Olivia Atkinson
Searching for a construction marketing agency for your building products business can be frustrating.
But once you find one, you may be unsure whether they will be the best fit for your business and what you hope to achieve with your marketing.
We understand.
That's why we have put together a short list of 5 key questions you should ask any construction marketing agency you may be considering, to see if they will be suitable for you.
1) What types of companies and industries do you serve? Who is your ideal client, and why?
Asking these questions will give you a good insight to whether they can work with your building products business.
Within the construction sector there are so many sub-sectors an agency could work with, whether it's consultants or specifiers.
Understanding if they work within your sub-sector will show you if they will be a good fit for you.
You can also see the size of clients they work with and where you might fit in. Do they mainly work with SME's or do they work with large businesses.
You will be get a good idea if they are able to handle the workload required, from this information.
If you are a larger organisation, the workloads, strategies and goals may be different compared to an SME's. Therefore one size won't fit all here.
2) What are the core capabilities of your agency? Where do you shine?
Knowing which areas the agency specialises in can help you decide whether they are the suitable for your business and what you hope to achieve with your marketing.
If you want to improve lead generation, an agency with a strong capability in content marketing and SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) may be the best for you.
Or if you want to generally upgrade your digital platforms, an agency with a strong capability in website design and social media management would be a better fit for you.
A top tip is to clearly identify what you want to achieve and what is involved to achieve the goal/s. Once you know what it'll take you can look for agencies that shine in those areas.
3) How is your pricing structured?
Are prices fixed or are they bespoke depending on your requirements?
Knowing this would give you some idea of what it might cost you to work with that agency.
However many agencies tend to have bespoke prices as every client requires different services.
It's worth checking how they calculate bespoke prices...
- Is it dependant on the amount of work required? (E.g. 5 blogs per month = £200)
- Is it dependant on the service/s required (E.g. SEO = £1000 per month)
However they calculate it, it is worth comparing with other agencies to gauge whether the pricing is reasonable. Always good to shop around first before making a final decision.
4) How do you measure results?
This question will help you understand how well the agency tracks their work for you.
- Are there certain metrics they analyse to see how well a campaign is performing, such as website traffic or click-through rates?
- Do they test certain metrics and campaigns to gauge how it will respond?
- Do they use specific tools like Hubspot and Moz to analyse and record metrics?
The agency should be focused on bringing you the results you want and understanding how they track them will show you if they will focus on the same KPI's (Key Performance Indicators) as you.
One tip to keep in mind is to also ask them about how they provide reports, how often is it and what metrics do they cover?
This will show you how well the agency is working for you and if they are bringing in the results you want.
Some metrics might be difficult to understand so ask them what they mean and how they are calculated to get a better understanding of how the campaigns are performing.
5) what Examples of Case studies, relevant work and Previous Clients do you have?
Ask for case studies, particularly of long-term engagements showing results over time.
This will give you a strong sense of how they have helped other businesses and if they can provide the same help for you.
Ask them to show you previous relevant work to what you require. If it's a new website ask to see if they have examples of converting old websites to new ones or developing ones from scratch.
This would give you a good idea as to how they will tackle your requirements and what the possible outcomes might be.
Ask about previous clients they have worked with, this would inform you of what type of client they work with often and therefore suited towards.
Linking back to question 1, you will see their ideal client type and whether you fit into that type. If not then they might not be the best fit for you.
But don't worry there's plenty more fish in the sea.
Conclusion
Overall the key to finding the right agency is to get as much information as you can from them to help you make a justified decision.
Compare this information with what your marketing goals are, and with other agencies.
Knowing what you want will guide you to find what you need. There will be an agency out there for you and it won't be as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack.
Always shop around first and refrain from going with the first one you see, do your research and learn as much as possible about each agency.
Because it will save you a lot of stress and money in the future.
However if you want to learn more about how Insynth can help you with your construction marketing, get in touch with us today!
We will be more than happy to help you achieve your construction marketing goals.
