Nine Insider Questions to Ask When Hiring a Digital Agency
2 min to read ✭ In this post, you will learn what nine essential questions to ask when hiring a digital agency partner. Making the right choice can make-it or break-it for your organization.
If you’re considering hiring a digital marketing agency, it’s important to properly vet and ensure a successful agency partnership. When you hire the right digital agency partner, it can be a really monumental for your growth and revenue. If you are ready to grow and scale, bringing in experts who live and breathe the key traction channels your organization needs to capitalize on is a great decision.
With that said, the wrong digital agency partner can definitely cost your organization time and money. Here are some key questions to ask when hiring a potential digital agency.
1) Are You Comfortable Helping to Set Up Reference Checks?
Be upfront and ask the digital agency you are vetting if they are comfortable setting up reference checks. Starting the conversation with this strategy will make whoever you are talking to more self-aware about what they are saying. Even if you love the agency you are talking to, being candid about wanting to set up reference checks will help you learn how to best work with the agency prior to starting.
2) What Makes Your Company Different From Other Digital Agencies?
A great agency will understand its strengths and weaknesses. Asking what sets the agency apart from the rest or from others who might be doing the same thing will help you better understand their competitive advantage. Additionally, it will help you see if they are actually self aware about what their strong suits are and what they need to improve upon.
3) Is Your Agency a Google Ad Grant Certified Partner?
This question is naturally more geared towards nonprofits looking for support with the Google Ad Grant. Regardless, noting if the digital agency you are looking to work with is a Google Ad Grant Certified Partner is a good way to know if Google has vetted their work with Google Ad Grants. If the agency is a certified Google partner, chances are that they are really good at what they do.
4) How Often Is Your Team in Communication?
You should align with your required reporting and communication cadence in advance. Smoothing out these details prior to partnering with a digital agency will ensure things go smoothly throughout your business with one another.
5) What Is Your Point of View on Transparency?
Push for a candid relationship and insist on as much transparency as possible. This will ensure that your relationship with your agency partner is one that you can trust and one that fosters the space to bring up concerns openly. You should have full access to all digital platforms and assets, it is just a matter of actually implementing this transparency within your dynamic.
6) Which Case Studies Do You Have That Are Most Relevant to My Organization?
Don’t settle for just their biggest case study, ask and insist for case studies that are very relevant to your organization. Relevant case studies are a much better leading indicator for if the digital agency can help your nonprofit specifically. Finding similarities between your organization’s needs and the agency’s case studies is something to actively look out for.
7) What Do You Need From Our Team to Be Incredibly Successful?
This question is designed to ensure you get the fastest results possible. Knowing upfront how your team needs to show up for the agency as well will help ensure that they have everything from you in order to get effective results quickly. It cuts as much delay as you will have time to get what you need prepped in advance.
8) What Happens If We Want to End the Engagement? How Do You Handle Client Off-Boarding?
This question is often overlooked, though it’s important for you and your team to know. You need to understand how your organization will be affected should you decide to not move forward with their services down the line.
9) Do You Offer Audits or Strategy Plans Prior to Signing the Contract?
Each agency has different levels when it comes to audits. However, many agencies will dive deep into accounts and share those findings, which can help you better understand their level of expertise. Getting a first look at how they approach strategy can benefit you in the long run,
Hopefully, these insider tips will bring your organization or nonprofit insight when you decide to find the perfect digital agency partner. Above all, make sure you vet references of the organization. This will be extremely beneficial input to get from others who have worked directly with them and who were in the same shoes as your nonprofit.
