everything they can to keep a level playing field by putting the intent of the readers at the top of their priority list.
In other words, search engines want their users to find what they’re looking for quickly and easily.
When an agency does SEO right, they accomplish two things. First, they make your content relevant to what people are searching for. And second, they make it easy for people to find you on the web because you rank high in the search engines.
Online marketing agencies typically include an SEO strategy as part of an overall marketing partnership. They’ll make sure to address and include the following:
Correction and revision of off-page factors, such as backlink health and off-page content.
Monitoring, revisions and updates to website to increase visibility and rankings.
6 Critical Questions to Ask an Agency that offers to do SEO work for your site
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One advantage of PPC is that it gives you the greatest exposure. This is because PPC places a link to your website or landing page at the top the search engines by paying for it. In short, PPC is buying traffic on a search engine to gain exposure for your business.
Below are the steps that go into setting up and running a successful PPC campaign. A good agency will communicate this to you during a PPC consultation or marketing strategy presentation. This information or parts of it will also be presented in a proposal provided by the agency you select.
There are lots of misconceptions around PPC. But really, PPC is just an investment that gains you new assets: new subscribers and customers.
Choosing an agency to run your PPC campaign is confusing and daunting if you don’t understand what goes into a successful campaign. We’ve explained the steps that go into a campaign. Now, let’s look at some things you need to pay attention to when selecting an agency to conduct your PPC campaign.
A Qualified Agency will:
When working with an agency, these more subtle signs should reassure you that the money you’re investing in your PPC campaign will give you the ROI you’re looking for.
Now that you know how to spot a qualified agency, let’s address the signs you’re talking to an unqualified agency.
When you take the time to investigate the potential ROI of a well-executed PPC campaign, you’ll see why it’s a great investment!
Savvy marketers often claim that you don’t have a legitimate business until you’ve invested in paid customer acquisition.
Not only is your site getting exposure, you’re advertising to people who are already searching for what you offer. This audience is more likely to visit your site and buy your product or service.
With targeting tools, you can reach your desired audience when you want, where you want.
PPC allows you to reach your intended audience based on keywords and budget you choose. It’s arguably the most effective way to reach new customers because they’re already searching for what you offer.
PPC is different from other forms of paid advertising because you bid to target your intended audience. By doing so, you’re leveraging the channel you select to reach interested prospects. Done right, it’s the most effective way to maximize your ad spend.
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Sounds simple, right? Think again. Sending emails to potential customers and current customers requires a mix of:
Email marketing allows you to send customized messages to an individual or targeted segment of your master email list. Then, you can engage them where they are so you can guide them through the buyer’s journey.
Once you’ve acquired an email and continue to build on that list, your business will have a valuable asset. When nurtured and used correctly, it will give you a solid ROI quarter after quarter and year after year.
There are many reasons to send an email to individuals or a segment of your list:
Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to communicate with potential buyers. With a little knowledge, you can have an intelligent conversation with an agency that offers email marketing. This will help you determine if they’re a good fit for you.
Below are some terms and components of email marketing that will give you a foundational knowledge.
Successful email marketing strategy takes all the above mentioned into consideration. This allows you to send the right message to the right person at the right time.
The online marketing agency will take time to understand who your target audience is and suggest ways to segment your current email list.
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The statistics for video marketing are overwhelming. If you’re not incorporating video into your marketing strategy, you’re leaving money on the table. That means you’re giving the competition business that could be yours.
Below are just a few of the staggering stats that support why you should use video marketing…
There is power in video marketing because it engages your audience and creates conversions. The content you can share ranges from short videos shot on your cell phone, to full-production commercials.
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Social Media Marketing
Many multi-billion dollar companies have sprung up as a result of social media. The most popular social media platforms include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and Pinterest. Every day, millions of people engage with social media. That’s on top of the billions that use it worldwide on a regular basis. The statistics on social media are extensive and staggering.
Take a quick look at some social media stats posted by Hubspot to see how active social media is in today’s world.
To the savvy business owner, this means your ideal customer is somewhere in this sea of opportunity. If you’re looking for further proof, go to your local mall and take a moment to watch what people are doing. They have their heads down checking Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other social media sites.
What to Expect From an Online Marketing Agency that Executes Your Social Media Marketing Strategy
Clues That an Online Marketing Agency Doesn’t Have Your Best Interest in Mind.