Digital Marketing 101: What Every Small Business Owner Needs to Know Before Hiring an Agency

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Hiring a digital marketing agency is a good move—it can seriously help your business grow through a variety of digital marketing services. But here’s the thing: you’ve got to know what you’re getting into.

As a small business owner, you’ve got a lot riding on this, your time, money, and trust. And let’s be honest—there are plenty of agencies out there who’ll gladly take your money without delivering much in return. To guide you through digital marketing, read the article below!

Why Understand your Digital Marketing Needs

Most of the time, too many business owners jump in too fast, don’t ask the right questions, and end up frustrated (or broke). Well, let’s make sure that’s not you. So, before you sign on the dotted line, you need to understand the importance of knowing why to invest in specific and flexible marketing solutions that actually work.

Know the Basics of Digital Marketing

First things first—you need to know the basics of digital marketing and the agency’s mission or their story. In this way, you’re able to spot the fluff and make better decisions as early as now.

So, what falls under digital marketing? You’ll hear terms like:

• SEO – this is all about showing up on Google when people search for what you offer. Think of it as online visibility without paying per click.

• Paid Ads (PPC) – you pay to show up in front of people fast. Great for quick traffic and online advertising, but it can get expensive.

• Content Marketing – blog posts, videos, guides—these are stuff that builds trust over time and keeps people coming back.

• Email Marketing – newsletters, promos, and updates that land directly in your customer’s inbox.

• Social Media Marketing – using platforms like Facebook or Instagram to build relationships and stay top-of-mind.

If an agency can’t explain this stuff in plain English, well, that’s a big red flag. It’s best that you learn and ask the basics so you know they are the right experts to call.

Define Your Business Goals First

Before you even look at agencies, stop and ask yourself: what am I really trying to achieve? As much as possible, be more specific. To be honest, adding “Get more customers” in your goal is vague. It’s best that you put numbers such as “Increase online orders by 20% in 3 months.”

With these specifics, agencies use the right digital marketing services to your business and do their best work to meet your expectations. If you’re unclear, they’ll fill in the blanks—and maybe not in ways that actually help your business. That said, you need to tie your marketing goals to real business outcomes. That’s how you avoid wasting time (and cash).

Not All Agencies Are the Same

There’s no “one size fits all” when it comes to marketing agencies. Some are full-service—they handle everything from SEO to social media to web design. Others focus on a niche, solely for paid ads or just Instagram growth.

The best thing that you can do is to pick one that understands your world. Say, a team that helped a tech startup get investor leads might not know the first thing about bringing more people into your local coffee shop. Ask them: “Have you worked with businesses like mine?”

Then follow up with: “What kind of results did you get?”

Also, watch out for marketing speak. Jargon is easy. Proof is better. Ask for examples, real numbers, or stories from past clients in order for you to decide if their flexible marketing solutions are the right one for you.

Watch Out for Red Flags

If something sounds too good to be true, you know the rest. To guide you, here are a few red flags to keep an eye out for:

• “We’ll get you to #1 on Google in a week!”

• No reporting or updates on how things are going

• Long-term contracts with zero clarity on deliverables

Truth be told, marketing takes time. In fact, only 61% of marketers think their strategy is effective according to Hubspot’s Marketing Statistics for 2024. As a business owner, you deserve transparency every step of the way. And if you feel confused, rushed, or pressured into something—step back and simply trust your gut.

Ask the Right Questions Before You Hire

Before you say yes to any agency, get answers to their digital marketing services and strategies for your business. Also, take note of their way of measuring your digital marketing success, the right tools and platforms to use and who will manage your business account. In this way, you’re sure that they are one of the many good agencies that have a certain process.

And let’s be honest, agencies like these don’t wing and dodge your questions. The answers you get will tell you a lot—whether they’re prepared, honest, and ready to work with you or not.

Understand What Success Looks Like

Spoiler alert: success isn’t always instant sales. Sometimes it’s more traffic to your website or it’s people spending longer on your site. And maybe, success means more messages through your contact form. That’s the variety of digital marketing success.

The point is—success should be tied to what you care about. Not just vanity numbers like “likes” or “followers.” So, make sure the agency sends you reports you can actually understand. If you can’t measure their online advertising results, you can’t improve it. And that’s a problem!

Boost Your Business Online With TheOnlineBoost!

Hiring a digital marketing agency can be a game changer for your business—but only if you go in with your eyes open. The bottomline here is that you don’t have to become a marketing expert, you just need to be a smart decision-maker.

So if you’re thinking about bringing an agency on board, take a breath, revisit these points and make sure your next step is a confident one. For flexible, affordable and results-driven digital marketing services, contact us today!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Learn about digital marketing and the benefits of investing in online solutions to your business.

What do digital marketers do?

Digital marketers use online platforms to promote products, build brand awareness, and connect with customers. They create content, run ads, improve websites for search engines, and track results to see what’s working. Their main goal is to help businesses reach the right people online through flexible marketing solutions.

What Are the Benefits of Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing offers cost-effective, measurable results, unlimited targeting options, real-time customization, better customer interaction, improved brand credibility, and tools like SEO and paid search to reach people at any stage of their buying journey.