What Is A Full-Service Digital Agency?
The best full-service digital agencies combine a group of experts from all areas of:
- Branding.
- Design.
- Technology.
- Marketing.
- Global industries.
Top digital agencies connect technology, design, marketing, and overarching business strategy to capture consumers and promote a brand across many channels.
The services of the best digital agencies in the world range from branding services to web design to digital marketing and beyond.
75% of small business owners find Internet marketing to be “effective” or “very effective” in growing their business.
Therefore, enlisting the help of a digital agency will likely improve your bottom line.
How Do I Choose A Digital Agency?
Determine Your Own Business Needs
Ultimately, the point of hiring an award-winning digital agency is to fulfill a specific business need.
So, before you even begin searching for a digital agency or setting up pitch meetings, you need to assess your own company goals.
Determine what you want to accomplish, shortlist the platforms that you think will help, and assess your internal manpower.
Once you have a strong understanding of your business’s current standing and where you hope to go, you can find the agency that will complement your brand identity and help you achieve your objectives.
Discover Each Digital Agency’s Primary Strengths
Although the best digital agencies have a wide variety of expertise, no one is an expert in everything. There will always be one or two areas that an agency particularly excels in.
Determine what those primary strengths are and determine if they line up with your project or initiatives.
Look at their portfolio, case studies and clientele and examine the work that they have done for them. Be sure to ask them which areas of a project succeeded and why.
This will allow you to determine if the digital agency's skill set matches your needs.
Plus, a digital agency doesn’t necessarily need experience in your specific industry. More importantly, they need to demonstrate prior experience solving business growth problems that are similar to your objectives.
Understand How A Digital Agency Attains Results
The top digital agencies have high success rates with clients because they place a strong emphasis on a consistent and reliable process.
This process includes a dedicated point of contact, regular meetings, a cohesive team and plenty of internal and external communication.
Since 46% of employees rarely or never leave a meeting knowing what their next steps are, this organized process is imperative.
Take the time to learn how a digital agency plans to create a roadmap to success, ensure deliverables are completed on time, determine key performance indicators, and ultimately provide a return on investment.
Create A Fair & Secure Contract
An airtight and comprehensive contract is the most crucial logistical element when forging a partnership with a great digital agency.
Results aren’t always guaranteed, but deliverables and disclosable information can be.
Work with your legal department or applicable representative to draft (or oversee) a fair, legally-binding document.
It should outline important information such as the project’s time frame, any applicable deliverables, who your team members and point of contact will be, and what information is under non-disclosure.
This will protect you and your brand down the road.
What Does A Digital Creative Agency Do?
The best digital agencies around the world offer a wide range of services.
If the agency is truly full-service, they should be able to handle all of your company’s digital marketing and business growth needs in-house with a high level of technical skill and experience.
Your partner firm should be able to devise a holistic, custom digital strategy for you based on an assessment of your brand’s particular needs.
In addition, clients can also request specific assistance from a top digital agency based on an a la carte selection of digital services.
Top Digital Agencies Manage Branding & Logo Design
When it comes to logo design and branding, reputable design agencies do it all. Leading digital agencies can manage:
- Logo design.
- Business or product naming.
- Branding and rebranding campaigns.
- Key brand messaging, such as mission statements and core values.
- Creating brand books to maintain a consistent identity.
- Rolling out new brand identities to the public.
- Corporate identities.
- And more!
77% of marketers say proper branding is imperative for future business growth.
A cohesive brand identity is like a professional personality. It gives consumers something to relate to on a more intimate level as they interact with your company.
This makes them more likely to make a purchase and become a returning customer.
Allowing a full-service digital agency to manage your entire brand identity will result in long-term benefits. For instance, consistent branding across all channels can increase revenue by up to 23%.
Digital Agencies Create Personalized Marketing & Advertising Strategies
Top digital companies can create a comprehensive marketing strategy.
These strategies encompass tactics including:
- SEO optimization.
- Social media marketing.
- Display advertising.
- Content marketing.
- Email marketing.
- Paid search.
- Pay-per-click ads.
- Experiential marketing campaigns.
- And more!
Award-winning digital agencies also engage with a community of fans and advocates through customer service and community management. This initiative helps widen your reach and appeal to new audiences.
The Best Digital Agencies Build Custom Websites, Mobile Apps & Platforms
Leading full-service digital agencies offer start-to-finish custom website design. This includes:
- Strategy.
- Information architecture.
- Design.
- Development.
- Post-launch support.
In addition, digital firms offer custom mobile app development. When digital agencies are hired to build applications, they incorporate a process of:
- Strategy.
- Prototyping.
- Design.
- Development.
- QA testing.
- Maintenance.
Well-designed digital platforms are crucial for modern brands. After all, global e-commerce sales are expected to surpass $4.8 billion annually by 2021.
However, 38% of users will stop engaging with a website if the layout and design are unattractive.
This means that a professional, beautiful and high-functioning custom website is imperative to business growth.
10 Questions To Ask A Digital Agency Before You Hire Them
Top digital agencies need to be able to demonstrate their ability to identify and solve your business problems. This is a key trait of a top digital agency that you should consider when forging a partnership.
Before you hire a digital agency, ask targeted questions. These will unequivocally prove whether or not they have a success story that directly speaks to your needs as a business.
- Who will be working on our project and what is their personal expertise?
- Who will our point of contact be at the digital agency?
- What clients have you worked with and what services did you provide?
- What is your process for determining a roadmap, deliverables, and a progressive yet achievable timeline?
- How will you determine the goals of the project?
- How will the goals be measured (traffic, conversions, SEO ranking, revenue, etc.) and how often will you report results?
- What tools, tactics or strategies will you utilize to reach our target goals?
- Is the project a flat rate cost or by the hour?
- What deliverables are included in the cost of the project?
- Does the pricing include meetings and phone calls to touch base on the project’s progress and questions?
How Much Does A Digital Agency Cost?
The amount that a digital agency will charge you largely depends on the scope of work you need them to complete.
For example, a short-term social media campaign will ultimately cost less than a long-term SEO strategy the construction of a robust custom website.
Nonetheless, there are some general figures that you can keep in mind when hiring a digital agency.
First of all, digital agencies can invoice in a few different ways. These include:
- Hourly rates
- Per-project
- Results-based fees
- Monthly retainers
An hourly rate is the most common way that a digital agency will charge a client. Essentially, when you are charged hourly, you will be paying an hourly fee for every person and every hour spent on your account or project.
Typically, United States digital agencies charge about $125-$200+ per hour.
Meanwhile, digital agencies in Eastern Europe can cost between $35-$75 per hour.
Often, per-project invoices are also determined by hourly rates. Digital agencies are simply dividing each project they are working on for you into its own dedicated invoice.
This is helpful for tracking, organization and projects where certain digital agency departments charge more than others.
For instance, web development experts at a digital agency will likely have higher hourly rates than pay-per-click advertising experts.
A results-based fee is contingent upon achieving a specific goal, objective or key performance indicator.
And finally, monthly retainers are typically flat fees that allow you to work with digital agencies on more of a consultation basis.
Monthly retainer fees from US-based digital agencies can run from $500 to $5000 or more, depending on the projects you will be working on.
You can compare digital agencies in the table above by price, expertise, leadership, case studies, rankings, reviews and more!
5 Surprising Tactics Digital Agencies Use To Grow Brands Online
The best digital agencies don't just conduct standard marketing campaigns and build professional websites. In fact, full-service digital agencies invest in creative and customized techniques tailored to every brand's specific needs.
How To Know If A Digital Agency Is Right For Your Business
Ultimately, the best digital agency for your business is the one that has the expertise and qualifications to help you achieve your goals in a timely manner.
The right digital agency will have:
- The ability to understand your brand inside and out
- Experience solving similar business problems
- Creative and technical expertise
- Successful case studies and portfolios
- Clear transparency and a roadmap to success
- The ability to deliver a return on investment within your budget
When you find a firm that checks all of those items, you’ve likely found the digital agency that can grow your brand effectively.
To find the best digital agency for your brand, explore DesignRush's comprehensive list of digital agencies above.
