As the primary initial contact for Rocket Clicks for all new sales inquiries, I can’t help but notice a huge percentage of our incoming clients have similar digital marketing woes.
Business owners or marketing heads often come to Rocket Clicks with an existing or prior digital marketing agency relationship. If this is the case, I of course ask how things are going… I often get the exact same response:
“Things were going great at first, but I think they’ve gotten lazy. They never communicate, answer their phones, or address my concerns in a timely manner.”
They usually go on to hint at the fact that the decline in communication is directly correlated with a decline in site performance, advertising success, brand awareness, or all of the above. Not a great look for their supposed reputable marketing company.
When discussing the relationship aspect of their current or previous partnership, these are the top three things I tend to hear most:
1. “I never know what my agency is doing.”
If you don’t know what your agency is working on, there’s absolutely no way to know if they’re aligned with your priorities – or even doing anything at all! Think of your digital agency as an extension of your own marketing department. Would you hire an internal marketer and be okay with the fact that they never tell you what they’re up to? Most likely not.
The Solution
A good agency is in regular contact so that you always know what their current action items are. At Rocket Clicks, we meet with clients a minimum of once a month, while also mixing in weekly touch points and regular status updates for ongoing projects. The goal: you always know exactly what we’re doing and we can course-correct quickly if priorities change.
2. “My agency sends me a report I don’t understand.”
I have three letters for you: K. P. I.
Your key performance indicators are the most crucial metrics that determine the success of your digital marketing efforts. If you haven’t had a conversation with your marketing agency about what your KPIs are, odds are their reports are lacking meaningful information.
The truth is, anyone can pull data from an analytics platform. It takes actual skill to provide context for that data and truly explain what that data means for your business. If you feel like you’re just staring at a bunch of charts and numbers, what are you really learning?
The Solution
Good reporting still makes use of metrics, but it also uses elements of storytelling. Traffic is up 10%. Great – but why? A good report will tell you what the metrics are, but more importantly why they matter to your business.
Good reporting will answer questions like:
- Did we see a 15% lift in revenue because of those new ad campaigns we launched?
- Is the bounce rate going down because we optimized well-trafficked blog posts to create a better user experience?
We do not force our clients into an automated reporting solution. We work with our partners to help them understand what success looks like in their eyes. Once we understand that, we produce a custom, personalized report that is more than just numbers on a page. We add insights and priorities so our clients can understand not only what we are seeing, but why we are seeing it, and how we’re using the data to make it even better.
3. “I’m not confident they understand my business.”
Here’s the truth: No one will ever understand your business as well as you do.
But here’s another truth: You can’t create a successful digital marketing strategy without intimately knowing the business and industry you’re marketing.
We can spit out best practices all day – and they might even help your business see some small gains. But it’s understanding the nuance of your industry and the specific strengths of your business that are going to help you get to the next level.
Has your agency told you they’re planning to optimize for a specific service area, but you’ve explicitly told them that the service area they’re looking at isn’t really all that profitable for you? Or maybe they’re struggling to understand your ideal customer and bringing in a lot of “less than ideal” leads as a result?
The Solution
Many agencies focus too heavily on driving traffic to your website, but the unfortunate reality is traffic doesn’t pay the bills. Sales and leads do. Rocket Clicks takes the value of traffic into consideration and then fine-tunes it to not just increase traffic, but qualified traffic specifically.
By understanding who your ideal customers are, what your most profitable products are, and where you’re looking to grow, your digital marketing agency is better suited to drive qualified, relevant traffic to your site. And that’s better for everyone.
What I’ve Learned
One of the greatest “light bulb” moments for us is realizing that we are not in the PPC and SEO business. We are in the client management business and just happen to specialize in PPC and SEO.
This may seem to be an insignificant distinction, but it has been a true game-changer for us and, more importantly, for our relationship with our clients. It’s a monumental mind-shift from what our clients tell us about their prior agency partners.
That’s what sets us apart.
Communicating what we are working on, the expected results, and timeline are the first steps. But at the end of the day, business owners and marketing leads need to justify their investment and understand the return on investment of each marketing channel and vendor partner. We understand that no one outside of our walls “cares” about our awards or accolades if we can not perform in their account, communicate, and add value to their business.
Do any of the statements above sound familiar? If so, let’s talk.
