Do you want to know more about the type of digital marketing services or deliverables you can expect when hiring a digital marketing agency?
If so, I can completely understand why; you’ll want to know you’re definitely getting your money’s worth. Perhaps you even have a specific idea of exactly what you think you’re going to need in your head.
However, in all my years of experience as a digital marketer, it’s never really that simple. And really, what you think you need may be quite different to what you actually need.
Below, I’m going to explain why deliverables can vary so much between agencies, and what you should really be looking for.
Typical digital marketing services an agency can provide
Firstly, telling you which deliverables you’ll receive when signing up to a digital marketing agency is a very hard question to answer, without knowing your situation.
And even after doing an assessment, the deliverables you’ll receive as part of your marketing strategy will vary greatly from agency to agency. Some may provide you with literally no deliverables at all, whereas others will give you various different types of content on a month-by-month basis.
Saying that, the typical deliverables an agency can provide include:
- Buyer persona research (documented, so you can use it in future)
- Content marketing (blog posts, ebooks/premium content etc.)
- An SEO audit (to give you a better idea of areas for improvement)
- Email marketing (a series of automated email workflows)
- Landing pages (pages specifically designed to convert visitors to leads)
- Calls-to-actions (buttons that initiate actions from visitors – usually to sign up or download an offer)
- Conversion optimisation (to help increase your website’s conversion rate)
Typically, you can expect around two pieces of content per week, to keep your marketing efforts at a level to which you’ll see a good return of investment. However, the first month usually involves ensuring you have everything set up to ensure your marketing will provide the best results.
This may include setting up marketing automation software, and doing many of the other things mentioned above (like buyer persona research, an SEO audit, and setting up email marketing workflows). However, you should also remember that it’s not necessarily about quantity, but quality.
Finding which deliverables you actually need
A good digital marketing agency shouldn’t be able to just reel off a list of things you need, without first doing an assessment of your needs. If an agency tries to do that? Run. (Also, run if they ever mention link building!) However, they should also be able to give you a good idea of what they’re going to do for you BEFORE you sign up.
They can do this by talking to you about your business, such as your revenue goals, current revenue, and what you’re currently doing in terms of marketing your business. Your deliverables should inevitably always be tied to a specific goal.
As an example of this, a blog post can help increase traffic, whilst an ebook or guide can help convert visitors into leads, and help them to make a more educated decision.
However, like I mentioned above, what you THINK you need, isn’t necessarily always what you should be getting.
For instance, I had a conversation with a guy the other week, who asked me: “So, what would you do for me?” To which I replied: “I don’t know yet.” He then started talking about how he needed his Facebook and Twitter fans/followers to improve, as he thought that was best.
I told him I wasn’t simply going to take his money just to increase his social media presence. I explained he needed to be getting more back, such as an increase in sales and overall revenue. So, this is a good example of how your perception of a deliverable may be very different to what you’ll get.
Advice from an experienced digital marketer
When hiring a digital marketing agency to provide deliverables that’ll help you achieve your goals, my advice (and brutally honest opinion) is to look at inbound marketing agencies. Simply because they’re more set-up to provide you with the deliverables and all-in-one holistic solution you’ll need.
I call myself a digital marketing agency only because a lot of people don’t necessarily understand what ‘inbound’ is. It’s actually the most effective way of marketing for the digital world, and includes all of the methods mentioned above. So, now you know, seek them out!
For all of the deliverables I’ve mentioned in this article, what you’re going to get all comes down to one thing; trust. Find an agency you can connect with, and that you feel you can trust. Because in the end, it’s all about people; not deliverables.
No-one can guarantee results, but choose an agency that listens to you and can give you a good indication of what you can expect in return – only AFTER doing a thorough assessment of your needs.
Next steps
By now, you should have a better idea of the types of deliverables you can typically expect from an agency. For your next steps, make a shortlist of inbound agencies you’d like to speak to. But take into consideration the advice above, and always trust your gut.
Don’t forget to let me know how you get on by leaving a comment below!