Selecting the right digital marketing agency partner is key for businesses aiming to drive results and scale efficiently. With countless agencies vying for attention, marketers must ask the right questions to ensure they make the best choice for their company’s needs. Although I’ve owned an agency for seven years, most of my career was spent working on the client side. I’ve compiled questions I would have asked when I was on the other side of the desk and also from questions prospective clients ask us. These questions can guide your agency selection process, aiding in informed decisions. While not all are necessary for an RFP, they’re valuable for discussions with agencies. Primarily for paid search, they can be adapted for SEO, paid social, retail media or other needs. Understanding the importance of this part of the business1. How many total paid search clients does the agency have and what is the average annual spend of their clients?
2. What percentage of the company’s revenue does paid media management represent?
Understanding your position3. Will your business be considered a big, medium or little fish in their PPC department?
4. Will you own your accounts or would they?
5. What does a typical contract term look like?
Account audit and optimization6. Has the agency performed an account audit and what specific observations and areas for improvement were identified?
7. Based on their audit findings, how much restructuring do they believe is necessary and what is their preferred account setup approach?
Assessing performance metrics8. What do typical reports look like?
9. Will you have access to a live dashboard?
10. What do they typically use to evaluate performance? GA4, platform data or another source?
11. What attribution methodology do they typically use?
Expected results, timeline and onboarding process12. Based on their findings, how long do they anticipate it will take to see improved results and what are their expectations regarding performance gains?
13. What is their process and timeline for taking over an account?
14. How do they ensure a smooth transition to avoid any drop in performance during restructures?
Industry focus15. Do they lean into one particular industry or spread their focus and why?
16. If they have multiple accounts in your industry, how do they ensure account/client separation?
17. Which bidding strategies do they prefer to use and why?
For retail or ecommerce clients: 18. What do they see as the role of text ads, shopping and Performance Max (PMax? What about video or other campaign types?
19. How do they navigate optimization challenges if they employ a ‘go all in on PMax’ approach?
20. If you have a physical presence, do they have experience with local campaigns?
For B2B or service focus: 21. Do they have experience with RevOps and understanding the nuances between optimizing for a lead vs a qualified lead and customer?
22. Have they handled integrations with call tracking or other offline data sources?
Team structure and expertise23. What is the general structure of their PPC department?
24. How big is the overall PPC team and how many members are fully dedicated to paid search or social management?
25. What is the average years of paid search experience of the individuals on the PPC team? And what’s the minimum?
Account management26. How many accounts is the lead responsible for and what role do they play?
27. Who will be assigned to your account and what is each team member’s level of experience?
28. How often will you be meeting with the team and who will be on calls?
Day-to-day operations29. Who handles most of the day-to-day work in the accounts and how many accounts are they responsible for?
30. Who will be your primary point of contact for day-to-day communications?
31. What’s the most frequently used method for communication?
Third-party involvement32. Are any tasks outsourced offshore or to third parties?
Collaboration33. What is their relationship like with the Google team?
34. How do they view the value of paid search and SEO (or Social) partnering and how do they ensure effective communication between teams?
Case studies and references35. Can they provide relevant case studies showcasing successful paid search campaigns?
36. Are there reference clients you can speak to about their experiences with the agency?
Client retention insights37. When the agency loses clients, what are the typical reasons cited?
Marketers can make informed decisions when selecting a digital marketing partner by asking some of these questions and diving into various aspects of a prospective agency’s operations and expertise. You don’t necessarily need to discuss every one of these, but choosing a good cross-section of questions can help ensure you find a good partner for your business. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/fJoOXGD
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