Learn about digital marketing agencies and what they can offer your business.
In 2021, 2.14 billion people made purchases online[1]. This means over 27% of people in the world bought a product on the internet, and many of those who didn't purchase online still used the internet for research. According to Google, 59% of shoppers research purchases online to be sure that they are making the best possible choice[2].
If your business is online, you need to build a brand and presence online to make some of these 2.14 billion shoppers your customers. You can't simply create a website and expect visitors to show up and make purchases. You need a digital marketing strategy.
If you are looking to improve your business's digital marketing efforts and don't have the budget to hire an in-house marketing team, then a digital marketing agency might be the best option. We've written this article to explain what a digital marketing agency is, what it can do for your business, and how to choose one that best meets the needs of your business.
Find providers that can help with your business needs by using our lists of digital marketing agencies by location.
What is a digital agency?
Digital marketing agencies are marketing agencies whose primary focus is in the digital world. They market the products, services, and brands of businesses through website design and development, content marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), social media, paid online advertising, email marketing, and more.
Before the digital age, when marketing involved print, radio, and TV, it was often handled in-house, even by smaller businesses, but the world has gotten more complex. Digital marketing is specialized, and many of the processes, like website development and SEO, require very specific technical expertise. Businesses are increasingly turning to digital agencies to handle the complexity of their online marketing efforts.
Full-service digital agencies do more than just provide simple marketing services; they offer end-to-end digital marketing strategies for many types of businesses. This includes website design and development, which some digital marketing agencies may not provide. Some only specialize in one or a handful of digital marketing services, like content marketing, SEO, or social media marketing.
What services do digital marketing agencies offer?
With a full-service digital agency, you have a selection of services to choose from. With others, you may only get some of these services.
Strategy services
All digital marketing agencies provide digital marketing strategy services. You may bring the agency a rough draft of what you want from their marketing efforts, but it is part of their job to turn that into a strategy to help you reach your business goals. They take your rough plan and assess what is achievable through online channels. The agency looks at your online presence and identifies what you need to update or optimize.
A full-service agency reviews your current website and determines if its design needs updating. They also look at your current ranking in search engines and create a plan to improve it by restructuring your site, updating copy, creating more content, or building links and social media mentions.
A digital marketing company can also build an online advertising strategy for you. They determine what keywords will drive customers and leads to your website, create a budget for pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, and find sites related to yours where you can advertise. Your chosen agency may also create email marketing plans if it fits your business model.
Example of email marketing for new customers (Source)
Marketing services
Once a digital marketing agency and its client agree on a strategy, the agency works with the client to execute it. This is where a marketing plan becomes action.
If part of the plan is PPC advertising, the agency bids on keywords in major search engines to drive search engine visitors to your product and lead pages. To track the success of these campaigns, they use analytics software and create reports on the ROI of their efforts.
A digital agency may also provide content marketing services. This could include the addition of a blog to your website and publishing regular content, the production of videos and sharing them to various online channels, the creation of social media content, and more.
A digital agency that provides SEO works to increase the organic search engine traffic to your website. To do this, they build links from related sites to yours. Search engines see these as "votes" that increase rank in their results. SEOs also suggest changes to current web content and work with content marketers to plan new content, so a website appears in more keyword-specific results.
Design services
Design is more than just making something look good. If a digital agency provides design services, they may look at your brand and determine if colors, fonts, and other design elements need an update to better represent what your business does.
A digital marketing company that does user experience (UX) design creates user personas to represent your target audience and uses them to identify exactly what these users need from your website and other digital products. Then, through user testing, they redesign your website's workflow and navigational structure to provide the best experience for your target audience.
A user interface (UI) designer can then create a concrete design based on the UX designer's research and suggestions. This may include an interactive wireframe or prototype that clients can click through in the approval process. Once a new design is approved, the development team of the digital agency can finish the job.
Development services
Usually, if a digital agency offers web design, it also offers web development. The two go hand in hand. A web developer takes the web designer's wireframe and style guide and builds the site. The web development process is usually done in phases, called sprints, where a new feature is developed, tested, and then presented to clients for approval.
Some digital agencies may also provide more than just web development. They may also help set you up with business intelligence software, integrate sales leads with your CRM software, and more.
How to select the best digital marketing agency for your business
Choosing a digital marketing agency for the first time or moving from an in-house marketing team to an outsourced team can be a big step for your business. It is a process that takes some time, but it is worth the effort to find the right fit. Here are the steps you can take to ensure the process goes smoothly.
1. Define your goals
The first step begins before you start looking. Why are you looking into hiring a digital marketing agency? Do you simply need someone to handle your online advertising, an agency with web developers and designers that can build you a new website while marketing it, or a full-service agency to provide an end-to-end digital marketing strategy?
Before contacting the first agency, you need to answer these questions and develop a rough in-house marketing plan, so you don't waste time researching the wrong agencies.
2. Find a fit
Now that you have a rough outline of what you need a digital agency to do for your company, you are better equipped to narrow down your search. Another thing you want to consider when searching for an agency is the industries the agencies specialize in. If you find an agency that specializes in your industry, you will benefit from their experiences with companies that had marketing needs similar to yours.
To help you find a digital marketing agency that is right for your business, we've created our directory of digital marketing agencies. There you will be able to narrow down your search by location, industries served, services offered, size, budget, and more. You will also find a brief history of each agency and a portfolio of their past work.
3. Do your research
Once you have a shorter list of agencies to choose from, it is time to make your research more granular to narrow your list down even more. Check out the website, portfolio, client list, and social media profiles of each agency and look for the following things:
A well-designed website
A sizable portfolio with designs that are modern and match your needs
A client list that includes companies in your industry or that you respect
Experienced and specialized team members
Strong industry reputation from past client reviews
Social proof from social media mentions
Values and culture similar to your own business
No outlandish promises, which could be red flags
4. Interview agencies
Now you should have two or more agencies left on your list. It is time to meet with them to find the best one. Here are some questions you should ask:
What is your track record with businesses like mine?
To what extent will you work directly with my team?
How do you communicate with your clients?
How will you measure the success of a marketing campaign?
How often will you provide reports, and do you have examples?
When will I see results?
How much will it cost?
To learn more about digital marketing and digital marketing agencies, check out these articles:
Ready to hire a digital marketing agency?
If you’d like to see your marketing efforts become more successful, hiring a digital marketing agency can help your company benefit from your marketing campaigns more regularly. Browse our list of top digital marketing agencies and learn more about their services in Capterra’s hiring guide.