Your prospects often begin their search to find you or your competition long before they come in contact with your website, mobile app, Facebook page, LinkedIn post, or paid ad campaign. Their journey to find a solution to their problem could have started through a conversation at a company meeting, a get-together with friends after work at a local watering hole, or when reading an email on an iPhone or Android device. Consumers are increasingly looking for relevant information to help them make decisions about what to do or buy, in micro-moments. Nearly 70% of consumers agree that the quality, timing, or relevance of a company’s message influences their perception of a brand (Source: Google/Ipsos). According to Forrester, 74% of business buyers conduct more than half of their research online before making an offline purchase. This is why it is essential for you to develop a content approach (anchored by your website design) to accomplish these 4 things:
- Educate your prospects about how your offering will solve their problems
- Demonstrate how you are different by articulating your why
- Use validation techniques to reduce the perceived risk of using your solution (e.g., case studies, testimonials, press)
- Provide a frictionless way to buy the solution, whether direct through your website, or through engaging with your sales team
At Walk West, we work with clients who are looking to find new ways to achieve business growth. The key in helping our clients with this goal is to map their business objectives to the appropriate digital marketing programs and solutions. As we engage with our clients, here is what we recommend they think about before embarking on a project with a new digital marketing partner:
7 Decision Factors
- Discovery: How well do they understand my business objectives and my unique market opportunity? Do their marketing recommendations take this into account?
- Creative: How attractive and effective is creative for website design and solutions, video production, social media campaigns, etc. for similar clients?
- Experience: When was the company founded? Have they done work with clients who are well-known and that are similar to me?
- Content Development: Can they create content that is suitable for use across platforms and media channels? Can they stand in as, or collaborate with, my in-house content team?
- Cost: How much would a project meeting our requirements cost? Are there hidden costs that have not been disclosed?
- Maintenance: Would it be simple/cost effective to maintain the solutions recommended for my team?
- Technical performance: Are their website solutions mobile friendly? Can they scale to meet traffic and speed required for my audience?
We’ve included a digital marketing partner scorecard to take as your own as you make decisions about who your digital marketing partner should be. 
