In a previous article, we discussed the perks of working with an email marketing agency to help you maximize your marketing reach with customers.
Now that you’re armed with this essential knowledge, let us continue on our journey to find the perfect email marketing agency to represent your interests.
Set A Budget
This is an absolute must. It’s crucial that you set a budget and stick to it so that you don’t end up spending more than you can afford. Your email marketing agency should be able to give you a rough idea of how much you’ll need to spend based on your budget, so that you don’t get caught off guard by unexpected expenditures. A good rule of thumb is to set aside 3-5% of the total amount of money that you’re spending on marketing. This will help you keep track of how much you’re spending and also give you some wiggle room if unexpected expenses pop up.
Look For Expertise
It’s crucial to work with an agency that has the necessary expertise. An understanding of email marketing campaigns as well as experience in executing and evaluating these campaigns is vital. The better your correspondence with the agency, the better. They should be able to provide you with an accurate idea of how much time it will take to get the results you’re looking for and the cost associated with it. If they can’t give you a specific quote, then proceed with caution. Some agencies may try and up-sale you on the quantity of emails they can send for you, but that’s usually a sign that you’re being tricked. A good agency will have your best interests at heart and won’t try to up-sale you on anything.
Set Up Regular Status Updates
One of the things that can help you gauge the effectiveness of your email campaign is regular status updates. Just like with any other marketing campaign, you’ll want to evaluate how things are progressing and if there are any changes you need to make to continue on the right track. Setting up a schedule for these status updates will help you monitor the progress of your campaign and ensure that you stay on top of things. The better the agency, the more frequent these status reports will be. You should look for an agency that is willing to provide you with regular reports on the success of your campaign. They should also be able to give you an idea of how much you’ll need to spend to reach your goals.
Look For Supportive Management
The last thing you want to do is to run an email campaign and then have it sabotaged by a bad apple in the management team. Even if you intend on keeping the agency for the long term, you don’t want to take the chance that they’ll screw something up on the spot. Fortunately, this is highly unlikely. But you still have to be on the look out for it. The best way to avoid this is to work with a supportive management team that is willing to back you up and help you get the most out of your agency. If they can’t give you confidence that your campaign will be executed successfully, then you’re better off working with someone else.
Consider Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Another essential part of monitoring the effectiveness of your email campaign is keeping track of key performance indicators. The better your KPI’s, the better. Your KPIs should be able to give you an idea of how your campaign is doing and if you’re on the right track to reaching your goals. The better the agency, the more important these KPI’s will be. The key performance indicators should reflect the success of your email campaign. Some examples of KPIS that you might want to consider are open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates. These are all important factors that can give you an idea of how successful your campaign was. Keep in mind though that these KPIs can be very dependent on the platform that you use, so make sure that you test different email marketing platforms so that you can get an accurate picture of how well your campaign is performing on different platforms.
As A Customer, What Do You Want To See From Your Agency?
As a customer, it’s important to have an idea of what you want to see from your agency. This will help you determine if the agency is a good fit for your needs. Some things that you might want to see from your email marketing agency are:
- Experienced staff that is knowledgeable about the subject matter
- An interest in providing an excellent customer experience
- Accurate and regular reporting of key performance indicators
- Dedication to keeping your best interests at heart
- A solid plan for reaching your target audience
- The ability to execute the plan effectively
- An understanding of the digital marketing landscape
If your agency can live up to all of these expectations, then you’re well on your way to choosing the perfect partner for your email marketing campaign. And hopefully, by the time you’re done reading this article, you’ll have a good idea of who to call and how to get started.