The development of the internet has changed consumers’ expectations for marketing drastically. Before the internet, marketers relied on what is called “outbound marketing”. These are the marketing tactics that rely on the marketer reaching out to consumers first. Examples of outbound marketing are telemarketing calls, door-to-door salespeople, and email spamming. Today, those tactics don’t have a good reputation amongst consumers. The latest and most effective tactics are known as “online marketing” or inbound marketing. In order to stand out, businesses must practice online marketing in Pensacola.
As mentioned above, online marketing is a relatively new marketing field. It is also quite challenging to master right away, so many experts have opened their own online marketing agencies. The role of these agencies is to help their clients effectively practice online marketing in order to get more leads. Depending on the client’s business, an agency will help with social media marketing (SMM), email marketing, and search engine marketing (SEM). Most agencies offer more than just those services, which is always nice for the client. Other services could include website development, pay-per-click marketing, content marketing, and more.
You may have already noticed, but there are a lot of agencies who help clients with online marketing in Pensacola. It can be a real challenge deciding which agency to hire because there are so many options. To assist you in narrowing down your options, we have identified three traits every agency should have.
The qualities of a great online marketing agency are not common knowledge, making it difficult to know who to hire. We all want to hire people who make a great fit, so being prepared before interviewing agencies is a good choice. Be on the lookout for agencies with the following qualities. If they have these three traits, they will be much more likely to get you great results.
The online marketing agency you hire should have excellent reviews provided by previous customers. These reviews can tell you a lot about how an agency operates and how their customer service is. Check to see if their clients confirm the talents of the agency and their ability to get great results. You will be able to refer back to their reviews to check for the next two traits as well!
You may stumble across an agency who has a couple of negative reviews. This is very normal, as we have all seen our favorite businesses receive negative reviews. Don’t completely rule out an agency because they have a couple of negative reviews. First, check and see how they responded to the negative review. Were they professional and kind to their unhappy client? Did they try to fix the problem at hand? If the answer to these questions is yes, they are likely still a great company. Just make sure you hire a company who has a majority of reviews complimenting their quality of work and competency.
The agency you hire to help you with online marketing in Pensacola should have at least a year of experience. This is not to say an agency with less experience is incapable of getting results. There are many talented people who can get clients great results despite not having years of experience. It is always a safer choice to go with an agency who has experience, especially when it is the first agency you are partnering with.
To see if the agency you are considering has experience, you can look at their reviews again. Most agencies in the Pensacola area have a good handful of reviews dating back a few years. This is a great indication of a business’ experience level. If by chance they don’t have reviews, you can ask them for examples of their past work. They should be fine giving you the link to previous websites they have worked on or the names of their past clients.
When you are going through the hiring process, keep in mind there are no secrets for practicing SEO. This is not a big problem in the Pensacola area, but there have been instances where online marketing agencies hide their marketing tactics. This is likely because they plan on using blackhat SEO tactics, which should be avoided at all costs. Search engines are always making public announcements about what it takes to get a good ranking in search results. Find a company who answers all of your questions and does not claim to have any secrets.
As mentioned above, this is not a big problem with agencies in the local Pensacola area. But if you want to play it safe, you can ask agencies questions to see how ethical they are. A great question to ask is, “What precautions do you take to make sure you don’t violate Google’s Webmaster Guidelines?” Every agency should be staying on top of online marketing news to make sure they are only practicing accepted tactics.
We have been helping our clients with online marketing in Pensacola for years. Along the way, we have discovered that our job is much more than website development and boosting search result rankings. Here at Joshua Lyons Marketing, we believe our job is also:
Do you need some help with your online marketing? Please let us know by completing the form below. We will be sure to contact you to set up a time to speak with you. We can’t wait to hear your goals and ideas!
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