When you’re building a business, effective marketing is key, but choosing the best digital marketing company for your business can be incredibly tough.
Most companies specialize in one aspect of marketing or another, such as advertising, branding, search engine optimization (SEO), web design, or something else entirely.
At the same time, most marketing agencies cater to a specific kind of business, whether it’s large corporations, small businesses, eCommerce, service-based industries or a specific vertical such as the real estate industry.
And I hate to say it, but the marketing industry isn’t exactly known for integrity and trustworthiness.
There are many unscrupulous “marketers” out there who are just looking to make a quick buck at the expense of their clients.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard of people who’ve been ripped off by marketing agencies and web developers.
I remember having a completely unrelated discussion with someone, and when I told them what I did, they responded by saying, “I hate web developers.”
Sad to say, I don’t blame them for saying this, but this comment made me cringe, nonetheless.
All things considered, it can be difficult to wrap your head around all these nuances and be confident that you’re making a decision that will be best for your business.
That being said, if you want to make the right choice, then you’ve got to know what to watch out for, and which option is going to be best for your business.
So, if you want to learn more about how to choose a marketing company for your business, then you should definitely keep reading.
In this article, I’m going to break down all the options you have when deciding who’s going to do your digital marketing, and explain what sets eVision Media apart from other agencies.
How to Choose a Marketing Company
As I said above, choosing a marketing company that’s right for your business can be overwhelming and intimidating, as there are myriad options and many things to consider.
Below you’ll find a breakdown of the different kinds of marketing agencies, along with other potential options, and learn how to determine what an agency specializes in, and what kinds of businesses they work with, so you can make the right decision.
Specialization & Specificity
Before I get into discussing your various options, let’s take a minute to look at some of the nuances of marketing agencies, and marketers in general.
Now, keep in mind that a lot of agencies, and individual marketers, will claim they can do everything under the sun, whether that’s true or not.
But typically, a marketing agency, or marketing professional, for that matter, will specialize in one area, such as advertising, branding, SEO, social media or web design.
If you’re not quite sure what your business needs in terms of marketing, then this won’t be as relevant, and you’re probably better off finding a reputable full-service agency that can help you to figure out what kinds of marketing would be most beneficial for your business.
Regardless of whether you’re looking for specialization in one specific area, or a place where you can get everything done under one roof, some of the best ways to narrow things down are by looking at client testimonials, reading reviews, and looking at portfolios.
As you can see from the image below, we proudly post our work on our portfolio, which is displayed prominently on our website.
In any case, the insights you’ll find within testimonials, reviews, and portfolios should give you enough info to determine an agency or individual’s specialty.
And if you want to take things a step further, you can ask them to put you in touch with some of their clients so they can tell you more about the work they did.
Our website has an entire page dedicated to testimonials from our clients, as you can see from the image below.
We proudly display these testimonials on our website, and would never hesitate to put potential clients in touch with business owners whom we’ve already worked with, who are usually more than happy to vouch for us.
So if an agency or marketer doesn’t have a portfolio, or won’t put you in touch with any of their former clients, these are definitely not good signs, and it’s probably best to steer clear of them.
Another important thing to mention is that aside from just specializing in one form of marketing or another, most marketers, and marketing agencies, prefer to work with specific kinds of businesses, as this is where their strengths lie.
For instance, Madison Avenue-style marketing companies tend to work with large corporations, as they’re equipped with huge teams of people, who can handle projects of this scope.
On the other hand, you have smaller boutique agencies, such as ours, which have smaller teams but are also much more well-versed in marketing for solo entrepreneurs and small businesses.
In addition, there are several other options besides just the big corporate marketing companies and smaller boutique agencies, but we’ll get into that a bit more in a minute.
READ: What Kind of Website Does My Business Need? Pre-designed or Custom?
And when it comes to websites, one of the most important things to consider is whether your website can be built using a pre-designed theme, or if it needs to be custom-made from scratch.
This article explains the difference between pre-designed websites and those that are custom-built, while offering insight into which option might be right for your business.
Keep reading here.
Too Many Options
As I mentioned earlier, when you’re looking for a marketing agency or professional, there are an overwhelming number of options, and you’ve got a heck of a lot more to choose from than just corporate marketing companies and boutique agencies.
With that in mind, I thought it would be helpful to list these options and go into a bit of detail on each of them, so you can have a better understanding of which one will work best for your business.
So, if you’re still wondering how to choose a marketing company for your business, then keep reading, because below you’ll find a list of all your potential options.
Corporate Marketing Companies
Unless you’re the CEO of a large corporation, this is probably not the right option for you.
But I think discussing this option helps to put things in perspective, and can help you to avoid wasting your time on something that’s just not right for your business.
These companies have huge teams of marketers that are able to handle the kind of massive projects that large corporations require, and this is reflected in their incredibly expensive pricing.
So, if you own a small business, this is certainly not the option for you.
Smaller Boutique Agencies
Not to say that smaller boutique agencies can’t be overpriced, but if you own a small business, you’re probably better off considering this option.
Boutique agencies like us tend to focus more on solo entrepreneurs and micro to medium-sized businesses, so they have experience working with businesses like yours, and they’re more familiar with what it takes to market these kinds of businesses.
In addition, they tend to be much more flexible, both in terms of the way they operate and what they’re going to charge you for the work.
So, for small business owners, this is definitely a better option.
Outsourcers
Another option is to hire a single individual who doesn’t have any sort of in-house team, and will outsource all of the work.
This poses many problems, not least because of the language barriers and all the other issues that arise due to people working in different time zones.
They do tend to be really cheap, but they can also take ten times as long to get anything done.
So, unless you’re working with a very small budget, and you’re willing to wait a while, it’s a good idea to avoid this option.
Freelancers
If you’re looking to get your marketing done on a shoestring budget, hiring freelancers is another option.
You can find these individuals by putting up a job posting on websites like Indeed, or searching for them on Fiverr and Upwork.
If you’re only looking for one thing, like social media management or blog writing, then this can be a viable option, but if you want more comprehensive marketing, you’re going to have to take the time to build your own team of freelancers, which can be quite the headache.
So, if you’re looking for more than some blogs, or someone to handle your social media, you’re likely better off going with a smaller marketing agency.
Do It Yourself
All these choices aside, there is always the option to do everything yourself.
For example, if you need a website, there are many easy-to-use website builders, such as Wix and Squarespace, where you can put the whole thing together on your own.
However, the trade-off here is that these website builders are very limited. You’re not going to be able to create whatever you want by yourself, and the design of your website is going to be dictated by whatever templates these builders have to offer.
And unless you’ve got a background in marketing, in which case you probably wouldn’t be reading this anyway, you’re also going to come across this sort of dilemma in any other marketing you try to do yourself, where you’re going to be limited to what little knowledge and resources you have.
I’m not saying it’s impossible, but unless you’re willing to spend all your free time learning an entirely new set of skills, your marketing efforts are going to be constrained, so you’re better off getting some help.
What Sets Us Apart from All These Options
If I were to describe eVision Media, in the context of this article, I’d say we’re a full-service boutique marketing agency, and our core competency is web design and development.
But after two decades of helping business owners to build their brands from the ground up, we know all too well that for a website to be effective, it needs a lot more than just design and development.
In order for a website to be successful, it requires many other things, including proper branding, SEO, and copywriting.
When working with clients, the last thing we want to do is just build a website and hope for the best. Among other things, we want to make sure it will appeal to our client’s target audience and be capable of generating leads and sales.
I mean, if it can’t do any of that, then what’s the point of them even having a website in the first place?
This is why we offer a full range of marketing services, including everything from custom website design and development, to SEO and SEM marketing, social media marketing and management, logo and graphic design, copywriting, content writing, email marketing, and strategy consulting.
Unfortunately, a lot of agencies, and marketers in general, will simply grab a template and get things done as quickly as they can so they can save time and money, and get paid as quickly as possible.
However, nine times out of ten, this kind of approach doesn’t really do anything for the client, and they’ve basically just spent a bunch of money for nothing.
This is all too common in our industry, and it’s a big part of why marketers get such a bad rap.
But we refuse to do this sort of thing. We really do care about the success of our clients, and we love nothing more than seeing their businesses flourish, and being a part of that success.
We value trust, attention to detail, impeccable customer service, and doing excellent quality work that’s actually going to benefit our clients’ businesses.
Here at eVision Media, we offer the kind of hand-holding service that you’re just not going to find anywhere else. We’re also highly flexible because we don’t treat clients with a cookie-cutter approach.
We will create a custom package for each client that reflects their needs, and respects their budget.
To be brutally honest, oftentimes this causes us to lose money, but it’s just the right thing to do, and we refuse to sign our names to garbage quality services that aren’t going to benefit our clients.
It’s also important to mention that we get about 95% of our clients through referrals, which is well above the industry standard of 78% in the B2B space. This speaks volumes about the kind of services we provide, and how satisfied our clients are.
Still trying to figure out how to choose a marketing company? We’ve been helping business owners to build their brands for the last 20 years, so why not go with us? Contact us today to learn more about what we can do for you.
To your business success,
Susan Friesen
About the Author – Susan Friesen
Susan Friesen, the founder of the award-winning full-service web development and digital marketing firm eVision Media, is a Web Specialist, Business & Marketing Consultant, and Social Media Advisor. She works with entrepreneurs who struggle with having the lack of knowledge, skill and support needed to create their online business presence.
As a result of working with Susan and her team, clients feel confident and relieved knowing their online marketing is in trustworthy and caring hands so they can focus on building their business with peace of mind at having a perfect support system in place to guide them every step of the way.
