Investing in a digital marketing company can help your business reach its goals… if you are working with the right company. It is crucial that whatever company you choose does not keep you in the dark. If you’re working with true professionals, they should communicate what they are working on, the results, future goals and projects, and any relevant industry updates.
Know What Tasks Your Marketing Company Completed
You should expect transparency in what tasks your marketing team tackles for you. This might be communicated differently depending on the agency you choose and how frequently you meet with them. At the minimum, you should meet with your agency contact on a monthly basis to go over the work that has been completed and the results. Month to month, the items on this list may vary with more or less tasks included, depending on the size and scope of the project.
In addition, your agency should also be able to explain why they prioritized a project and how it aligns with your goals. If your strategist can’t tell you about the last tasks they completed and why, it may be time to look for a reputable digital marketing company. You want a strategist who makes informed changes based on data.
Know What Your Digital Marketing Strategist Plans To Work On
Your digital marketing strategist should also communicate their future plans. In marketing, it is a red flag if your strategist does not have a roadmap to achieve specific business goals. Before a strategist makes any changes to your website, it is critical they perform initial research and develop a plan. This plan should always be in line with your specific business objectives. While your marketing strategy should be tweaked as data comes in, with a proper plan in place, you are more likely to reach your goals.
Ensure You Receive the Most Impactful Marketing Strategy
Your digital marketing company should also inform you of relevant industry updates. How prospective clients find your business is evolving, and your marketing strategy should evolve in tandem. A marketing strategy that worked ten, five, or even two years ago will not have the same impact today. It’s important to note, if your strategist isn’t informing you of recent changes, chances are they aren’t staying up to date and aren’t actively looking for ways to improve their strategies.
You want to work with a transparent, honest, and innovative marketing company that communicates:
- Recent industry changes
- How your business may be impacted
- How your marketing strategy will evolve to mitigate challenges or embrace opportunities
It is inevitable that the most effective marketing strategies will change. To ensure you don’t lag behind your competitors, choose to work with an innovative marketing company.
Interpreting an SEO Report As an Informed Client
As a business owner, you want to understand the return on investment (ROI) on efforts you are paying for, otherwise what is the point of spending that money?
When it comes understanding the ROI on an SEO program, I recommend having a basic understanding of the following for 2025:
- Keywords: A good SEO strategy in 2025 should include keywords. In order for your clients to find you, it’s important to show up when they search for phrases relevant to your business. Your SEO strategist should be keeping track of various keywords and what your business shows up for. They should inform you of what they are doing to improve keywords as well as how those efforts have led to increased conversions.
- Sessions: In theory, you want sessions, the number of website visits you get, to increase. However, not all traffic is good traffic. Your marketing company shouldn’t necessarily aim to push as many people to your website as possible. Instead, your desired outcome may be more qualified leads.
- Conversions: Conversions are specific actions taken on your site. The most meaningful conversions are things like phone calls and form fills (aka leads!) There are other useful conversions such as tracking when people watch a video, download a resource guide etc. These conversions indicate the right audience and are ideal for remarketing efforts, because the user is interested but not quite ready to purchase. If you plan on having marketing done, it’s critical you are working with an agency who optimizes for conversions. In order to calculate your ROI for hiring a marketing agency, it is important to understand the value of a lead and what your close rate is. You can use that information alongside conversion data provided by your strategist to determine the ROI of your program.
Overall, when analyzing your data, it’s essential to understand how each of the three areas mentioned above are trending. More importantly though, it is vital to understand how they all correlate. For instance, if you are seeing significant improvements in keyword placements and traffic to your site, but not in conversions, that is an indication you may be targeting the wrong audience. It is also necessary to have something to compare your data to. For instance, your strategist may state your sessions are up 20% from last month, which may seem great. In reality, it’s important to understand the bigger picture.
For example, if you are a tourism-based company in Saratoga Springs, NY, you should expect increased traffic once the snow melts and the warmer weather arrives. A drastic increase in month over month traffic is expected regardless of any SEO efforts. Likewise, a drastic decrease may occur once winter approaches. In this scenario, year over year comparisons may be more beneficial to you.
Alternatively, some scenarios may call for month over month comparisons or monitoring trends over time. What’s important is that you pay attention to what your SEO company chooses to report on and why. Your strategist should make it as easy as possible to identify how your business is performing.
Be Confident Your Marketing Company Benefits You
Ultimately, you want to see that your digital marketing program leads to positive growth for your business. However, you don’t have to be an expert. If you’re interested in a marketing company that proves their value to your company through honest monthly reporting, schedule a free consultation with Mannix Marketing.
