Every business should have a Digital Marketing Agency as they are expected to become increasingly important over the next few years. We also firmly believe that those businesses with an internal team of professionals know best what they need from such a department, and therefore it makes sense for them to build their in-house team.
We, therefore, decided to write this article so that business owners and managers with such needs could benefit from it most.
What is a Digital Marketing Agency?
Before we can even think about building our own in-house digital marketing agency, we need to fully understand just what it is, what it does, and what they’re all about.
A digital marketing agency provides businesses with dedicated professionals by developing and implementing carefully crafted strategies to grow their online presence.
In other words, a digital marketing agency develops effective communication channels between a company’s brand and its customers/audience by promoting them on social media websites, search engines, and other highly popular sites across the web.
This helps companies quickly gain exposure and enables them to focus on what they do best (building their products or providing services) while leaving the marketing & advertising part in the capable hands of professionals.
The Benefits of a Digital Marketing Agency
Okay, so now we know what digital marketing agencies are all about, let’s look at what benefits they can provide us with.
Increase brand exposure (at an affordable cost): You might not realize it, but companies spend incredible amounts of money every year to develop advertisements to increase customer awareness. Unfortunately for them, this usually doesn’t work very well. Only 3% of people exposed to ads purchase the advertised product or service.
This leaves businesses with a tiny window of opportunity to make a sale. On the other hand, digital marketing agencies generate exposure for businesses while also providing a cost-effective solution as one dedicated professional can work on the company’s image from several different angles at once.
This process enables any business struggling due to its lack of exposure to successfully connect with more and more people who are most likely going to become their future loyal customers/audience.
Lift sales: A successful and well-planned digital marketing campaign will increase how much revenue your website generates through:
- Increasing brand awareness.
- Creating new leads & converting them into paying clients.
- Engaging existing clients and making sure they return for another purchase or remain loyal by having them recommend your company to their friends.
Improve customer retention: One of the best benefits that an in-house digital marketing agency can give you is how it will enable you to communicate more effectively with your existing customers, which in turn will increase their satisfaction levels and ensure they keep coming back for more.
How so? A dedicated professional who monitors social media websites and blogs can quickly understand what is working for you and engage with your audience most effectively.
A great way of doing this would be through regular giveaways, contests, or just by carefully monitoring what they are saying about your brand then responding with various offers that might interest them.
Grow online presence: As mentioned above, businesses will have the possibility of growing their online presence by simply having an experienced professional working 24/7 on their behalf.
This not only increases how many people are aware of your company’s existence but also helps you get more conversions (potential customers who take action) through improved customer service (responding to comments, questions, or complaints), digital marketing campaigns that help boost sales and increase awareness among potential clients, etc.
How to Build an In-House Digital Marketing Agency?
So, how to build an in house digital marketing agency? We’ve analyzed what digital marketing agencies are all about and what benefits they can provide companies with; the next step would be for us to consider how we can build our in-house digital marketing agency:
Build it around you: When dealing with daily challenges within a business, there always has to be someone leading the team and guiding them towards achieving their common goals. This means that you will need to build your in-house DMA around you, not vice versa.
Envision what kind of professional would assist you most efficiently within your company, then use your skills to lure them into signing up with you or convince them to join your company if they are currently working elsewhere.
Be passionate about digital marketing: As mentioned above, this cannot be outsourced, so it needs to be done by an individual who possesses the right set of traits coupled with a lot of expertise. Thus, when building an in-house digital marketing agency, always choose a candidate who has a real passion for online marketing and a strong desire to learn more.
Broaden your knowledge base: Digital marketing is a vast field consisting of many different techniques, tools, and strategies; as such, you will need more than just general knowledge about it.
As you continue building your digital marketing agency, always ensure that the candidate has exceptional skills in dealing with various digital marketing campaigns, e.g., email marketing, social networking, etc.
Are comfortable working autonomously: Part of being an employee within any business is working wherever one is assigned, i.e., on-site or remotely from wherever they prefer.
This means that we will have to hire someone extremely proficient when working autonomously, meaning that they are responsible enough to take action without requiring constant guidance.
Levy the digital marketing agency charge: While this is not something you should be doing right at the beginning of your career as a digital marketing agency owner, it will become relevant once you generate real profits.
This means that while some employees within your company might receive higher wages that correspond with more work being assigned to them, this shouldn’t always be the case with your digital marketing agency.
Ideally, one would want them to have an entry salary and ensure they get additional commissions based on how much was earned throughout their campaign(s).
Be ready for new challenges: Being able to evolve and face new challenges head-on constantly is what ensures any business’s success, and even more so if we’re talking about one that deals with digital marketing.
This means that you should always keep an eye out for new digital trends and teach your employees how to adjust to any changes within the industry.
Be willing to diversify: Digital marketing is all about creativity and coming up with unique strategies tailored towards different kinds of clients; as such, your digital marketing agency must be able to adapt quite quickly to meet these expectations while also offering something new and exciting instead of ‘just another campaign.’
Live and breathe social media: The majority of users prefer communicating online rather than through other means, which is why this particular market continues growing at a rate every year.
Another thing we have to consider here is that not everyone out there truly understands the whole concept behind social media, which means that you’ll need someone who will be able to conduct an in-depth analysis of your target audience before coming up with a customized strategy.
Be enthusiastic about data: One of the most crucial elements for measuring success is metrics, meaning that whatever happens within your digital marketing agency should always produce results that can, later on, be used for future campaigns.
This implies that you should hire someone always willing to experiment with different tools and tracking methods while also measuring their effectiveness.
Learn continuously: Since our digital marketing agency has access to new tools and strategies, they have to keep up with these updates to offer clients the best available service.
You can expect them to learn new methods or keep track of all that is changing within your industry while also making sure they apply everything into practice.
Nurture your team: As your business grows, it will become increasingly difficult for you to personally oversee each aspect, which is why you must hire someone who has leadership skills. This means they will have previous experience within a similar role or know how to motivate their employees without micromanaging them. However, the best decision here might be to find an effective agency project management software. With a team of professionals you can always be sure that everything is hadelt. The software can also help you with all other points mentioned above.
Know when something needs improvement: If there’s one thing great about having an in-house digital marketing agency is the ease with which any problems can be handled. It’s all about hiring someone who can quickly acknowledge their own mistakes and offer a solution that will benefit the whole team in the long run.
Knowing when change is necessary is crucial for anyone who wants to manage an agency successfully.
Be transparent with your clients: This touches on pretty much every single point above, as it only makes sense that only those employees who are well-informed about what they’re doing can satisfy any client’s expectations.
It would be best if you taught them to always be upfront with you whenever there is something problematic within the campaign to sort it out accordingly.
Make decisions: Last but not least, an essential part of this job is making decisions since you need someone who understands the factors behind each choice made. The only way to do that is by assigning tasks to your employees and letting them take responsibility for their actions without micro-managing them.
