As a manager or marketing/sales manager, you are probably wondering whether it is better to use a digital agency to help you in your web projects or to carry out your projects directly in-house. This decision is often based on financial criteria and on a few persistent preconceptions. However, have you also taken into account all the advantages that an agency can bring you, both in terms of your internal organization and your future performance?
Eminence outlines the advantages you could gain by using a digital communication agency and gives you the criteria to take into account to help you choose your future communication agency.
1. Why hiring a digital communication agency?
This is the dilemma of many companies, as we often focus on the cost of hiring a service provider, without taking into account all the direct internal costs that could be saved.
A. What are the advantages of using a digital communication agency?
Let’s look at the advantages of outsourcing all or part of your digital projects to a communication agency:
Versatility and digital expertise in a fast-moving sector
By choosing to work with an agency specialized in digital, you surround yourself with experienced professionals in several disciplines, all in one place. Your main contact will be a project manager who will be responsible for coordinating the entire environment of your project or campaign: from development to design, including SEO, SEA , monitoring, etc.
The bigger your project, the more support you will need. Being able to rely on a service provider who acts as a conductor and is committed to the deliverables, in terms of time and cost, is a real advantage for companies that are already very busy with their daily activities.
The most relevant tools
Another parameter to take into account is the cost of equipping yourself properly, both in terms of staff and equipment:
- acquisition of high-performance computer equipment,
- purchase or subscription to software and digital tools: analytics, design, SEO, SEA, etc.
- train your teams on the tools needed to achieve your KPIs.
Depending on the objectives and KPIs you have set, the agency will use the tool that best meets your needs. You will therefore not waste time and money looking for the right software among the multitude of specialized offers on the market or investing in unsuitable tools.
The role of the agency is also to be on the lookout for the latest trends, techniques and practices in the digital sector and to constantly train to master them. You will thus be able to benefit from innovations and a perfectly trained partner to carry out your project.
Saving HR budget
If, as in many companies, it is sometimes difficult to obtain budgets to hire qualified and experienced personnel, outsourcing is undoubtedly a good option.
You will save time in negotiating with your manager or HR department, but more importantly in recruiting and training candidates.
Saving time through tailor-made support
By outsourcing the tasks to a service provider, you will only have to participate in the follow-up sessions and validations of your project. This is a real plus for your organization, allowing you to focus on your daily business, the organization of your teams, and the completion of other tasks.
In addition, you will also benefit from monitoring presentations and customized dashboards, ready to be distributed during your steering or management meetings. A real turnkey service!
B. Persistent misconceptions about communication agencies
You may be hesitant to use the services of a specialized communication agency in digital marketing because of common misconceptions such as:
“An agency is expensive”
However, an agency allows you to:
- save time by not mobilizing your teams or requiring you to recruit;
- save money on tools, software, recruitment, or internal training;
- constantly optimize your digital campaigns to improve your ROI.
“They do the same thing for all their clients”
We have a misconception that agencies are simply duplicating models from one company to another. But in reality, a serious agency will:
- adapt its materials to your graphic charter (colors, typography, design), your tone of voice, your positioning, your image, etc.
- select the best tools according to your objectives: awareness, conversion, loyalty, etc.
- take into account the characteristics of your activity: seasonality, market, competition, etc.
- choose the media and channels best suited to your targets and personas,
- monitor the results and adapt your strategy according to the KPIs agreed upon beforehand.
“Anyone can do their job; besides I have a website and I’m also on social media”
It’s great that you are conscious of the importance of being online, and that you have already created a site for your business. But can your potential customers find you easily? In order to appear on the first page of Google searches naturally, it is necessary to do some careful work on your website in terms of SEO to help it become visible and appear in the top 3 results.
The implementation of targeted advertising campaigns can be a real plus for acquiring new customers thanks to a well-targeted digital strategy on the different channels (Search, Display, Social, etc.). Are you using the right messages on the right sites for reaching your targets? Is your site user-friendly, ergonomic, understandable and pleasant to use for visitors? Does it meet the needs of your visitors? These are all questions that an audit can answer.
2. How to choose your digital communication agency?
Once you are aware of the advantages of using an agency for your project, the next step is to choose the right digital communication agency.
We will identify the main criteria on which you can rely and the other parameters or points of vigilance that can make a difference.
A. Listening and understanding your needs
This is the basis of any relationship: if an agency does not listen to you, run away! You must be able to explain your problems, your needs, and expectations. Express the KPIs you are aiming for. They can be quantitative (traffic on your site, increase in conversions, increase in the purchase basket, etc.) or qualitative such as your e-reputation.
With this in mind, at Eminence we take the time to get to know you by meeting with you on several occasions. During these meetings, we will understand your company’s challenges in its sector of activity and identify your expectations.
Depending on your needs, we can also offer you a pre-audit to identify any blocking points and the major areas of work that will result from them, in order to respond to your problems in the best possible way.
B. The ability to provide advice and guidance
The digital world and its environment are evolving very quickly. Any agency must therefore be fully aware of the latest trends, whether in e-commerce, social networks, new digital tools, and platforms. Understanding the behavior of B2C and B2B consumers is also a key point. Having all this information and data in mind will help us to guide you in your choice of a digital communication agency.
Depending on the needs identified during our discussions with our clients, we start a 360° approach in which you are the central point:
- Your company: your product or service offering, organization, communication, current development, projects, etc.
- Your market: how is it evolving, who are your competitors and what is their positioning, what is the persona profile of your current or target customers and what are their needs, etc.
- Digital audit: we focus in particular on your current proposition, such as your website, your social networks, and your campaigns, to identify ways for improvement.
Our knowledge of your environment, combined with your objectives, allows us to make personalized strategic and/or operational recommendations, with realistic, on-budget and well planned implementation proposals.
C. Specialization and expertise in the target field
When you start your search, you will naturally direct it towards the areas of expertise of the digital agency that seem to correspond to your communication needs.
In the digital field, it is common to find a second level of specialization among web-oriented agencies, as the fields of application are wide. Among them:
- Implementation of digital strategy and branding.
- Creation of websites or mobile apps.
- Content creation: social networks, community management, copywriting, SEO, etc.
- Customer journey thinking: customer journey, CX/UX and design.
- Data tracking: analytics, profiling, monitoring, CRM, automation etc.
- Ads and SEA advertising campaigns.
- Influence marketing.
Eminence makes a point to continuously train its team on the latest tools (new and updated) and to take certifications such as Hubspot, Google Analytics, Meta, Facebook, etc., in order to constantly evolve and increase their skills.
Take a look at our portfolio and find out in which sectors we are already experienced, such as industry, FMCG, healthcare, etc.
C. The team’s technical skills
In this booming sector, there are many technological and digital innovations that can be of interest to companies. As an agency specializing in web strategy and data, Eminence investigates on new techniques and pays particular attention to using the most effective tools to prepare and deploy your strategy.
We are aware of your need for reassurance and with this in mind, we have set up partnerships with Google, Meta, Adobe, Hubspot, Salesmanago, and Semrush in particular.
Don’t hesitate to consult our Case Studies section to discover the different projects we have worked on and the performance we have achieved.
Did you know that Eminence is the 2022 winner of the Meilleur du Web competition in French-speaking Switzerland, in the “Online marketing and business efficiency” category? This distinction rewards the work done in the context of the implementation of the “Web traffic and SEO strategy” for McDonald’s® Switzerland.
→ McDonald’s – SEO Migration Strategie
D. The relationship with the agency’s members
An important point that we sometimes tend to overlook, in the face of budgetary aspects, is the “fit” with the agency.
- Do you have common values?
- Is the agency used to working with a company like yours?
- How will you communicate and work together?
- Who will be your direct contact at the agency?
- Do you have a good feeling?
When you work with an agency, you often expect to be able to work over the long term, as this requires a significant time commitment at the start of each project. A good relationship from the outset is therefore essential to facilitate exchanges at all stages of the project with the various parties involved.
For its internal and external operations, Eminence has opted for the online collaborative tool Jira, in order to guarantee a follow-up of all tasks throughout the project. We work in Agile mode, using the Scrum method, with weekly sprints to guarantee the progress on-time and within budget of your project.
E. Respecting the budget and deadlines
The last point we would like to highlight is of course the financial part and the respect of the deadlines. Generally speaking, these aspects are the first point looked at by any marketing or business manager, which is quite logical!
Each agency has its own invoicing system depending on the project: some will invoice by the hour, others with a fixed price. The ideal is to have a range, in order to avoid any unpleasant surprises at the end of the mandate.
As the bill can quickly rise, we recommend that you carefully study all the deliverables by budget line. You should also ask about the hourly cost of any changes.
In our agency, we adapt the budgets according to the type of assignment we are working on, in consultation with our clients. Transparency is important to us, so we will provide you with a financial statement at your request.
We also plan the various deliverables, so that you can follow the deadlines agreed together and monitor the progress of the various tasks on which we intervene.
CONCLUSION
Many parameters come into play in your decision to outsource tasks or projects to a digital communication agency. You now have all the cards in your hand to assess your needs in terms of advice, support, and customized technical solutions. We have a common goal: the performance of your digital tools to serve the growth of your company!
Do not hesitate to contact us so that we can present to you our functioning, our teams, their digital specializations, and what we can bring to your entity.
“Content builds relationships. Relationships are built on trust. Trust drives revenue.”
Andrew Davis……………………