Online Campaign for small businesses: What to consider when choosing an agency?

In today’s digitally-dominated world, running an effective online campaign is key to the success of businesses, especially small ones that typically don’t spend a lot of money on paid advertising.
Choosing the right agency can have a significant impact on the effectiveness of marketing efforts, especially if the client does not have a large budget. Before making a decision, it is worth paying attention to several important factors that may determine the success of the cooperation.

Experience and expertise

One of the most important factors in choosing an agency is its experience and competence. Before signing an agreement, check whether the agency has clients from your industry in its portfolio. Understanding the client’s industry is one of the key elements of cooperation. The agency, which boasts certificates confirming the skills of specialists, usually has already tested strategies that can be adapted to your needs.

Also check the agency’s results by looking for the portfolio and awards tab on the website. Find success stories that show the effectiveness of the agency’s actions with other clients. At the meeting, ask for references. They will be a good indicator of whether cooperation is worthwhile.

Check out: Our advertising campaigns.

Understanding needs and goals

The marketing agency should show an interest in understanding the needs and goals of your business. It is crucial that their solutions are personalized and tailored to the specifics of your business. Choose an agency that is ready to take the time to analyze your needs and develop a strategy that will bring the best results.

On what account are the activities conducted

A very important issue is the accounts on which activities will be conducted. Whether it will be a client account or an agency account that the client will not have access to. I know from experience how important is the flexibility that the first solution guarantees. The activities carried out on the client’s account provide it with full control over the work and – in the event of termination of the cooperation – it retains the history and information about the campaign, which are the necessary basis for further advertising activities.

Check out: Google Ads audit.

Strategy and approach

Make sure the agency proposes a clear strategy, tailored to your goals and budget. A good action plan should include a variety of channels and tools to achieve the intended marketing objectives. Ask for strategy details and expected results to make sure you’re on the right path to success.

Reporting

Reporting is a key element to pay attention to when choosing an agency. It is necessary to make sure how activities will be reported, whether monthly reports will be sent, what will be in these reports and whether they will be presented at a meeting where a specialist will explain what exactly these indicators mean. The agency should be open to discussing performance and ready to make changes to the strategy if necessary.
It is important that the report includes the following information:

• the number of impressions of a given advertisement,
• the number of clicks on the ad,
• the ratio of the number of impressions to the number of clicks,
• average cost of a click,
• number of conversions,
• conversion rate,
• average number of pages viewed per session,
• total conversion value,
• total cost of conversion,

Also read: What do I pay the agency for? Costs incurred for digital marketing campaigns.

Communication and support

At the bidding stage, you can check whether the contact with the agency is quick and specific. Pay attention to the responsiveness of the agency, including how long you have to wait for a response.

Good contact and support during the course of cooperation is the basis for the actions to bring results. Make sure you have a dedicated maintainer or project manager who will take care of your campaign and keep you informed if you have any questions.

Read also: Why isn’t the agency responding? List of 6 practices prohibited in contact with the client. 

In conclusion, choosing a marketing agency for a small business requires careful preparation and thought. It is worth paying attention to the communication already at the stage of the offer, and then look at the proposed cooperation strategy. An important factor is the issue of reporting and the accounts on which the campaign will be conducted. The credibility of the agency should be confirmed by references and a rich portfolio. These elements should help you choose the right agency that will take care of the campaign for your business.

If you need support for your advertising, check out our offer for online advertising campaigns.