Choosing the Right Digital Marketing Agency in Utah
A Guide for Local Businesses
The Right Fit
You want to grow your local business. You know you need marketing, but how do you choose the right marketing fit? There are hundreds of local agencies in Utah in addition to some that aren’t local but do business here. It is so important that you have a basic understanding of how marketing works, so you can choose the right agency for your business. Just like with any specialty, there is a range of marketing skill levels, specialties, and fits. This article is not only an application by Connection Media Co. to be your marketing company, but it’s also a tool that will help you decipher which company might be the best fit for you, even if it isn’t Connection Media Co.
The Growth of Digital Marketing in Utah
Utah has such a unique entrepreneurial spirit. I moved here from Las Vegas where I grew up nearly 15 years ago. When I moved to Utah, not only was I thrilled to be living so close to the mountains, rivers, and lakes, but I also noticed that we do things differently here. We love small businesses and we like to have our own businesses. In fact, all three of our major metropolitan areas; Salt Lake, Orem/ Provo, and Ogden/ Clearfield, rank in the top 50 in the US for the most business license applications per 1000 people. Ogden/ Clearfield ranks as the sixth fastest-growing area for new business licenses.
As business has progressed, so has marketing. Businesses used to have to choose between only a few traditional marketing choices, but with digital marketing, there are more choices than ever before, making the decision even more challenging. The average Utah business spends between 10% to 15% of its annual revenue on advertising. It’s more crucial than ever to choose the right digital marketing agency for your business.
What Makes a Great Digital Marketing Agency in Utah?
I believe the first thing your business should look at is the agency’s style and personality. Does it fit what you want to accomplish? Secondly, you should ensure the company has the expertise in digital marketing to help your business grow. Thirdly, a business should pick an agency with experience across multiple channels and platforms so as to help you find the absolute best places that you should be advertising. Add to that the ability to design creative ads that speak powerfully to your target audience about your WHY. Finally, make sure your agency “returns and reports” their progress to you consistently. You should be able to see what is happening and how it is impacting your business.
Most business owners start by asking WHERE they should be marketing. Should I be doing SEO, SEM (PPC), Social Media, TV, Online Video, Magazines, Radio, or YouTube? This is actually backward. You should start by defining WHO your target audience is, followed by understanding their WHY, or why customers should pick you over your competitors. Then match those two understandings to WHERE best to reach your target audience. You should also then be able to create ads that speak to that audience about your WHY.
Find your Match (An agency that matches your style and personality)
The importance of digital marketing cannot be overstated. People are spending more and more time online, so using tools like SEO, SEM, Social Media, and Online Video (CTV, OTT, Preroll, and Streaming TV) are important pieces of a digital marketing onmi-channel strategy. Your agency should be able to assess your website’s design and its ability to capture attention. They should also be able to help you pick the channels that will best target your target audience. Some agencies pick a favorite platform and specialize there, but what if your WHO (target audience) is not spending their time on that platform? That would mean you are wasting your marketing spend.
When you work with Connection Media Co., you will meet with one of our talented team members to go over a Needs Analysis form that we created to capture an understanding of how we can best serve you. We have a team of graphic designers, writers, creatives, and digital marketing specialists across multiple platforms so we can help get your message just right, and on the right marketing channels.
How Can a Top Marketing Agency Help Your Utah Business? It depends on their expertise!
Once you know your WHO and WHY, you should then look at the search traffic for your industry. How many people are looking for your product or service right now? How many people look for it in a month, or a year? Your digital marketing agency should be able to provide you with this data. Your product or service falls into one of two categories: Actively Searched, or Discovery. Actively Searched items are products or services that people know about and want. They go to search engines to find what they want.
Discovery-type products may be a new concept, idea, or emerging trend that not everyone knows about, yet. It’s important that you market in the right places so that you can help people who are already looking to either find you or help people find out about you while striking up their curiosity towards your offerings. A great digital marketing agency understands how to determine what is best for your company. Too often you’ll find that companies only specialize in one or two types of marketing, which can pigeonhole you into channels that may not be ideal for your business.
Your agency should also be able to help you across multiple platforms. In today's marketing world, companies who find the most success in advertising are those who use a layered, onmi-channel approach. They make sure to get customers across many different channels. If an agency is only specialized in one platform, you may not reach your WHO effectively.
Proof of Success
Don’t be afraid to ask for case studies of other companies the agency has worked with. What have they accomplished? Do they actually know how to get results? One nice thing about digital marketing is that it can provide analytics showing what actions have been accomplished from your marketing spend.
Examples of Connection Media Co.’s Successes
Local Car Dealership: We help with paid social media advertising for a local car dealership and though their overall marketing spend is much greater than what they spend with us, month after month they see data that shows we are their number one source of leads for their business through our paid social media advertising campaigns. They have steadily increased their ad spend because it is working so well.
Local Medical Spa: We handle search engine marketing for a successful local medical spa. With our expertise in Google Ads management, we are the number one source of leads for this medical spa, and they have recently hired us to handle another location in Logan.
Ask about their successes and expertise. Find an agency that is accessible to you when you have questions, one that will work hard to keep your business. Also, find an agency that understands that creativity is just as important as paying for advertising. Get the messaging right so you can be most effective with your ad spend.
Return and Report
No matter what agency you work with, you should receive a report of their work. Analytics, or statistics that show what is happening because of your advertising spend. Digital marketing provides more data than ever before. Pixels can be placed on your website that tells the story of what visitors do. What pages do they visit and what links do they click? Do they fill out a form, call you, or get directions to your business? Make sure you get a report and if you need help to understand what the report means, ask your agency to explain it.
We have a monthly meeting with clients to go over results and make adjustments as needed.
Conclusion
The importance of digital marketing cannot be overstated. People are spending more and more time online using tools like SEO, SEM, Social Media, and Online Video (CTV, OTT, Preroll, and Streaming TV). Your website’s design and its ability to capture attention are extremely crucial to helping your marketing efforts. When you work with Connection Media Co., you will meet with one of our talented team members to go over a Needs Analysis form that we created to capture an understanding of how we can best serve you. We have a team of graphic designers, writers, creatives, and digital marketing specialists to help get your message just right, and on the right marketing channels.
Once you are our client we will meet with you every month via Google Meet or in-person to go over your analytics and make sure you are getting the results you want. Your Utah digital marketing agency should be accountable for the work they are doing and be able to show you the result. No matter who it is, you should understand that most marketing takes time. Sometimes you will get immediate results, but more often than not, it takes time to get the message right and targeted at the right audience. Your agency should be upfront about that and also be willing to adjust their approach as you go forward to make sure you get results.
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