6 Tips for Choosing the Best Denver Marketing Agency

 

Let me start by asking you one question: Who’s in charge of your marketing?

Sure, you can do it yourself. But, is that really the way to get the best results?

If you’re running your own business you need to focus on what you do best. If your business is marketing, then you might want to handle it yourself. But, for most of us, we’re better off letting the professionals handle our ad campaigns.

The reality is, you want to work with a Denver marketing agency that can get you results. You also want to work with an agency that will keep your clients coming back!

What does that look like? How do you find a Denver digital marketing agency that can help your small business with marketing programs that actually work? Well, fortunately, that’s what we’re going to discuss in today’s article.

Get your pens and pencils ready. By the time you’re done reading this, you’re going to be an expert on what to look for in a marketing agency.

The Pre-Planning Phase

Before you dive into selecting your Denver marketing agency, there’s something you need to consider. You need to consider which direction you’re going in. What is the purpose of your marketing efforts?

If you go into this whole process without any idea of your intentions or goals, you’re essentially wandering around in the dark. Getting crystal clear on your marketing goals and objectives will go a long way toward helping you select the best marketing agency in Denver.

Because let’s be honest, the best Denver marketing agency is a subjective term. It’s going to be different for everyone.  Some agencies are great at content marketing, some agencies offer social media marketing, and some don’t handle any ad creation and strictly focus on deploying your paid search ads for you.

Having a brainstorming session with your team is a great way to do this. Think about your entire online presence, your current website traffic, seo strategy, social strategy and brand guidelines.  All of this will help you pick an agency with the digital marketing strategies that will fit your needs.

Also, remember that the most effective marketing campaigns start with the end in mind and work backward.  Start with what you’re trying to sell, or accomplish, then fill in the blanks of what you’ll need to get it done.

Tips To Find the Best Denver Marketing Agency

Now that you have your goals in mind, we can start the selection process. Since digital marketing services can be done from anywhere in the world, there are millions of options for you to choose from.

Sticking to these six tips will help guide you through the process. 

1. Ask About Their Portfolio

Any marketing agency worth its salt is going to have a sizeable portfolio. If they don’t have a portfolio available, you can ask them for a list of past clients.

It’s important to note, you’re not doing this to see if they had high-profile clients or if you know any of their clients. You’re doing this to see if they had clients in the past. If they can’t produce a list for you, this likely means that they haven’t had any clients yet.

Look, we get it. All digital marketing agencies need to start somewhere. So, if you’re ok with a newer agency handling your campaigns that’s fine. Just make sure they’re upfront about it. And also manage your expectations of how good your results are going to be.

New marketing agencies have their benefits. They will likely be more budget-friendly. They can also offer you a higher level of customer service since you’re one of their very few clients. But, if you want the best marketing agency in Denver, a newbie agency won’t be the best fit for you.

2. Ask For Some Proof

A great marketing agency should be able to produce more than just a list of clients. They should have testimonials or Google reviews from their clients. These are really powerful in helping you choose the right agency.

Any agency can make a simple google ad, wow you with what they “know”, and sell you on all the best services. But, is what they’re doing really working? This is what reviews will help you figure out.

In today’s day and age, you can find these on your own with a quick Google search. If the marketing agency is smart, they’ll make them easy for you to find on their website. 

Savvy marketers understand the importance of testimonials. So, if you can’t find any on their site, chances are they don’t understand effective marketing as much as they say.

Also, it’s a good idea to ask for examples of their previous work, especially the work you’re going to ask for help with.  What is their online marketing strategy for selling products or services?  Do they have a solid video product, do they handle web design and development in-house or do they hire out jobs?

The more examples you can get from the internet marketing agency around the services you need, the better off you’re going to be.

 

3. Make Sure They’re A Match

When you hire a vendor for any service, including marketing, you’re partnering with that company. And, business partnerships are like romantic partnerships. You need to make sure their company clicks with yours.

Do some research on what the company’s core values and culture are. Make sure that they match up with yours. If you and your chosen marketing agency view business, and the world, from different perspectives it may not work out.

If you choose to work with a company that doesn’t view things the same way it will just create more stress. Some people may pick a company off of a logo or because they had a particular client. Other companies may focus solely on their marketing budget.

Selecting your future marketing agency on those parameters isn’t going to turn out well. Take the time to “date” your future marketing agency and make sure they’re the best fit for you and your team.

4. They Pick Up the Phone

Any business, in any sector of the economy, should be easy to get in touch with. Customers want solutions quickly in the modern economy. And, when you’re looking for your Denver marketing agency, you’re a customer.

Their website should be simple. You shouldn’t feel like you’re navigating a maze to get the answers you want. If their website seems complex, and a way to contact them isn’t plastered all over it, it may be a red flag.

Ideally, some form of contact information for your marketing agency is one click away on their website. If it’s any more than that, they might not be the marketing agency for you. They should also have a clear call-to-action on every page of their website.

These are big, bright buttons that say “click here” or “get your free report”. If you see those features on their website, you can feel pretty confident that they know what they’re doing.

They should also make your first step crystal clear. Are they telling you what they want you to do next?

Do they want you to call them or are they asking you to schedule a consultation? This is a good tip for your own website, as well. You need to guide your buyers toward what you want them to do. If your marketing agency is guiding you, that’s a good sign.

5. They’re Realistic

A lot of marketing agencies will promise you the moon and the stars to get your business. This should be a red flag. The promises an agency makes on their website can go a long way in telling you how much they know about the business.

An example is Google results. Any agency that tells you they can get you to number one in Google in a matter of weeks might not know what they’re doing.

SEO marketing is both a long-term and short-term strategy. Results don’t happen overnight. The right agency should sit you down and have a robust plan of action to get you the results you want for your campaigns.

This is why it’s important to educate yourself about the industry before shopping for an agency. You don’t need to know everything. But, you must know enough to tell if an agency is worth the money you’re paying them.

The right agency for you will be transparent and realistic about the results you can expect to see from their marketing efforts.

6. They Have the Team To Back It Up

Any business is only as strong as their team. When hiring a potential marketing agency, you want to make sure they’re surrounded by some high-class talent.

You’ll want to make sure that your team members have the level of experience you need to get the job done for your business. It also helps if your marketing agency’s team specializes in a particular area of the industry.

For example, a typical marketing team will have one person, or group of people, for content. These are the people who do all of the writing.

They may have another team member for website development,  graphic design, another team member for social media, and another one for PPC. 

It’s not the size of their team that matters. It’s the quality of the person at each position.

Denver Colorado

There you have it! Six quick tips to help you maximize the benefits of hiring a marketing agency. Armed with the knowledge in this article, we hope you’ll be able to go on to confidently select the best marketing agency in Denver.

We like to think our team at 1513 Media is the best Denver marketing agency. We’d love for you to contact us so we can talk about how we can take your business to the next level.

Thanks for giving this article a read and we look forward to working with you!