AditChouhan | Adit Chouhan

It’s been almost four years since I started The CLICKS Technologies (TCT) – a digital marketing agency focused towards producing genuine results for our client’s growth while improving client’s understanding of Digital Marketing Fundamentals, Tools and Strategies. We were lucky to get our first client who was also a first timer into the world of digital marketing and hence started the relationship with complete trust in us which we managed to keep as well. However, as I started meeting more prospects and made pitches to organizations and brands, there was one shocking observation that i made which shook me!

Almost all of these prospects had tried their hands on digital marketing with 1-2 agencies or freelancers in the past and had suffered several setbacks during the process. Most of the firms or individuals who approached them or worked for them had overpromised and underdelivered. And, that led to not only broken relationships in the past but also a broken trust on the whole digital marketing community. This also led to a reduced appetite for further investment in digital marketing and a huge trust deficit for the new partner. So, by the time they come to us, they are in an extremely sceptical mindset. As the old Indian adage goes ‘Kare koi. Bhare koi.’ meaning the brunt of someone else’s fault is borne by someone else.

For all those Marketers, Management Executives, Entrepreneurs, Organizations and Brands, here are the 10 things you should remember while selecting a Digital Marketing Agency.

Check Business Credentials of the Digital Marketing Agencies

For the first level screening, if you look at the business Credential presentations with their client list and sampel work, it will give you an idea about the quality of work and service you can expect from them. Also, look at the Founding Team and their backgrounds on their website or on LinkedIn.

Usually organizations look for agencies with an exposure in their business space. But, i find that way of shortlisting bit farce. As a Marketer, i have brought on-board many Online Marketing Agencies for the organizations i worked for and i can assure you that agency’s past client base does not give you a gaurantee to expect better of them. It helps in the initial phase, may be, during introductions but eventually it boils down to the team that is working on your account.

2. Check Case studies from past client work and achievements

For those Agencies that impress you with their credentials, ask them to share some Case Studies for different types of work they have done. If you are clear about the services you need, you can ask then to share case studies of work done in that specific area for the industry space you are in. However, if they haven’t worked in your industry or if they are fairly new with less exposure but seem genuine and talented, you should give them a shot too. Giving them a pilot to prove their knowledge and performance works well in such cases.

Case studies should not be superficial but talk numbers and the numbers should have a proof either via a client testimonial stating those numbers or a screenshot of the final results. This will also give you an idea on whether the agency is more creatives driven or numbers driven or a mix of both.

3. Give No Importance to the Awards Received

We all know how awards are distributed these days. So, please do not get impressed by the awards received by the agency. More important is to go through the work done by the agency and case studies.

What you should definitely do is, go through the client list of shortlisted agencies and see if you know someone in one or two of those and connect with them off-the-record and get their feedback on the agency. This will help you make a final decision on who all to call for Proposals.

4. Invite Proposal Presentations

Fix a day to invite all agency presentations and allocate 60 mins for each agency to present their proposal and also take FAQs. Please do not invite many agencies just for the high of it! Pick less but pick those whom you would like to give time to and have deeper discussions with. Again, no need for offline meetings if it can be done online. Will save everyone’s time.

5. Creativity vs. Technical Knowledge

During the Proposals please do not get swayed away by the creatives. If you need a creative agency, you have called the wrong set of people. Creatives and creative ideas can be replaced every day in Digital Marketing space. You should focus on those who come with thorough technical understanding of various digital marketing tactics/ tools and can become a strategic partner to make your business a success via their online efforts.

6. Numbers vs. Brains

Don’t get swayed away by those who come with an entourage to present the proposal all decked up in suits and style. They may be good, may be not. Focus more on their technical inputs about what are they going to do and how. Ask if they have done it in the past and deep dive into the tools beyond Social Media fancy.

7. Don’t Ask For Gauranteed Results

Just like any other marketing platform, digital marketing also eventually depends on the user’s action. Nobody can gaurantee results to you. All they can do is apply the best of the minds and knowledge they have in delivering services for your brand and try to give you more than expected results. But, if you wish to fix a certain number of sales or leads or enquiries or downloads or installs or any other conversions without them even starting your campaigns and learning from them to improve, it will not be a reasonable ask. Those who agree to any such demands of yours, are definitely the ones you should be afraid of.

8. Don’t make a selection based on pricing only

I always tell my prospects that the choice is yours whether you wish to buy a Peter Englad or a Zara. Both come at their own prices. You can’t expect to find the quality and comfort of wearing a Zara in the price of a Peter England. (No offense to any of the brands. Both are good and serve their purpose for their TGs.) With price you should get better client servicing team and reasonable professionals on the job for the account from the agency. The price you are ready to pay also defines your respect to the efforts put in by the agency. So, I am very clear usually to not go below a certain Agency Fee during negotiations and clients respect that either ways.

9. Meet the Whole Team

Shortlist top two agencies now whom you would want to bring on-board and get a deeper feeling of who all will work on the project and how are the chances of asking for a different resource if you are not happy with a certain individual’s work quality or performance. Talk to each team member individually in the meeting and ask them about their background, their involvement on this project and what are their inputs for the area they will be handling.

10. Give a Small Task

Before final selection, you can ask the teams to share some estimations on the kind of results they can bring every month and how much media budget will they need to achieve that every month. Have an online/ offline meeting with them to share the logic and any assumptions taken for those estimations. Although an agency always gets to know your business better once onboarded and once it starts working on the campaigns and online presence , it will help you understand how intelligent the agency is and what kind of minds are you hiring for the job.

Finally, decide which one you would like to hire and finalize based on their team strength, mind strength and the ‘vibe’ you are getting. Price negotiations are important but do not select an agency just because theyhave quoted less. In trying to save those few bucks, you end up inviting a huge headache and heartbreak.

Hope these steps help you. However, if you are looking for a digital marketing firm, go no further than taking up expert services from The CLICKS Technologies (TCT). Call us at +91 7709 644442 for a discussion about your business and how can we help you 2X or 10X it.

– Adit Chouhan

I remember, almost six years ago when i was working with a Retail Real Estate organization and was reporting to the CEO, i went to his cabin to find him talking to a guy who must be in his fifties and seemed to be boasting high of his knowledge and expertise in Digital Marketing. Understanding that my boss is occupied, i excused myself from the door without asking for his permission to enter.

I had recently finished my certification in Digital Marketing from MICA and was, in fact, a part of their first batch. And, i was the only one in my organization at that time who had some understanding of the online marketing tools and jargons, at that time. During a discussion with our CEO later during the day, he mentioned to me that the guy he was sitting with was saying that for a Like Campaign, we should get a like in less than 50 paise and if it’s anything more than that, we should hire his services.

Initially, i was bit surprised at this vague comment coming from someone who looked like someone with head over his shoulders. Then, i also doubted myself a little as i was quite new to the field too. Somewhere inside, i smelled something fishy in this whole argument made by him and also informed my boss that there is no such formula to restrict cost per like and it is a function of multiple factors used while setting up campaign targeting.

Now, after six years when i look back and remember that incident, i realize how some overconfident blabbermouths are spoiling the market for the genuine agencies. In our last 4+ years of The CLICKS Technologies (TCT), I have come across many brands and companies who have burnt their fingers at least once or twice dealing with agencies or freelancers who promised them wonders but fell flat on their face when the time to execute and show results came. Eventually, they had to let go of these fake digital marketers.

You would think, it’s good for other agencies if these organizations had to let go of their past service providers as this would mean they are a potential client now. But, that’s not really as simple as it looks. These organizations come with a closed mindset scared to trust another person or firm that calls itself a Digital Marketing Expert. They also want to spend lessser on online marketing now than what they were open to spend initially. They become overly sensitive and take a lot of time to trust the newly appointed service provider. It puts a lot of unnecessary pressure on the new agency when they take up the work as first the client needs to be pulled up from the ditch it had fallen into and then pushed up towards the path of a successful relationship.

Point is, if you are looking for a digital marketing agency, please beware of the fake blabbermouth types. They will not only waste your money but also make it difficult for you to onboard another agency with an open mind. I have listed down few pointers that you can keep in mind to identify such agencies that need to be looked at with caution. Here you go:

If they seem to be overpromising and overconfident without trying to understand your product/ services and TG properly.
If they are ready to work at a very low fee. Generally, those who are skilled like to feel respected for their talent and the fee you pay is the sign of respect for the service provided. Those who are ready to go low to any level to grab the opportunity do not have any quality or service standards as well.
If they are not ready to discuss numbers and estimated results. Although, nobody can assure you of any results and it’s all estimations based on the projections shared by various digital marketing tools, it’s still possible to discuss some numbers to ensure everyone is on the same page
If they try to use lot of technical jargons instead of trying to simplify things for your understanding. This will be a pattern with them while onboard as well. They will give excuses for non-performance using technical jargons and will keep you confused.
If they promise you some extraordinary results. This will only be possible for them by doing some kind of sham. For ex: if an agency promises you an exact number of leads every month, they will buy some database and add some to the genuinely generated leads to fulfil the numbers.
If they are okay to run lead generation campaigns for you at very low cost per lead. There is a chance they will be sharing those leads with other organizations too to make their moneis for the effort put in.
If you see a ‘yes man’ talking to you. If they are agreeing to everything you say or want, you are in for lot of surprises later.
If you find no depth in their knowledge of Digital Marketing but mostly superficial understanding of it.

There could be many more pointers that can be added to this list. Please feel free to share your set of pointers in the comment section below.

I also see many organizations evaluating an agency by the number of employees it has and lot of agencies boasting of the fact that they have X number of employees. It shouldn’t really make a difference if the team put to manage and execute marketing for your business is a mediocre one.

I remember when one of the start-up founder from Hyderabad called me one day, after reading my book ‘MARKETING: :Tricks of the Trade They Won’t Teach You at B-Schools’ completely heartbroken and about to give up on his business. He was cheated by so-called digital marketing experts/ agencies twice and wasn’t sure whom to trust anymore. He read my book and felt some sense of confidence in me and approached me. Of course, we took up the challenge and gave him results beyond his expectations. That story, let me keep for another time.

Be careful how you pick up a growth partner for yourself!

– Adit Chouhan

Author: AditChouhan

Beware of Fake Blabbermouth Digital Marketers