Recruiting the help of an inbound marketing agency is an investment that you need to be certain will bring big returns down the road – but what can you do upfront to ensure this happens? One best practice is to ask the right questions early in the relationship during an inbound marketing assessment. This is a great time to identify gaps in your marketing strategy – for free – that the inbound agency can help you fill. Here are 10 valuable questions that will help you find the best inbound agency for you.
- What industries do you serve?
Prior to working with an inbound marketing agency, you need to make sure that they have the knowledge and resources fit for your industry – especially if your industry is more technical or niche.
- Do you have experience in B2B, B2C, or both?
The types of marketing tactics needed for serving B2B and B2C companies differs. The agency you partner with should be experienced in marketing to your type of audience.
- What results have you seen in the past?
Ask about the results they’ve helped clients achieve in the past. The agency should have documentation or case studies to share these results with you.
- Are you best at attracting traffic, converting leads, or closing customers?
The majority of marketing assessments focus on attracting visitors and converting leads that are towards the beginning of the buying cycle. However, there are very few agencies that effectively build out campaigns that help to close customers – so, make sure you ask.
- What resources do you have on your team?
In order for inbound marketing to work, you’ll need a variety of resources. An agency will be a better extension of your team if they have a team of writers with industry knowledge, graphic and web designers, developers, and inbound marketers.
- Will you create the strategy and implement it?
Asking about what the agency will and will not do is important because you do not want to sign on with an agency that gives you a blueprint but doesn’t help execute, especially if implementation is what you need help with.
- How much time will I need to devote to our partnership?
How much time you have to devote depends on a number of factors including the agency’s process and project scope. During the assessment, the agency should already be discovering some of these factors and can give you a good estimate of what is expected from you.
- Do you have experience with local SEO?
When location is a factor in reaching your customers, you want to ensure that the agency is well equipped to optimize your website and inbound campaigns for local SEO.
- What is your client retention rate?
It’s great for an agency to have worked with several clients, but this isn’t a huge selling point if it means that the agency has a high client turnover rate. A good inbound marketing agency will be able to answer this question.
10. How do you measure ROI for clients?
Some agencies measure some aspects of ROI but not necessarily the metrics that ensure your investment is adding to the bottom line. The agency you work with should plan goals with you and give timelines of when you can expect to see ROI with an inbound strategy.
After learning which questions to ask during your inbound marketing assessment, you’ll be able to gauge whether or not the agency is ideal for you. Having the right questions prepared upfront will start your relationship off on the right foot. You should know what you’re signing up for and plan your marketing goals around these capabilities. Get informed and get the results you want!
