Hiring an agency for any purpose – whether it’s to rebrand your business, rebuild your website, or strategize about content or lead generation – is scary.
How do I know? I’ve been at the other end of the table.
A lot of other agencies make promises to deliver the entire world, fast and cheap. The majority of them, are just as fast and cheap as the services they pitch.
When I started Onyx Digital three months ago, the mantra was the first thing I wrote, and I knew I wanted to be as transparent as possible, delivering quality work at affordable prices, and do what we say we can do when we say we can do it.
We won’t and will never sell magic solutions to nonexistent problems or push our services on people unless we could really help them.
We know we’re not the right partner for everyone. And we try to be as upfront and transparent about that as well.
Of course, there are many facets of a client-agency relationship that determine if it’s a good fit. Some of it’s tactical or strategic. Other aspects are gut–instincts.
We want to make the qualification process easier, whether you choose to work with us, or not.
Let’s break it down.
Before you hire an agency, you should have a firm understanding of these concepts related to content marketing, inbound marketing, website development and optimization, SEO, and the effectiveness of them.
For example, when prepositioning an agency for content and SEO:
1. Content marketing won’t generate results overnight
Any agency that promises you otherwise is bullshitting you.
2. Effective SEO can’t be bought or sold as a one-off service
If “SEO stuff” is just a line item in your invoice, chances are you’re getting ripped off.
3. Long-term SEO is driven by content
The only solid strategy for winning in a competitive SEO space is to invest in creating a long-term brand value through content marketing, PR, etc. One-off link building campaigns may have their place, but they’re not a long-term solution. No amount of on-page optimization will work on its own.
4. Blackhat tactics are useless and/or dangerous
Google will win. Play the game or get ejected. It’s only a matter of time.
5. “Blog and pray” isn’t a strategy
If your plan for content marketing ends with you clicking publish and sending out a tweet to your 200 followers, don’t expect much to happen.
Comprende?
One of the most important considerations to take into account when you want to hire a content marketing agency is the role you want them to play within your organization.
Repeat that again. Okay, maybe one more time. And when you’re ready, contact us.