A digital marketing agency specializes in managing your online advertising efforts. It encompasses a set of different strategies that are aimed at improving your brand’s online presence, brand awareness, and overall profit.
With the help of our experts, we’ll cover the most common strategies offered by top-tier digital marketing agencies and share the three best companies to help you kickstart your advertising journey successfully.
Table of Contents
What Do Digital Marketing Companies Do?
Every digital marketing agency has one goal — to improve your online advertising efforts. This can include a variety of services, but in general, digital marketing agencies focus on one or several of the following strategies:
- Social media marketing
- Content marketing and creation
- SEO
- Web design
- Affiliate marketing
- Email marketing
- Paid advertising
1. Social Media Marketing
A key service offered by many digital marketing agencies is social media marketing. This strategy focuses on managing and optimizing your social media accounts, essentially handing over the reins of your accounts to experts.
With social media marketing, your brand can:
- Increase brand awareness
- Drive more website traffic
- Stay on top of market trends
- Build customer loyalty
Some digital marketing agencies can even go a step further and offer influencer marketing in their packages. They can take care of one or all of your social media profiles while you focus on other pressing aspects of your business.
2. Content Marketing and Creation
Another service offered by digital marketing agencies is content creation and marketing. This can include everything from copywriting to distributing content across various platforms so it can reach more people.
Today, many businesses employ specialized content marketing companies to produce high-quality blogs, website content, and more. The goal is to deliver content that clearly communicates the brand’s mission and vision, resonating with the target audience. It’s no wonder the content marketing market is projected to reach $1,956.5 billion by 2032.
Some popular types of content that can be created and distributed through this advertising strategy include:
- Blogs
- Infographics
- Social media posts
- Videos
- Landing pages
3. SEO
A digital marketing agency can also provide different SEO services. Search engine optimization is a strategy that’s used to boost your brand’s website in search rankings on engines like Google and Bing. Depending on what you need, a digital marketing agency will provide a different type of SEO — from on-page SEO to local SEO, international SEO, and more.
SEO strategies mainly revolve around finding and using the right keywords that can help your website rank organically. Even the simplest tactic will include:
- Keyword research
- Link building
- Information architecture
- Analyzing the competition
A good digital marketing agency will know how to devise a strategy that will bring the most for your brand. This includes boosting brand awareness, generating leads, enhancing local and international visibility, and unlocking a wide range of other SEO benefits.
4. Web Design
It might come as a surprise, but digital marketing agencies can also take care of your web design needs. Since websites are the main thing that these companies try to present in a good light, having a sophisticated, user-friendly, and brand-oriented website is key to making it in any niche.
Web design is a set of skills and steps you take to create the look of your company page. It can include:
- Branding
- User interface design
- Website mapping
- User experience design
- Overall visual design
Note: If you’re struggling to find a good web design company, try our directory of the top web design agencies. They can accommodate any business — big or small — and create websites that will captivate your audiences.
5. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is another service that some digital marketing agencies provide. This strategy involves partnering with third parties to promote your business in exchange for a commission. Affiliate digital marketing agencies act as the bridge between the affiliate site and your business, facilitating agreements between your business and affiliate sites.
Affiliate marketing operates on a “pay for action” model, similar to how salespeople earn commissions. However, the key difference is that affiliates are external parties, not part of the company. They earn a commission for driving new customers to your business, making this an effective, performance-based advertising strategy
6. Email Marketing
Another essential service offered by digital marketing agencies is email marketing. This strategy involves sending targeted emails to promote products or services, aiming to attract more clients. However, email marketing isn’t limited to promotions. It can also be used to:
- Increase brand awareness
- Educate people about your product
- Encourage more business
- Build customer loyalty
- Inform customers about discounts, new arrivals, etc.
With the number of email users expected to surpass 4.48 billion by 2025, more companies are embracing this marketing strategy. According to an Omnisend report, email open rates have increased to 25.1%, signaling that emails remain a powerful way to connect with your customers.
7. Paid Advertising
The final service on our list is paid advertising, particularly pay-per-click (PPC) ads — a form of search engine marketing (SEM). PPC involves paying a pre-determined amount each time someone clicks on your ad. Unlike SEO, which generates organic traffic, PPC usually gets paid traffic by presenting your ad to users in exchange for payment.
PPC strategies often rely on a bidding model. Simply put, you bid on specific keywords you want your site to rank for. The better the bidding war goes, the higher your ad will be shown on SERPs or other platforms.
Popular platforms for PPC campaigns include:
- Meta Ads (Facebook and Instagram
- LinkedIn Ads
- TikTok
- Bing
Tip: If you’re starting with PPC, check out our PPC checklist. It will guide you through the process and ensure your strategy is well-organized and effective.
Types of Digital Marketing Agencies
The type of digital marketing agency you choose depends on the services you need. Here are the main types of online advertising agencies:
- Full-service digital marketing agencies: These agencies offer a comprehensive range of services, handling all aspects of marketing. Keep in mind, however, that full-service agencies tend to be on the pricier side.
- Inbound digital marketing agencies: An inbound agency provides services that are tailored to organically attract customers to your brand. Some include writing blog posts, SEO, and social media marketing.
- Service-specific digital marketing agencies: These agencies specialize in one specific area of digital marketing, such as SEO or social media. The advantage of these agencies is their deep expertise in their niche, ensuring effective results.
Why Hire a Digital Marketing Agency?
The importance of digital marketing becomes most apparent when you experience the benefits of working with a pro. To highlight why hiring a digital marketing agency is a smart choice, here is a list of several pros:
- New perspectives: Hiring an outside team can bring in new and fresh ideas that will shake things up. A digital marketing agency can pinpoint your weaknesses and show you potential challenges you may face, as well as ways to address them.
- Knowledge: While your in-house team may have some marketing know-how, they may not be specialized in all aspects of the field. Digital marketing agencies are staffed with experts who understand the ins and outs of the industry and can show you how to navigate your business through it.
- Special tools: Digital marketing agencies use the latest tools and technologies in the market. They provide access to advanced features that might not be available to you or your team.
- Cost-effective: By hiring an agency, you save on the costs of building and maintaining an in-house marketing team, including salaries, inventory costs, and tools. Most agencies usually work with their own tools, so you won’t need to invest in additional software.
- Business focus: With marketing professionals handling your campaigns, you can focus more on running and growing your business. After all, your primary goal is to lead the company in the right direction, not to manage every aspect of its marketing.
Top 3 Digital Marketing Agencies for 2025
If you want to cut your search short and start your digital marketing journey the right way, consider one of these three digital marketing agencies:
1. SmartSites
- Location: 45 Eisenhower Drive, Suite 520, Paramus, New Jersey 07652, United States
- Average Hourly Rate: $100
- Expertise: Digital Marketing, SEO, PPC, Social Media Marketing, Email Marketing, Web Design, etc.
An all-in-one digital marketing expert, SmartSites helps businesses of all sizes get more traffic and acquire more customers. The company has been ranked #1 Marketing Strategy Agency by G2, #1 Best in Digital Marketing by GoodFirms, and #1 Digital Agency according to USNews. All of these awards speak volumes about its knowledge of digital marketing.
SmartSites is also a Google, Meta, and Windows Partner, letting customers know that its efforts won’t be in vain. What’s more, this agency claims that “Most of our SEO campaigns double their traffic within 6 months!” So why not test that out for yourself?
2. Searchbloom
- Location: 12884 Frontrunner Blvd #140, Draper, Utah 84020, United States
- Average Hourly Rate: Inquire
- Expertise: SEO, PPC, CRO, eCommerce, Content Marketing, Advertising, Digital Marketing, Media Buying, eCommerce Development, Web Development
Searchbloom is a company that specializes in several digital marketing strategies, striving to provide customers with quality services. From SEO to link building, PPC management, and similar, businesses that want to excel in their field by using these tactics turn to Searchbloom for help.
Named Forbes Advisor Best of 2024 and one of the Top SEO and Top PPC Agencies by Clutch, Searchbloom has a list of awards to prove its professionalism. Companies that have experienced and talked about Searchbloom’s craft include The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Forbes, and Yahoo!
3. Linkup Studio
- Location: 1201 North Market Street, Suite 111-I49, Wilmington, Delaware 19801, United States
- Average Hourly Rate: Inquire
- Expertise: Design, Software Development, Product Management, Marketing
If you want someone to take care of every single step of your digital journey, Linkup Studio is the way to go. This company has over 160 satisfied clients and more than a decade of expertise under its belt. In 2024 alone, it received a Red Dot Award in several categories:
- Red Dot Award for 2024 in the Category of Interface and User Experience Design
- Red Dot Award for 2024 in the Category of App Design, Education
- Red Dot Award for 2024 in the Category of App Design, Health Solutions
Linkup’s services include everything from web development to branding and even mobile app development. With this company you don’t just get a digital marketing agency — it’s the whole digital package!
What Does a Digital Marketing Agency Do: Takeaways
There are many ways digital marketing agencies can help your business thrive, from boosting brand awareness to turning one-time buyers into loyal consumers. Whatever your marketing goals, these agencies can help you achieve them.
Whether it’s SEO, PPC, content marketing, social media marketing, direct email advertising, or more, digital marketing agencies have the expertise to offer a wide range of services. They can handle every service from our list or specialize in one area, depending on your needs.
To get started on your digital marketing journey, consider one of the three types of agencies we discussed. If you’re looking for more options, check out our directory of the top digital marketing agencies and take your pick!
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