Digital advertising is an integral part of any inbound marketing strategy. As 2020 caused many of us to work and play in isolation, our activities and dependence on learning and finding things digitally has grown exponentially and will continue to do so. If you want to get in front of your target audience, and convert prospects into happy customers, a digital marketing strategy is an essential piece of the puzzle.
Most businesses find that, in order to spend their advertising dollars wisely, it is necessary to go to the experts and sign on with a digital ad agency. This particular area of advertising requires a strong background, ongoing learning, and consistent monitoring to be most successful.
Fortunately, there are many choices out there, and you have a great chance of finding one that is a good fit for your business. Or, maybe you’ve already found one and it’s going well. Either way, it’s good to set some requirements and ask your digital ad agency how they plan to meet them. Keep these questions in mind when vetting, or evaluating, your digital ad agency.
4 Questions to Ask Your Digital Ad Agency
1. What are the industry benchmarks for digital advertising and is your agency matching or exceeding those rates?
There are many sources that claim they know industry benchmarks for digital advertising, however, these can be greatly skewed because the metrics often come from very small sample pools. These metrics are a good jumping off point to know if your agency is coming close to the industry data available though.
This question can also prompt a larger discussion with your agency around the benchmarks they use and specific goals for your account. If you have particular goals you are trying to achieve, be sure you communicate that with your agency so they can tailor your ads and strategy to those goals.
2. Is your agency providing an advertising strategy tailored to my business and industry?
Although some learnings and techniques can be carried throughout any industry or business, not every aspect of a campaign should be the same across the board. An agency with a cookie cutter approach will not yield results like an agency who will tailor your program to your company, industry, goals, and budget.
Ask how they customize programs and how often they evaluate the success of the methods they’re using.
3. Will I have full access to the money spent on ads, or will I pay your agency who then pays the bill?
Paying the platform on which you’re advertising directly is quite important. This allows you to know exactly what your agency is spending.
You can be sure that they are not keeping a larger management fee than what you were first told and that they are spending the appropriate amount on advertising.
4. Does your agency continue to review and improve your advertising strategy? What level of automation do you use?
It’s important to have a human looking at your account. Automations are great and can help optimize your account based on algorithms, but a person at your agency should still be reviewing these changes and making additional tweaks based on what they know about your account. Ask how often each account is looked at and what the process is of implementing changes.
Whether you’re new to the game or have been honing your digital strategy for a while, it’s good to check in and make sure you know what your ad agency is doing and if they are spending your budget wisely.
Hiring a digital agency to handle your ads and PPC is a smart investment. The resources you put into hiring the experts will pay off in the long run. Digital ads have evolved over the years and have become a core competency, one that you shouldn’t be expected to do without knowledge, insight, and an appropriate amount of time. To make sure you are getting a solid ROI, ask questions of your agency to ensure you are getting a program tailored to your needs.
