Top 6 Tips for Choosing a Performance Marketing Agency

If you’ve wasted time and money on ad campaigns that don’t get the job done, you might be ready for a new approach. Partnering with the right digital performance marketing agency can enhance your results, all while saving you a ton of hassle.

Performance-based agencies build their strategies around results, not just the latest marketing trends. They work with your branding and focus on your most promising targets. The end result? More leads, stronger sales, and a better ROI.

There’s just one caveat. You have to choose the right partner. To do that, you’ll need to keep your eyes on these six important details.

High Advertising ROI

The entire point of performance marketing is to pay for results, not efforts. 

A digital performance marketing agency should be confident in their ability to get results and they should have the analytics to show that they’ve been successful with other clients before. Ask them what you can expect in return for every advertising dollar that you spend.

Truly Qualified Leads

All too often, digital agencies promise to deliver qualified leads. Then, it turns out that their idea of a qualified lead is completely different from yours. But shouldn’t YOU decide which leads are most qualified?

Look for an agency that offers flexibility and control. This starts with the payout structure. You should be able to choose whether you want to use cost-per-click (CPC) or cost-per-lead methods (CPL). Prices should also be based on the channels that are used. After all, traffic that comes from some sources may be more “qualified” and ready to convert to a paid customer than traffic from other sources.

A Top-of-the-Line Support Infrastructure

When you hire a digital agency, you aren’t just making a financial investment. You’re trusting that agency and its staff with the one task that truly impacts your bottom line. In return, you should be able to expect:

• Responsive support 
• A dedicated point of contact for your account
• A knowledgeable compliance team that ensures that every strategy used meets legal and ethical standards
• Access to analytics so that you have a clear picture of the success of your campaigns

You’ll often pay more for performance-based marketing, so you should expect white-glove service from beginning to end.

Qualified Traffic from the Source

How connected is the agency to its source of traffic? Are they truly guaranteeing quality leads or just “better than average” leads? 

If your agency isn’t working directly with publishers, you may still be paying for the middleman.

Reputation and Customer Experience Are Given Priority

Your company has to live with the impacts of any approach an agency takes to bring traffic and leads to your site. If that approach involves shady tactics or fraudulent behavior, your reputation will be the one to suffer in the end. 

Is the agency willing to guarantee that the content they are producing on your behalf will reflect well on your brand? Are they introducing customers to your company in a way that ensures they’ll start their customer journey on a positive note?

Proof of Claims

Performance marketing agencies often make big promises, but do they back up their claims? When you look into a new digital performance partner, they should be eager to share examples, testimonials, and case studies to prove that they can deliver qualified leads to you. 

Taking the Next Step

Now that you know where to keep your focus, don’t get distracted during your search for a performance-based marketing partner. No matter what sales tactics an agency uses, keep the conversation focused on these six points. If you do that, you’ll always ask the right questions.

Still need help with a performance-based marketing partnership? At Insights ABM, we work with brands that are ready to take their advertising to the next level. Check out our recent success stories or reach out today to learn more about what we can do for you!