Many marketing firms and agencies claim to develop marketing strategy. What they really provide is loosely-written, self-serving strategy which often has little impact on your top-line growth. Plus, you’re often faced with executing this strategy on your own. However, a good digital marketing agency will take responsibility for implementing the marketing strategy they’ve written. That agency should also make sure the strategy is practical, highly detailed and actionable. This sense of ownership is crucial to achieving the results, revenue and profitability your strategy is designed to generate. What’s more, that agency should show you exactly how they’re going to take you from Point A to Point B, what needs to be prioritized, and how long it’s going to take.
Assets that convert new business
Facts are, it does little good to spend all of your time and budget generating leads if you don’t have the high quality marketing assets it takes to convert those leads. According to a recent marketing industry study, the average website conversion rate in 2012 was about 6%. Think about what that would mean for sales and revenue if your conversion could be more like 10%, or even 15%.
Channeling marketing dollars to the greatest effect
If you’ve hired a marketing firm in the past, chances are you’ve been disappointed. It’s probably due to their misguided focus on creative genius over tangible results — along with their unwillingness to truly roll up their sleeves to find new, more effective ways for generating new business. The digital marketing firm you hire should be focused on generating more business for your organization. The fact is, once a properly written strategy is presented, it should contain well-thought-out recommendations for lead generation tactics which flow directly from that foundation.
Aligning with the customer decision journey
For decades, the customer decision journey was viewed as a “sales funnel” — where customers quickly narrow down the brands they’re considering until the all-important point of sale. Today, with the explosion of product choices, digital marketing and advertising channels and available knowledge, the customer’s decision journey is much less straightforward. It is typically shaped over a period of time by a variety of messaging touchpoints — and doesn’t end at the point of sale.
Scaling your marketing activities
The days of manually deploying monthly emails with the same message to a homogenous list are long gone. Increasingly, marketing is being driven by technology and a more quantitative approach that prioritizes delivering segmented, personalized messages over the course of a prospect’s journey with your brand versus the batch and blast approach of the past. A good digital marketing company can help you develop and implement an automation platform and framework that works within your pricing structure and custom needs.
Crafting a content marketing strategy that generates more business.
Effective marketing today is all about storytelling. As opposed to relying on a dry presentation of facts through traditional messaging methods — i.e. mission statement, value proposition, features and benefits, bullets — the most successful content marketers create a narrative that both humanizes their offerings and engage their audiences. The true power of telling a compelling brand story is the generation of more business.
Giving your sales force the attention it deserves.
Many business owners don’t view the sales function with the same scrutiny as the marketing function. However in many cases, when you add up all the salaries, commissions and expense reports, it is the most expensive lead generation channel an organization has. Sales force optimization expertise provided by a digital agency enables business owners to begin maximizing their sales efforts. This includes analyzing and improving how your sales force goes about its daily work while also taking a hard look at a number of important factors for lead generation success. Providing the tools and practices to retain and attract talent.
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