Everything that you do in marketing, especially digital marketing, needs to be measured in order to understand how campaigns and tactics are performing. Efforts need to be tracked, data needs to be recorded and strategies need to be adjusted accordingly. The top digital marketing agencies will do just that.
When vetting agencies, be sure to ask, “How do you track your efforts?” Their response to that question will be extremely telling of their knowledge and capabilities. That, in turn, will be the kind of indication you need to figure out if they truly are a top digital marketing agency or a total phony.
An agency should be constantly tracking their marketing efforts to show you both the actions that are being performed and the results that come from them, whether positive or negative. People hate hearing the word “negative” and people also hate seeing the negatives. But, more often than not, the negatives are way more important than the positives. Why is that, you ask? Well, the positives are great, don’t get us wrong. They mean something is working, and it’s working well, which is awesome. However, the real, nitty-gritty growth comes from pivoting and improving from tactics that don’t work.
Think of the 80/20 rule. 80% of the tests you try will fail, 20% of the tests you try will be successful and drive 80% of your success.
If you’re going to fail at something, which is inevitable (hate to break it to you), it’s better to fail fast. It’s better to find out what’s not working and how you can start making it work sooner rather than later. You don’t want to be months into a partnership with an agency and eventually realize that something hasn’t been working all along and you’ve wasted precious time and money. The top marketing agencies will track their efforts and be sure to include the negatives, enabling them to make the necessary adjustments and improvements to help you achieve success.
When it comes to tracking data, here are a few, simple practices that the top marketing agencies should have in place. They need to be using Google Analytics, and maybe even Google Data Studio. If they’re going to be working on an SEO campaign, make sure they’re using Google Search Console. For email marketing, ask which marketing automation tools would be best for your business. Also, talk to them about the current CRM you’re using or see if they can help you implement that. Ultimately, be confident in the fact that they are able to either support the tools that you’re currently using or help you implement tools that are going to fit and fortify the way your business operates.
When it comes to weeding out the worst digital marketing agencies from the top digital marketing agencies, our guide, “8 Questions Marketing Directors Should Ask When Interviewing Agencies,” has everything you need to know. Get your free copy now.
