How to Find a Digital Marketing Partner

If you find yourself needing help with your digital marketing, you have two routes to go. You can hire a technician or you can find a partner.  When you work with a partner in the digital marketing world you will likely get better service and a much greater return on your investment than if you just hire a technician.  A partnership with your digital marketing team allows you to build a long term relationship that is beneficial to both parties. But, finding the right partner will take some time and investment on your part. Below are 3 areas to focus on as you being to talk to potential partners.

KNOW WHAT YOU NEED – In order to have a good partnership you need to be able to explain what exactly it is that you are looking for in terms of your digital marketing needs.  Is your main objective to get more leads, increase your conversion rate, improve your website functionality, improve your public relations or build an online brand?  Not every digital marketing company has the depth or expertise to handle all aspects of digital marketing so it’s important to make sure that the expertise is there first; then you can discuss philosophy and approaches to determine if you are alignment.

INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE – In today’s digital marketing world there is a lot of noise, finding a partner that knows your industry allows you to immediately cut through most of that noise and implement strategies, techniques and platforms that work in your industry.  Look for a partner that has other clients in your industry (but not your competition).  In doing so, you’ll get the benefit of what they have learned from others and not be paying them to “try” new things out on you.

COMMUNICATION – Digital marketing companies are almost always fired because of communication issues not the work they do.  This means that you need to find a partner whose communication style and philosophy is similar to yours. You need to understand how often they communicate with their existing clients and what they communicate about. Do they do a monthly report? Do they email them every time they work on their account?  Also, talk about how accessible your account manager will be.  Can you call 24/7 (there are emergencies occasionally)? Do they return calls within 24 hours or 3 days or never?  Are they proactive in communication or does it generally only happen when the client contacts them.

Ideally you want your digital marketing partner to be someone you can see being a trusted advisor and a part of your team for years to come.  Take note when you meet with prospective partners of how many and what questions they ask you.  This is an indication that they want to help you achieve your objectives and understand you, your company and be a part of its growth and success for years to come.

You can see more about hiring a digital marketing company on our YouTube video.  I’d love to help you on your journey of finding a digital marketing partner.  You can reach me at [email protected].