What to Look for in a Marketing Agency

Every company needs a marketing agency, unless they’re big enough to handle all their efforts in-house and effectively. If your company’s not in that boat, you still have plenty of options, so long as you know what to look for. The right marketing agency for you should have everything from talent to acumen to affordable prices.

Does your company need a marketing agency? You won’t have trouble finding one. Nowadays, there are ad agencies, interactive marketing agencies, email marketing agencies, and more. These categories represent countless companies from all over the world and, thanks to the Internet, most of them could serve you from just about anywhere. But that doesn’t mean they should. Before you go putting your eggs in the wrong marketing agency basket, think about the following when considering your options.

Business Acumen

This might seem like a no-brainer, but look for this in any marketing agency you interview and you’ll soon see why this is so important. Nowadays, interactive marketing agencies are a hot choice. What a lot of people don’t know, though, is that many of them started out as web design firms. While that can be a huge advantage, it can also mean that while they understand SEO, SEM, analytics, and web design, they may not know how to use these tools to best serve your purposes.

When interviewing options, expect that they’ll show up with a solid grasp of your company, your market and how they’ll help the two connect.

Design Abilities

Like we just covered, a lot of interactive marketing agencies will already have design chops because that used to be their bread and butter. This is something you should look for from just about any marketing agency. Having an agency that can both handle marketing and knows how to get your web design on the same page is invaluable. Otherwise, you’re stuck with the challenge of syncing the two up on your own.

Proven Success

No matter what kind of company or individual you’re interviewing, you obviously want to make sure they can prove they’ve succeeded in the past. You probably don’t want to be the first client for your marketing agency, after all.

However, one interesting place to check their abilities is their own web presence. If they’re experts at SEO, you should expect that they’ll show up pretty early in terms of page rank. If they’ve boasted about their social media talents, you should expect that their Twitter account is updated and has an enviable amount of followers.

Marketing agencies are in a pretty dense market to be sure, but this is still worth considering. If you’re unimpressed by what they’ve done on their own behalves, feel free to bring it up to them for an explanation.

Testimonials

Even if an agency did well by a client, that doesn’t necessarily mean that company would recommend them. Plus, many agencies will simply show you a portfolio. Just because a web page, billboard, or campaign looks great doesn’t mean that it actually was, in terms of dollars and cents.

Asking for testimonials isn’t a bad idea. However, an even better one is soliciting them on your own. This way you know you’re getting the information you want right from the horse’s mouth and don’t have to worry that their kind words came in exchange for a discount of some sort.

Pricing

Obviously, pricing is always an important factor to consider when hiring a business to help yours. However, things can get a bit tricky when you’re looking for a marketing agency that will handle your online campaigns. When it comes to things like SEM (Search Engine Marketing), agencies can charge by percentage of the total media cost, cost per action or a number of other ways. How they charge you will affect more than your budget; it may also affect how incentivized they are to truly help you.

Find Out Who Will Be Working on Your Account

Agencies these days hire all kinds of people. Everyone from web developers to social media experts are often under the same roof working to help market their clients. It’s a fair question to find out who will be working on your account and what their background is. Just about anyone can be a social media expert these days; it doesn’t mean you want that person responsible for your account. Resumes may not always tell the whole story though, so be open to hearing about their accomplishments. 

Working with the right Chicago marketing agency can make all the difference in your company’s future. However, if you don’t use the above to find the right one, it could also be the worst thing that ever happened to it.

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3 Myths about Choosing a Marketing Agency

There are a lot of things out there that can help a business grow: your devotement and passion as a business owner, a good idea, having the tools and resources to actually do your job, a sprinkle of luck, and so on. Unlike what some people think, it is never just all about luck when it comes to a business and most of the things out there can be controlled perfectly.

Take your marketing campaigns, for example. For many small business owners out there, the question of a true marketing campaign has not even arisen because they believe that the fact that their business is small also means that they should not market their products and/or services. However, this is completely untrue: marketing campaigns can help businesses of all sizes and even more, they can be crucial for their success.

If you have decided to work with a Chicago Marketing Agency to help you market your products/services out there, then you should first understand exactly what a marketing agency is and what it can do for you. Many people out there believe in certain “myths” that have been circulating out there for quite a lot of time when it comes to what marketing is, but the truth is that these myths are completely unfounded. Here are 3 of the most commonly spread ones:

Marketing is One and the Same as Advertising

For many people out there (even for people who work in the field and tag themselves as “experts”, marketing and advertising are one and the same thing. Still, you should understand the fact that marketing may involve advertising as a technique, but the reverse will not be true as well. In fact, advertising is the slice of a bigger cake called “marketing” and understanding this difference can help you realize the fact that marketing may be completely different from what you have believed it to be until now.

Online Marketing is One and the Same as SEO

Another myth that has been out there for a very long time is related to the fact that the only thing Internet marketers do is optimize websites for the search engines. Yes, online marketing agencies out there do that in most of the cases, but they can do much, much more than that. They can organize for paid campaigns, online advertising, email campaigns, social media campaigns and so on. Even more, there may be agencies out there dealing with separate niches (for instance, you may find agencies that are marketing-oriented, but which will only provide you with the content you need for your website).

The Price Is Important

This myth is only partially true. In one way or another, marketing agencies that ask for a price that is much below the market price for their services can be tricky and you can end up paying money to receive nothing that leads to actual results in exchange. However, at the same time you should know that even large and extremely important marketing agencies out there can design campaigns that will fit into small budgets and that you should make the difference between the price for the service and the budget for the campaign itself.

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2 Types of Services a Search Marketing Agency Will Provide You With

Marketing your business out there is obviously very important for its growth, but before you run into hiring the first professionals you find, you may want to get acquainted with some basic notions and with the things a marketing agency can provide you with. For instance, given the fact that the Internet is a huge part of everybody’s lives nowadays, you may want to find out what a search marketing agency is and which those types of services are that it can provide you with.

Many times, people mistakenly believe that an Internet marketing agency and a search marketing agency are one and the same thing, but there is a slight difference between the two of them. An Internet marketing agency will provide you with a very wide variety of Internet marketing-related services, among which there will also be search engine marketing. In addition to that though, there will be other types of campaigns involved as well (such as email marketing campaigns, and so on).
If you want to find out which are the most important types of services a search marketing agency will be able to provide you with, then you should definitely read on.

Search Engine Optimization

Again, some people believe that SEM (search engine marketing) is one and the same thing as SEO (search engine optimization), but there is yet another slight difference between the two of them. Put shortly, SEM usually includes SEO, but SEO does not include SEM.

Search engine optimization is that web marketing strategy that helps a website becomes more visible to the search engines. When a website is visible out there, it will be posted within the first page of results on Google, Bing and other search engines. Consequently, more people will click on it and there is a better chance that you will be able to convert these random visitors in actual customers or clients for the products or services your business can offer.

SEO usually involves creating content that is built around some carefully chosen keywords and that is useful for the readers. This way, readers will engage and search engines will see this as a big plus for your website, pushing it forward in their results lists.

In addition to content creation, there are some other things related to SEO as well. Creating back links, for example, is one of them and sometimes social media marketing overlaps over SEO as well, but it does not necessarily have to be so.

As a recap, here are some of the most commonly encountered SEO techniques out there:

•    Creating engaging content
•    Creating content that is useful
•    Creating content that is built around certain keywords
•    Creating back links from other websites
•    Creating a social media marketing campaign to go along with the SEO campaign

Paid Campaigns

In addition to SEO, a Search marketing agency can provide you with many other types of services, among which you will also find paid campaigns (such as AdWords, and so on). These campaigns can be difficult to understand by a beginner, but in reality they can be very useful when there is a pro to deal with them the right way.

The entire field of marketing can sometimes be confusing for some of the people out there, but once you will learn its ropes you will also learn to love its diversity and even more importantly, the fact that it can truly change the face of your business.

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Marketing Tricks You Need to Use According to Marketing Firms in Chicago

Marketing isn’t typically a low-cost venture. It can be very expensive to get your name out there to a multitude of potential customers. However, in the competitive world where we live, marketing is a must. You don’t have to break the bank, though, if you know the tactics that will work the best. Marketing firms in Chicago know the right methods to achieve the best results at a competitive price.



Know the Importance of Social Media Marketing

“More than three-quarters of adults between the ages of 30 and 49 use social media, according to the Pew Research Center. Since this age range represents a significant portion of those in a household with purchasing power, small businesses should make sure they target their audience through social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.” (Brooks, 2013)

You have a massive opportunity to reach more people through social media so take advantage of this platform. Your business needs pages on important social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and even Instagram or Pinterest. These outlets are used by millions of people every day.

Understand Email Marketing

Email marketing is more important now more than ever. It presents the unique opportunity to show people you care about them on a more personal level. It’s important though to understand the difference between email marketing and spam emailing. If you send out useless information or email constantly, you will turn people away from your company which could result in a bad reputation for your business.

Appeal to People’s Lifestyles

The important part of marketing in the modern day is to engage your customers. You need to appeal to them on a personal level if you want to keep them interested in your products or services. You should take the time to learn more about your customers and potential customers so that you can appeal to them on a more individual level.

There are a few ways to do this. One of the ways is to ask the right questions when customers sign up for your email campaign. You can ask about their interests or why they have visited your site. Make sure you gather information that will help generate the most business and reach more customers.

Know That You Need to Blog

A blog can be a powerful tool when you use it to your advantage. Marketing firms in Chicago have begun to stress the important part blogging plays in a strong marketing campaign. It will help you appeal to and engage more customers. It can also help you build better search engine rankings if you use keywords properly. To do it right, make sure everything you post in your blog is informative and relevant.

Marketing firms in Chicago know what it takes to build a successful business. You too can use these simple tips and tricks to reach out and get the attention of more potential customers.

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Chicago Marketing Companies Know the Need to Build a Strong Digital Presence

When searching businesses for a specific product or service, how do most consumers locate one? For many, they will immediately turn to the Internet and do a search. For those businesses without a digital presence, they remain virtually invisible to the general public. Chicago marketing companies understand the importance of a digital presence and offer their clients a number of different avenues to tackle this task

If your business currently has no digital presence (no website, blog, social media page, etc.), then it is time to get your name on the web.  How to accomplish this is no small feat but one that can be achieved.  First, you need to know the essentials of an online presence. Everything else will expand out from there. There are four things you should always keep in mind:

You Must Have Content

Obviously there must be content, and it has to be good. You are sending a message out to your potential customers about your business. You are telling them what you offer. You are sharing your mission statement. All content, no matter where it is shared online, should be high-quality, interesting, and truly helpful.

Content should always engage the reader so that they become more interested in the business. You will have several places to use this material: the website, the blog, social media, and more. Chicago marketing companies understand the best way to use content to grow a digital presence.

You Need a Strategy

Strategy is always important in the marketing world. If you have no plan of action, you will find it hard to get anything accomplished. You must ask yourself a few different questions:

•    What are you trying to accomplish with the marketing strategy?
•    Who do you want to reach?
•    How many people do you need to reach?

Answering those questions will help you create your strategy. Keep in mind that you cannot just “catch the eye” of potential customers. You must also engage them enough to keep their attention for an extended period of time.

You Need the Right Design

Throughout your online presence campaign, you will need to design certain aspects, like the website, your logo, and other graphics. Chicago marketing companies know that you can build much of your brand using these designs. They can help you create a design that reflects your business, its personality, and its style. You will also want to ensure that your design is consistent throughout all types of media. A disconnect can occur when images and logos are altered in different places.

A digital presence is a must for your business.  Remember that “the rise of digital at the end of the last century and through the last decade saw the parallel focus on usability. A well-designed user experience can really differentiate your company from the rest of the market.” (Cochran, 2014) Partner with one of the many experienced Chicago marketing companies in the area to craft the right online presence for your small business.

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