A customer-focused digital agency?

How to choose a digital marketing partner.

When it comes to choosing a digital agency, many decision-makers wonder how to find the digital partner who is genuinely interested, listening and as productive as possible? A true match that offers even more - the insight and expertise to make digital marketing better and better in the future.

At this stage, we strongly recommend an open discussion and getting to know not only the skills but also the processes and customer orientation of the potential actors.

What should you know about the digital agency?

For example, you can ask about these:

1) Understanding business

Did the partner candidate immediately tell you that they know the optimal solution for you? Sounds good, but without asking and without knowing your business, is it? A genuine partner will first get to know your business in depth, in order to tailor a campaign to your business needs. And most importantly - they want to get to know your customers. Because knowing your target audience, and getting to know them in depth, is the most important key to successful marketing and effective targeting.

Without understanding, you can take small quick wins, but it's hard to build a long-term, good relationship with a customer. Alliances can be made, but we pose a question:

Could there be more of them? And better?

2) Digital marketing planning

In a good cooperation model, the framework for doing things is always planned in advance, e.g. in kick-offs or quarterly meetings. This avoids surprises and the production team does not have to worry at the beginning of November when they realise that "Black Friday is at the end of the month again this year and I should probably suggest something quickly". Instead, planning, understanding the customer's business and a genuine interest in the customer's success are at the heart of things.

3) Open communication and the courage to challenge

Communicating directly and honestly about the results of campaigns is the most valuable for all parties involved. If the digital marketing partner openly states that this could have gone better and explains the reasons why, that is 100 times better than explaining - "yes, this probably did improve brand visibility, but it doesn't show up in the analytics here". Honesty is likely to lead to solutions that will improve advertising in the future. Testing builds understanding and is likely to produce better results in the future. If a digital partner settles for poor results, you can expect the future to include "some good campaigns that don't show up in analytics".

It is also a good sign if a digital agency can challenge its clients with valid arguments. Many decision-makers will also appreciate this, as not many people want to be surrounded by jees men or women.

4) Transparency of results

Transparency of process and results is a good sign when choosing a digital agency. If the results, or at least the possibility to see them, can be offered to clients in real time, it is a positive signal of a reliable operator. Even if the client may not have time to actively monitor the results, he can be sure that the digital partner is actively working in the background.

5) Cumulative knowledge and experience in the company

When choosing a digital agency, take the time to find out what kind of people work for them. A wide range of experience often goes hand in hand with results. Business insight from a wide range of industries and previous experience can help you avoid many pitfalls. you don't need to test everything once you have the know-how.

While the customer typically has a dedicated contact person in a digital agency, a good model also keeps the rest of the team in the loop. This is pure risk management, so that information is not just held by one person.

With several people on the team, you can find specialised expertise in many areas of digital marketing under one roof. Instead of a narrow field of expertise, you get more holistic solutions for digital online advertising.

6) Compare processes instead of prices

You can get a lot of bids in a bidding round, but before you choose, you should find out what they really include. An exceptionally low price may indicate superficial background work and an easily offered bulk solution. Doing things carefully, and actively optimising and fine-tuning measures as the process unfolds, will lead to more effective results. These are reflected in the price tag, but above all in the positive results below the line.

7) Fixed-term contracts are history

One-year fixed-term contracts are no longer the order of the day, and may even be a signal that the operator itself does not trust the long-term nature of the relationship.

When you find a true digital partner, they want to redeem your trust by delivering value to you - month after month. In this case, the relationship is not based on artificial bars, but on genuine collaboration. A digital agency also adapts to the client's business: if there's no money in July in your industry, you can cut the gas on your digital marketing.

8) Finding the right solutions - developing customer skills

It is certainly impossible to overemphasise genuine interest in the customer's activities. A good digital partner listens carefully and proposes appropriate solutions based on the discussion. Being aware of the opportunities in their field, they have insights to draw on and proactive suggestions to make. The client doesn't need to be a digital marketing knowledgebase, he just needs to choose a partner who can pull together the right solution from a wealth of information. A true partnership also involves open knowledge sharing, so that the customer's knowledge of the possibilities of digital marketing is constantly increased through collaboration.

9) Results

Does the digital agency have evidence of successful implementations?
Are they typically long-term clients?

Ask the operator what successes they have in their back pocket - and let the results speak for themselves.

A knowledgeable and customer-focused digital marketing professional will provide you with transparent answers to these questions. They will also provide evidence of successful cases to support their expertise. When your partner doesn't shy away from the tough questions and you know what kind of total service you can expect, you can confidently let the agency take the reins of your digital marketing, guiding your business to great results - with good cooperation.

Are you looking for a competent, plain-language digital marketing partner who cares about their customers? We are happy to answer all your questions.

Read more about our client cases!

City of Vaasa - getting the site analytics right and improving findability

Roof Centre - increasing the number of leads from websites

Providental - more leads with Facebook advertising