What should you do if your Digital Marketing Agency is Behind the Times?

Are you concerned because your company is not getting the results you expected from the digital marketing agency you hired? What should you do if your digital marketing agency is behind the times? Many businesses end up frustrated when goals aren’t being met, they aren’t getting the traffic they expected, or the competition is leaping ahead. In some cases, this is a result of using outdated technology and older methods.

The first step is to gauge if they truly are a bit behind the times. That could be a reason why expectations aren’t being met. We have created a useful list which can help determine if that is the case.

Determining if a Digital Marketing Agency is Behind the Times

This is going to sound a little bit like the Jeff Foxworthy (link)series of redneck jokes. You know, the ones that start with, “You might be a redneck if….”. In this case “a digital marketing agency might be behind the times if…” –

• The digital agency isn’t a master of Google Analytics – This goes for Google AdWords as well. These are two of the most common, useful, and powerful tools when it comes to digital marketing. Google Analytics should form the backbone of marketing campaigns as the data and insights available (for free no less) are second to none. How else can you easily track key performance indicators to measure goal progress?
• They are not up to date on Google’s Best Practices– Google is the biggest influencer of internet activities. Not staying current on how to best utilize the internet prevents maximum effectiveness and ROI of all marketing activities.
• They don’t follow Google’s Best Practices – Not following Google’s best practices for utilizing the web is a huge mistake and can incur penalties if your business is going against those practices.
• The digital agency uses an email address that ends with “@aol.com”- Be concerned if they use Blackberry’s and recommend flash-based websites as well. Businesses cannot realize maximum growth or ROI if they are using outdated means. Technology is a critical component of marketing in a digital world. A good digital agency should be fluent in all the current trends, hardware, and software to be able to effectively guide clients.
• They don’t have a good understanding of Marketing Automation – The use of marketing automation is a must to stay on a competitive level with other businesses. There are simply too many social platforms, contact points, and channels that require some level of automation if you want to be effective.
• The digital agency doesn’t promote their own business on the primary social media platforms – While there are plenty of marketing aspects that do not utilize social media, social media marketing (SMM) has become a huge trend the past few years. The digital marketing landscape is fluid and a business that does not stay abreast of and utilize current digital marketing trends is going to have a hard time promoting a client’s business.
• They do promote themselves on social media and it looks awful – This speaks for itself. They should be able to promote themselves interestingly and engagingly on social media. If not, then how can they guide your business?
• Their case studies are outdated – Results from five years ago are nice, but the marketplace changes month to month. It matters what has been accomplished recently, not a decade ago.
• The digital agency lacks video ability – Video is one of the more important ways to influence customers with both information for buying decisions and increasing conversions. A current digital marketing firm should be aware of this and either has video fluency and ability or have a firm they outsource video marketing needs to.

While your business won’t suffer too much if a digital agency suffers from one of these concerns, two or more should be a bit of a red flag.

The Bottom Line

The bottom line is that the only reason to fire your digital marketing agency is that you aren’t getting results. Any company you parent with needs to provide consistent value if you are going to provide them with continual income. It boils down to a basic consumer transaction; money for services. In today’s fast-paced digital work, you can’t provide good results using outdated technology or methods; you have to adapt and upgrade.

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