Hiring an Automotive Digital Marketing Agency: 9 Things to Look For
As a business owner, finding time to focus on extra tasks such as marketing may be difficult. While marketing may not be your number one priority, it can make an enormous difference for local businesses.
Hiring a digital marketing agency could be the right choice if your business needs to increase its online presence. They have the knowledge and expertise to execute professional automotive shop marketing campaigns.
One fear of hiring a marketing agency is finding out that they are not the right fit for your business. That is why it is important to hire an agency that can accomplish your marketing objectives.
Here are nine things to look for when hiring an automotive digital marketing agency.
1. Identify an Automotive Agency that Aligns with Your Business Goals
When it comes to the automotive industry, there are many options to choose from when deciding what you think is right for your brand online. Are you solely looking for assistance with advertising? Do you need to improve your image on social media? Does your website need to be overhauled?
These are all the questions that you must answer. A mixture of the three is the most ideal solution. Finding an agency that suits your business is essential to getting the most out of your investment.
Sure, most small automotive repair shops operate similarly, but their objectives will differ. They differ due to consumer behavior and the geography of your business. For example, a company that operates out of Minnesota may not have the same objectives as a shop in Florida because of the vast differences in climate and vehicle wear and tear.
Depending on your objectives, an automotive marketing agency should be able to provide your business with relevant content, advertising creation and reporting, and a properly optimized website.
The location of your business, your target audience, the services your business provides, and the willingness to be more present online will determine what solutions are best for your business.
2. Industry Experience
Marketing companies cannot be an instant success overnight. It takes years to gain experience and develop services that are valuable to their clients. This is why it is important to hire an agency that is a veteran in the industry.
Along with experience, the amount of time that a business has been open is important. The longevity of a business shows that they are committed to making changes to their services. The value that marketing companies build is through their ability to adapt to platform changes, algorithm changes, and consumer behavior.
3. The Price You Pay for Digital Media
Ok, so you have determined that digital marketing will benefit your business. If you hire an agency to create and facilitate marketing strategies, it will come at a cost. Each automotive digital marketing company differs in the solutions they provide, and the price associated with those services.
One thing to keep in mind is the budget that should be adhered to. Decide on a marketing budget for your business, then decide on which company offers these services at the price range you are willing to spend.
At Optimize, we have competitive rates and accept co-op funds from participating tire dealers.
4. Services
Since each marketing company provides different packages and services, it is important to find an agency that offers the services you are looking for. Create a list of services you are most interested in receiving from a marketing company, then identify which agencies have packages that can accomplish your goals.
Optimize Digital Marketing is a full-service agency, offering social media, brand management, web design, and hosting and advertising on platforms such as Facebook, Google, and Yelp.
5. Communication
The first line of communication with a marketing agency is making sure they understand your marketing goals. This will ensure their efforts and your dollars are spent in the right place.
Marketing agencies have access to reporting tools that track campaign results such as views, engagement, traffic, ROI, and more. It is important as a business owner to have access to these reports so you can determine if your marketing efforts are on the right track.
A question to ask your potential marketing agency is how often these reports are shared, and how often one-on-one calls occur with a representative from the company explaining the results of your campaigns.
At Optimize, a representative of our company will have an intro call with you to understand your business goals, so that we can tailor our services to your needs, focusing on what matters to you most. We then schedule monthly one-on-one calls to go over the performance of our campaigns in detail.
When it comes to advertisements, we walk through the ad creation process with you, discussing your objectives, and targeting a list of keywords, locations, and demographics.
6. Posting Strategies for Content Marketing
One thing to note is that marketing companies vary in their approach to posting strategies. Some may not even offer social media management at all.
If that is one of the services you are looking for, it then comes down to what you want your target audience to see on your social media platforms.
Some agencies post once per day, while others might post once per week.
Optimize posts one to five times per week on your social media pages depending on the platform. We create original content for use on your socials, giving you a blend of authentic and stock content for your audience to engage with.
7. Quality of Custom Content
Custom content helps a business stand out from its competitors. Custom content includes a mixture of photos, videos, and graphics to effectively market your services to consumers in a creative way.
Custom-made graphics provide a more professional feel to your content, while photos of your business, employees, and customer interactions provide a more authentic feel to your social platforms. Use authenticity to your advantage because it is what consumers want to see.
At Optimize, we house a graphics team that can create professional works to be used on your social platforms, ads, and website. We also offer a video and photo package to customers who would benefit from authentic content for their social media pages.
We work with videographers and photographers across the country to visit your place of business to capture authentic, interesting content that can be shared on your website and social media platforms.
8. Reputation Management
Reviews directly affect consumers with the intent to purchase goods or services. A business’s response given to the original review is also a factor. The genuinity of the review response given by the business, could either save a negative review or make it much worse. Not responding to reviews at all is just as damaging.
This is exactly why it is beneficial for you to invest in a marketing company that will manage your online reputation.
9. Proof of the Results
When looking for the right agency to work with, ask to see proof that their services are effective. How can their services be proven?
Well, it can be proven in a couple of ways. Marketing companies typically have case studies from previous or current clients that they can share with you.
These case studies could give insight into how other businesses within the same industry will market their services to their target audience, and what results they can expect.
Optimize uses reporting tools to efficiently communicate how your website, social media platforms, and ads are performing.
Monthly reporting calls with an account consultant will allow you to see how effective your digital marketing strategy is and allow you to request any necessary changes to your campaign.
If you think hiring an automotive digital marketing agency is right for your business, give us a call and we will show you why Optimize is the right choice.