Whether you are just starting with search engine marketing services or are already running a successful campaign that is becoming difficult to handle, partnering with an SEM agency that can handle your campaign can prove to be a great relief. But it doesn’t mean that hiring an agency is going to be an easy task.
As marketers, we very-well understand the importance of marketing and every component of marketing including pay per click (PPC) marketing, local internet marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), and many more. SEM is a specific part of the digital marketing world, and collaborating with professionals can help you achieve the growth and development you wish to have.
So, how to select an SEM agency? Let’s have a look at some of the things you should do while hiring an SEM agency.
1. Make sure you do a deep research
Randomly picking up an agency from the first page of a search engine results page isn’t going to help your organization at all. The best thing that you can do is to make a short list of all the agencies you think can offer you services you are looking for and have worked with similar businesses as yours.
The next step should be to do a thorough research about each of the agencies in your list. You can visit their website and read reviews they have received from their clients, you can also look at their portfolio, what many years of experience they have, and can look for any references you can contact. Contacting an agency’s past clients can provide you an insight into the quality and type of services they offer.
During your research you will also be able to find whether the agency has worked for a similar business as yours, if yes it can be a great thing. If an agency has an experience of working with similar businesses, they will already have some idea about your industry and will already know about the things that can work for your business. An effective SEM strategy can vary from one industry to another, hence having an agency who has some experience in your industry is always an advantage.
2. Find out how well you connect with the agency
You need to realize the fact that you won’t be hiring a new SEM agency every once in a while, and that is the reason why you need to make sure that you need to connect with it from the beginning.
Take your time and thoroughly interview each of the agencies down your list. Ask them about their work process and try to know their mentality and whether it matches with you or not. Also, try to ask them questions that will build transparency. If you feel they are trying to hide something from you or aren’t telling you anything it is a sign that you need to look for another agency.
Remember that search engine marketing is a continuous process and that you will want to work with an agency you feel comfortable with and find them trustworthy to hand over your account details to them.
Also, don’t forget to ask about how often they can provide you with reports and how often they can have a meeting or a call with you plus what is their backup plan if something goes wrong.
3. Make sure you are clear defining your goals
This is the most important part where most companies fail. You need to make sure that you clearly define your goals to the agency. They need to have a clear picture about what you wish to accomplish through the SEM strategies. If your agency is already aware of such topics, it will be easier for them to get prepared and get things rolling.
After all, if you are not aware of your business how can you expect your agency to achieve positive results for your business. If you fail to clearly define you goals to the agency you will not be able to get the most out of the relationship that you have with them.
4. Discuss how often will they be providing you with reports
The next thing you can do is to discuss how often the agency will be providing you with reports. Naturally, an agency will be dealing with a number of metrics that will be easy to track and can be measured. Ask the agency how often they are willing to provide you with reports and what the reports will include.
- There are certain questions, you can ask:
- How are you planning on measuring the ROI?
- How will your agency measure factors like brand awareness?
- What attribution models do you follow?
- Do you use different attribution models for different circumstances?
Communication is the base of every strong relationship. So don’t hold back from asking direct questions.
5. Focus on other factors that matter
By now you must have made up your mind about the agency you wish to work with. But before you make the final decision you would want to consider other factors too that can be important.
The first thing is the budget. The agency you are planning to hire should be within your budget. Hiring an SEM agency isn’t something like you begin something and then you completely forget about it. The more knowledge you can acquire about an agency the better. Ask them about how many employees they have in their team, how much experience they have, how many companies they have worked for, where they are based. The more questions you ask the more answers you will have the easier it will be for you to make a decision.
Hiring a professional SEM agency can help you achieve incredible results. You will obviously find a ton of agencies out there who claim to be the best and offer unmatched services. But you need to ensure that you make the right choice that will benefit your business because hiring an SEM agency to handle your campaign can make a huge experience.
