If you’re a small or medium-sized service-based business, outsourcing your digital marketing can be a game changer. With so many moving parts in a successful digital marketing strategy—SEO, social media, email marketing, PPC ads, content creation, and more—hiring a full-service digital marketing agency can free up your time while driving growth for your business.
But how do you find the right digital marketing partner? It’s all about asking the right questions. The answers you get will help you evaluate whether an agency aligns with your business goals, understands your needs, and can deliver the results you’re after.
Here’s a list of key questions to ask, along with the reasons why each one matters.
How do you keep up with the latest trends in digital marketing?
Digital marketing is always evolving. New social media platforms emerge, algorithms change, and consumer behavior shifts. If an agency isn’t staying on top of the latest trends, their strategies could quickly become outdated—and that won’t help your business stay competitive.
Why this matters:
Asking how an agency keeps up with trends shows you how adaptable and forward-thinking they are. A good agency will have a pulse on the industry through ongoing research, education, and training. They might follow thought leaders, attend digital marketing conferences, or participate in webinars. This question also allows you to gauge whether they’re proactive about innovation or stuck in a rut of using outdated tactics.
What to listen for:
- Regular staff training or certifications
- Participation in industry events or webinars
- Subscriptions to digital marketing newsletters or blogs
- Real-world examples of recent updates to their strategies based on current trends
How do you work with other teams, like sales or business development, to make sure everything’s in sync?
Marketing doesn’t exist in a vacuum. To be truly effective, your digital marketing efforts need to align with other areas of your business, like sales, customer service, and business development. This collaboration ensures a unified approach to growing your business.
Why this matters:
This question helps you understand how well an agency collaborates with internal teams. If your sales team is pushing one message, while the marketing team is delivering another, you risk confusing your customers. An experienced agency will know the importance of communication and collaboration across departments to maintain consistency in brand messaging and goals.
What to listen for:
- Regular check-ins with internal teams
- An emphasis on cross-departmental communication
- Examples of successful collaboration with client teams in the past
- Tools they use to keep everyone in sync (like Slack or project management software)
How do you customize your strategies for different types of customers or audience segments?
Not all customers are the same, and your marketing approach shouldn’t be either. The effectiveness of a digital marketing campaign lies in its ability to speak directly to different audience segments. Personalization isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a necessity for getting the right message in front of the right people.
Why this matters:
When you ask how they customize strategies, you’re checking whether the agency tailors its approach to fit your unique audience. A one-size-fits-all marketing strategy won’t drive meaningful results. Different audience segments have different pain points, motivations, and behaviors, so it’s critical to ensure the agency knows how to create targeted campaigns that resonate with each group.
What to listen for:
- Use of data and analytics to understand audience behavior
- Specific examples of how they’ve segmented audiences for past clients
- Tools like CRM software, customer journey mapping, or audience personas
- The ability to adapt messaging for different platforms (e.g., LinkedIn vs. Instagram)
What’s your process for handling feedback and making adjustments?
Even the best-laid marketing plans need tweaks and adjustments over time. Market conditions change, new data becomes available, and you may have new feedback based on the performance of certain campaigns. It’s important to know that your digital marketing agency is open to feedback and has a structured process for making changes when necessary.
Why this matters:
This question gives insight into the agency’s flexibility and their ability to incorporate your input. You want to know that they aren’t rigid in their processes, and that they’ll make data-driven adjustments when needed to optimize performance. This is also a chance to understand how they handle communication and how often they’ll provide updates on progress.
What to listen for:
- Regular reporting and performance reviews
- A clear process for incorporating client feedback
- Examples of past campaigns where adjustments led to improved results
- Openness to testing and experimentation (e.g., A/B testing)
How do you measure success, and what kind of reporting can we expect?
This question helps you understand how an agency defines success and ensures they’re focused on delivering results that align with your business goals.
Why this matters:
Knowing how an agency tracks and reports on performance is crucial. Whether it’s website traffic, conversion rates, or ROI on ad spend, you want to ensure their metrics match your priorities. Understanding their reporting process also lets you know how often you’ll get updates and what type of insights they provide. Are they focused solely on vanity metrics (like followers or likes), or do they dig deeper into business-driving metrics?
What to listen for:
- Clear KPIs aligned with your goals
- Transparency in reporting (weekly, monthly, quarterly)
- Use of analytics tools like Google Analytics, HubSpot, or SEMrush
- Willingness to adjust strategy based on performance data
How do you ensure long-term results, not just quick wins?
Some agencies can deliver quick wins—like a spike in traffic or a short-term increase in leads—but the real value lies in sustainable, long-term growth. You want to make sure the agency isn’t just chasing quick results to impress you upfront but is invested in your long-term success.
Why this matters:
This question helps you assess whether an agency is focused on creating a strong foundation for ongoing success. Are they thinking about long-term SEO strategies, customer retention, and brand building? You want to partner with an agency that takes a balanced approach, combining both short-term tactics and long-term planning.
What to listen for:
- Strategies for building brand authority over time
- Long-term strategic planning
- Use of both paid and organic marketing efforts
- A focus on customer retention, not just acquisition
Final Thoughts
Outsourcing your digital marketing is an investment in your business’s growth. Asking the right questions ensures that you find a partner who understands your industry, tailors their approach to your needs, and collaborates effectively with your internal teams. By digging deeper into how a digital marketing agency works and what they value, you’ll have greater confidence that they’re the right fit for your business.
At the end of the day, the right agency should feel like an extension of your team, working towards the same goals and driving meaningful results for your business.
Ready to find a digital marketing partner? Reach out to learn more about how we can help you grow your business with personalized, results-driven strategies.