Know These Things Before Selecting e-Commerce Agency
It is not easy to manage an eCommerce business. Each day is a marathon to increase your customer base and keep your competitors at bay. Marketing is essential to your eCommerce business’s survival. Realistically, even basic marketing strategies require the right skills and knowledge to be successful. If you don’t have the right skills, your marketing budget will go down the drain. Find the perfect e-commerce agency to solve your eCommerce marketing problems.
Today’s post will help you find the best eCommerce agency for your business. It also includes tips and tricks that can help you negotiate the best deals and weed out the mediocre ones.
The Advantages of Using a Marketing Agency
· Get specialized help
Marketing can be described as anything from branding to paid advertising to content and social media. Marketing agencies can provide access to experts in specific marketing disciplines. Your staff might not have the same skills or be able to handle all marketing channels and disciplines as an in-house team.
· Less expensive than hiring in-house
You can save money and time by hiring an agency. They will only be involved when they are needed. It’s sometimes only possible for small eCommerce businesses to save money on expert services, compared to hiring an in-house staff that you need to train and pay additional costs for systems, facilities, or benefits.
· Use their experience
Marketing agencies that are good have exposed their clients to many technologies and industries. You won’t make the same mistakes as they have in the past.
· Access to the most recent systems and technologies
Quality agencies invest heavily in the latest software and infrastructure to keep pace with current trends.
· Fresh perspective and new ideas
You may come up with new ideas and solutions that your team might not have thought of. This can help you avoid obstacles that your staff might not have considered.
· You can focus on your business
A marketing agency allows you to focus on your daily activities as an entrepreneur. This allows you to do more work and makes your work go faster. Your in-house team can handle the tasks they are best at, while the agency can take over the rest.
· You can prove the ROI of your marketing activities
Only a partner agency has the resources to measure and track your marketing ROI. This allows you to see where your investment is going.
· Flexibleness, continuity, and scalability
These are all possible with an agency. You can either scale up for large events or down during off-peak. They can take over where you left them. This flexibility is available depending on your needs and requirements.
How to Find the Right eCommerce Agency.
1. Start by understanding your needs
You can make your negotiations and discussions with potential agencies easier if you are able to clearly define your eCommerce needs. Here’s how to clearly state your business needs:
Objectives should include more traffic, conversions, brand awareness, and growth.
Marketing Strategy: social media strategy, SEO, email marketing, etc.
Marketing Channels: display advertising, paid ads, Facebook, Instagram, etc.
Timeline: Short/medium/long-term results.
Budget: Minimum and maximum spend per objective. Strategy and channel. This will be discussed further in the next step.
2. Set your marketing budget
Before you even start to contact agencies, it is important to know what your budget can afford. This is a hard reality, but it’s essential to realize that you have limited resources if your eCommerce store is just starting out. You need to be careful with your spending.
It is important to think carefully about where and how you will invest your money. Although most agencies offer a variety of pricing options and can accommodate your budget, it is important to remember that you only get what you pay.
3 Credibility and expertise over experience
While experience counts, it shouldn’t be your only priority. Sometimes it can be misleading. You should still consider whether their industry experience is relevant. Instead of focusing on the length of their service, ask them about their projects and what went well. They are more valuable for their credibility and experience.
Many agencies promise great results but fall short of their promises.
If they’ve managed a client’s social media strategy, check out a few of their client’s social media posts.
4 Knowledge, tools, and resources
It is critical to understand the knowledge and expertise of the agency. It is important to identify the tools and resources they currently use in each area of expertise. You can’t trust an agency with outdated software and poor infrastructure. You can see how their IT and infrastructure is set up to help you understand their plans for executing your goals. You can also get an idea of their tools and resources to help you understand how your goals and progress will be tracked.
5 Company culture and geographic fit
Beyond the technical aspects and performance-based work, you need to consider the culture of the company and how it matches yours. As if you were hiring someone to do a job. The selection process includes determining if the candidate fits in with your culture. You should ensure that you have the same values, work ethics, and goals as your company.
You can see their brand on their website. Is their company socially responsible, eco-friendly, or employee-focused? Consider what is important to you as a brand, and then compare it with yours. Other than cultural fit, geographic location is also important. Are they able to work the same hours as you? Are they fluent in the same language? You can find out where they are located and how fast they respond. The client-agency relationship should be positive at all costs. You want to find out if they are capable of doing the job.
6 Adaptability and continual improvement
Good marketing agencies recognize that marketing is not one-size-fits-all. It is essential to find agencies that can adapt to your needs.
Marketing agencies that are successful understand the importance of adapting to the changing market. They must find ways to improve their processes and keep up with them. They continue to keep up-to-date with technology and infrastructure trends, as well as the industry in general.
Step-by-Step Guide to Choosing Your Agency
1: Make a list
Based on these criteria, you can now create a shortlist for potential agencies to work together. You should aim to select more than 10 agencies that meet your criteria. Once you have shortlisted the agencies, you can begin to evaluate their merits. This will allow you to reduce the number as you go.
2: Get in touch
You can contact all potential agencies based on your preferences and comparisons. You don’t need to call them immediately. You can simply send an email to all the agencies you have shortlisted. Send an email to all your shortlisted agencies.
Include the following:
· An introduction to your business and a link to it. Mention your goals and the results you desire.
· Ask for an account manager to discuss your requirements.
· How fast they respond is a sign of positive cooperation. Two working days is usually enough. This should be a red flag.
· A fast turnaround is important for agencies. After they have replied to your email, you can schedule a conference call with them or a face-to-face interview.
3: Set up a meeting
Meeting with the agencies you have shortlisted will allow you to gauge their working relationship and determine if they are the right match. This is a great time to ask questions and clarify any doubts.
Prepare the following questions:
· What are your services?
· Which areas of marketing are you specialized in?
· Are there any certifications or credentials?
· Which industry clients are you related to?
· What services are you providing?
· Do you have any proof of your success? Are their clients saying good things about you?
· Do you have testimonials?
· Which challenges were you faced in the past?
· What were your solutions?
· How can you mitigate them?
· What can you do to help us achieve our goals?
· What are your charges?
· Is it possible to negotiate?
· What tools and strategies do you use to get results?
· What are your current processes?
· What is your turnaround time?
· How do you measure and track performance?
· What will you do with our account?
· What are the staff members that will be assigned to our account?
· What are their qualifications?
4: Ask them to pitch ideas
You can tell which agencies are interested in becoming your agency partner based on their impressions of you during the meeting. It’s also vital to note how they interact after the meeting. Do they leave a message, send you a follow-up call, or just leave it as it is? The best way to find the right eCommerce agency is to watch them in action. Give them a case study to complete. It should be comparable to what they would do for your company.
Be as clear as possible, concise, and specific as you can. Give them a deadline. You can gauge their capabilities and see how they perform under pressure by asking them to pitch their ideas. You will also learn about the agency’s operations. Pay attention to their delivery times and, most importantly, the quality of their work.
5: The verdict
Their presentation will influence a large part of your decision. Don’t be afraid to choose the agency that puts its best foot forward. You should consider the agency’s work ethic, quality, and attitude. Although price is a major deciding factor, it shouldn’t be the only one. Don’t instantly cut ties with an agency that is out of your budget. Instead, let them know that you are pleased with their work but that the price is too high for your budget. Many agencies will be willing to compromise in order to meet your needs. Marketing is an investment, not an expense.
Finding the perfect partner
It is crucial for eCommerce stores. It is not only a waste of marketing budget, but it can also be detrimental to your brand and impact your future sales. You are creating a relationship with a marketing agency when you hire them. Choose a marketing agency that resonates with your brand’s values and objectives. To make an informed decision, read client reviews and evaluate their past work. You want to make sure they are trustworthy, knowledgeable, specialized, and adaptable in order to ensure that you succeed in eCommerce.
