What Does a Digital Marketing Agency Do?

If you wish to promote your business online, chances are you’re considering hiring a digital marketing agency. And, with the increasing number of internet users in the US, it’s a perfectly reasonable decision to improve your online presence. But, what does a digital marketing agency do? Is it worth the money, or is it something you can do yourself? Before you hire a marketing agency make sure to ask these questions.

Social Media Advertising and Management

It’s hard to stay relevant in today’s business without an active social media profile. Recent studies show that nine out of ten businesses in the United States use social networks for marketing. This should come as no surprise since most Internet users expect brands to have an online presence and engage with their customers.

Digital marketing agencies can manage your social network profiles for you, meeting the industry standards. You want all your social media posts to be well designed, with short and catchy copies that send a clear message. A digital marketing agency would have experienced, creative social media managers that can produce quality content and engage with your fans.

More importantly, your digital marketing agency can take care of your advertising. That includes spreading your budget over several campaigns, targeting the right people, and sending them to your website.

Digital Advertising

Research shows that 79% of Americans shop online. But, before you buy something, you have to search for it. This is where Google ads come into play. Google search ads enable you to reach your customers while they’re searching for a certain term related to your business.

So, let’s say you run a shoe store in New Jersey. You might want to show up in Google search when someone types “Womens shoes NJ” in their search bar. You can pay Google to show your website in the first three results every time someone searches for these keywords. Although it may sound simple, it requires a lot of work and optimization – the competition on Google is fierce, and Google ranks these ads based on a complicated algorithm.

Most if not all digital marketing agencies have digital advertising experts specialized in Google advertising. They can manage your campaigns and get the best results for your money. Furthermore, the world of Google ads doesn’t end with search ads. Display, video, YouTube, and shop ads are also a part of the Google network. Managing all these campaigns at the same time can be overwhelming, so having an agency do that for you might be a good idea.

Website Development

If you run an online business, having a well-designed website with clear information structure should be your top priority. Digital marketing agencies usually have a team of programmers and UX designers with dozens of websites in their portfolio. They can develop or redesign your website to meet certain standards and provide your visitors with the best experience.

Even if you have a new website that doesn’t need changes, you can have a digital marketing agency go through it and give you some comments. You’d be surprised how quickly a website can grow old.

Content Marketing and SEO

Some agencies offer content writing as a separate service. That means you can hire an agency to manage your blog, write e-books, articles, and web content. Most digital marketing agencies will optimize this content to meet SEO standards, so your articles can show up in Google searches, even without paid advertising.
This could be a good option if you want to position yourself as an industry expert. Well-written, useful articles exude professionalism.

Measuring, Optimization, and Reporting

Possibly the best thing about digital marketing is its measurability. With digital marketing campaigns, you can always see how much money you invested and exactly what you got in return. All campaigns can be measured, compared to different time periods, and constantly optimized to get the best results.

Your digital marketing agency can use this data to learn more about your industry and audience and improve all future campaigns. Most digital marketing agencies have monthly or weekly reports that explain in great detail how your campaigns are doing. You can always ask them for more clarification.

The Bottom Line: What Does a Digital Marketing Agency Do

It’s important to note that very few agencies provide all of these services. In fact, many agencies will openly admit that they have a very narrow area of expertise.

Even those that seem to offer most of the mentioned services are probably not equally adept at all of them. If you are looking at hiring an agency for your company make sure to download our list of questions to ask.

An easy way to tell which services are in an agency’s spotlight is to take a look at their website. Their core services will usually be highlighted on their homepage, while others may be harder to find.