The Vancouver Beginner’s Guide to Hiring a Digital Marketing Agency
If you run a business in Vancouver, chances are you need some help with your marketing agency. If that’s the case, congratulations!
You’re already ahead of many other businesses in the area—you understand that marketing has become an essential part of keeping your business running smoothly and turning profits.
But hiring the right digital marketing agency can be tricky, especially if you don’t know what to look for when choosing one from among the hundreds of agencies in the Vancouver area.
This guide will tell you everything you need to know about choosing and hiring the perfect digital marketing agency for your business.
Where do you start?
Knowing what digital marketing Vancouver your business needs is half of what you need to know when it comes to choosing an agency.
You must understand every aspect of digital marketing—from content creation, SEO and PPC, social media management, email marketing, conversion rate optimization, and analytics—before meeting with any agencies or freelancers.
The most important thing you can do as a new business owner is to educate yourself about how digital advertising works; once you have an understanding of each piece (and how they interrelate), figuring out who should be doing what becomes much easier.
(And not knowing how something works is one of our top reasons for clients not meeting their KPIs.)
How much will it cost?
There’s no hard and fast rule about how much it will cost to hire digital marketing services. However, digital marketing agency fees are generally higher than that of freelancers for one reason: businesses need someone who can actively manage their accounts on an ongoing basis.
In many cases, you’ll find that individual freelancers or agencies work together by offering special deals or packages at different rates.
Also note that there are two very different types of digital marketing agencies, which we cover here: creative agencies vs. online marketing companies.
Online marketing companies offer content creation and management as well as email, web design, and online advertising while creative agencies specialize in branding, copywriting, and graphic design along with visual elements like infographics, videos, and pictures.
How do you choose?
There are many digital marketing agencies in Metro Vancouver, but not all will be able to meet your specific needs.
As you select digital marketing agencies in your area, ask yourself:
- Who is an agency’s main client? (Is it local businesses like yours or big international brands?)
- What kind of work has an agency done?
- (Has it helped smaller companies develop their social media presence or worked with large organizations?)
- What services does an agency specialize in?
- (Does it provide content strategy and design services, or IT support and development?)
- And what makes one agency different than another?
(An agency may excel in social media management while offering less-than-stellar website design.) All these questions are important when you’re looking for local digital marketing agencies.
What does this mean for your business?
Digital marketing is a big topic, and you can’t go it alone. If you’re just starting your business, or are looking for help with digital marketing, a digital marketing agency might be what you’re looking for.
They’ll know exactly what they’re doing since that’s their job – and work hard to make sure your brand succeeds in today’s competitive digital world!
While there are some things you’ll need to take care of yourself, such as coming up with content ideas and managing social media accounts, hiring an agency will help make sure your brand is putting its best foot forward.