We were advising one of our startups recently. They were telling us a story that was a learning lesson for all entrepreneurs. It was about their digital marketing agency experience.
They invested around $50,000 in their brand of clothing that they wanted to sell to Europe. They were based in Europe, so that was the easy part. Then they simply started following the rules of any blog you would read online. They made a brand – quite an okay one.
They had some stock which included good quality products perfect for selling. Then they hired a digital marketing agency that showed they were based where the startup was based. But the truth is they were based elsewhere.
It’s not one of those stories where it’s a scam. A scam is when an agency takes money out of you and never delivers. The problem with digital marketing is it’s always a matter of perspective.
How do you measure digital marketing or advertising? Do you measure it by revenue? If you do, then they spent over $50,000 on this project, including website development and around $30,000 in advertising, and they had zero dollars of revenue. Or do you measure it by branding and how much they grew in terms of the brand? If you have zero dollars of revenue, then it’s the same – you didn’t really grow your brand.
Choosing the Right Digital Marketing Agency
Does it require a certain amount of money for those companies to actually get you somewhere? Well, $30,000 is quite a big price tag. When it comes to selecting a startup digital marketing agency, you need to keep multiple things in mind. Number one, you need to vet this agency very well.
You need to see their previous clients, how they grew, and whether it was a challenge for them to grow. If they take a company that is already having easy sales and they’re just growing something, not from scratch like your product, then that’s not really the same challenge.
Secondly, look for products that are similar to yours. This gives an agency a reference. If an agency grew a startup or brand in the clothing industry and you’re starting something in that industry as well, then it’s a good match. Finally, always put very direct milestones in KPIs.
It’s okay for a startup agency to not fulfill what it’s doing once or twice, but if it’s for a long time, this is really the problem. You don’t want to be running out of funds and not being able to afford anything else.
Setting Clear Expectations
What you want to do is to ask for expectations. Are we expecting to see sales within the first two months or three months? Is it a yes or no question? If they say yes, then perfect – you have your milestone. After three months, you know you’re going to spend a certain amount of money, and after three months, this is it.
Then if they don’t deliver, it’s your choice whether to continue believing in them for some mystical reason or to fire them and find someone else who actually could do this for you.
A good digital marketing agency would put reasonable milestones and deliver results at that exact moment or before, not after. A lot of companies out there would just start your advertising and tell you that business is not really easy.
But a true advertising agency would still sell your product even if it’s not really that good. Look at most of the products online – the real big sharks have good quality, but there are a lot of products that are selling that have horrible quality. They’re just selling because they are put to the right people with the right video. They develop a need. They create a need in you.
Digital Marketing Agency – What to do?
So when it comes to digital marketing agencies for your startup, these are the things you really have to look out for. Don’t forget to vet and keep checking this company very well to make the right choice. They might tell you that you need to invest more money to get results, and this might not be true.
They might just want to try their luck with a bigger lump sum. Once you’ve studied this company very well, only then will you be able to assess whether this is the right one for you. This is the first step for you to actually grow your company into what it is meant to be.