Under this mysterious name are hidden services that will help develop and improve your business. A digital agency builds unique brand images and — most importantly — makes them appear in the minds of the audience. He is responsible for advertising campaigns on the network, and sometimes even outside it. He advises and advises.He is up to date with the latest solutions and knows how to implement them in your company.
But what exactly is an digital agency? When do you need it and how do you choose the best among many different companies? What to avoid? This is what you will learn from today's article.
Digital agency - specialists in creating individuality in the network
Although the Internet has been with us since the 90s, having a company's own website is still equated with being modern and professional. Especially one with a “wow” effect. To build it, you need a lot of experience and knowledge about trends - and this is the task of a creative agency.
The digital agency will design the site for you, will also take care of the redevelopment of the existing website. He will design and program an online store, blog and even a mobile application. It will select the graphic layout, specific technological solutions, content and even the navigation model. Finally, it will implement a brand promotion strategy, thanks to which you will gain notoriety as a company and begin to attract customers.
In short, the services offered by the digital agency are designed to create a distinctive and consistent image with the brand identity and promote the business in the online world.
Interactive - the ability to interact with each other, by communicating parties
It all starts with a long conversation with the client, during which expectations and needs and possible solutions are presented. The digital agency then prepares a preliminary sketch of the project - based on data from the client - which is modified until the desired end result is achieved.
Services provided by a digital agency
Own website, blog, mobile application and much, much more - these are the services that an digital agency provides. For this, agencies develop operational strategies, build the visibility of companies on the network and advertise them.
Digital agency services may include:
- Creation of websites and online stores;
- Design of mobile applications;
- Conducting website audits;
- Building a brand image on the network;
- Maintaining a profile on social media;
- Logo design and full visual identification of brands;
- Running a corporate blog;
- Launch and oversee marketing campaigns, such as Google Ads;
- Website positioning.
A digital agency usually focuses on activities related to the online environment. In our agency we have moved away from this scheme and we offer our customers in addition:
- Creation of offline campaigns;
- Preparation of printed and advertising materials;
- Create visualizations and 3D animation.
How to choose a good digital agency?
When you enter the keyword “digital agency” in Google, we get as many as 21 million results. From such a group of different companies, how to choose the most suitable one?
Here is a list of factors to look out for when choosing an agency.
Digital agency website
By definition, a digital agency operates in the Internet space. So she must be present there. And it's not just like that. It is not only the position of the website in the search engine for specific phrases, including local and general phrases, but also its visual and UX aspect that is important.
The website of a digital agency should be intuitive, clear and consistent with the brand image created in other marketing channels. She should invite you to communicate with her, read a blog or send a request for an offer.
If at this stage you are broadcasting on the same waves, it is a good sign. It means that the digital agency knows its customers and their tastes, so it will do a great job of matching your website and marketing strategy to your target audience.
Agency Portfolio
Mandatory point. If you are interested in a new layout of your website or a refresh of an old one, you probably already have some concepts in mind. Check if the digital agency satisfies your ideas about the future image of your brand. Review previous implementations and pay attention to the type of navigation, colors or technological solutions.
At the same time, remember that this QUALITY, not the number of projects shown matters. When analyzing the portfolio, also pay attention to the industries in which the digital agency revolves. This may be a sign of what they specialize in best, but it doesn't necessarily mean that you can't work with them.
Sometimes a short inquiry or conversation about a new project is enough to dispel doubts and see if a given digital agency will actually help you grow your business.
In Hilvec Agency You will talk to us free of charge about your needs, we will suggest solutions, and you will choose whether what we propose is for you.
Feedback from other customers
Nothing goes unnoticed on the internet. You can read customer reviews about previous implementations on the website of the digital agency, as well as on social media (facebook, linked-in) and in the google search engine.
It is worth getting acquainted with both positive and negative opinions in order to form your own opinion and decide whether a given digital agency will actually work in practice.
Communication with customers and punctuality
Although we won't check it out until we have a firsthand feel for ourselves what cooperation looks like, we can gently explore the topic by reading customer comments.
What to look out for? A good digital agency will fulfill its duties in a timely manner. Employees will be happy to dispel all your doubts and explain the actions they carry out so that you understand what you are paying for and what you are gaining. It is important that at every stage of the work the digital agency informs you about the progress — this can be done, for example, in the form of an e-mail.
Social media profiles can become a marker for you to understand how a creative agency communicates. See in what tone the posts are constructed and how the community around the brand behaves.
The scope of services of a digital agency
There are agencies with different range of services and different price ranges. Before you choose your favorite, check if it offers exactly what you need. You may come across interactive agencies that offer a lot, but you will only benefit from their help in a small amount, and you will incur higher costs. Examine your goals and needs carefully to avoid confusion and loss of money that you could use for a completely different business purpose.
Price
The last factor should be the price. Often the reason for choosing a particular digital agency is a limited budget, however, this approach can be unsuccessful. After all, the agency builds your corporate image on the network, which will work for you for many years to come.
In addition, it all depends on the size and specifics of the design. There are many factors that influence the valuation of a website or application. Before you make a choice in terms of price, consider whether the agency in question actually meets all your needs.
It is worth paying a little higher price to get more and in better quality.
Differences between interactive, advertising and SEO agency
The concepts of interactive and advertising agency are often confused and misunderstood. At the very beginning, the digital agency was supposed to conduct its activities only in the Internet space. It's different today. Most interactive agencies focus on building brand images online, including social media, positioning and paid campaigns, but some offer much broader services, including the preparation of print materials or offline campaigns.
However, it can be said that a classic digital agency carries out activities on the network, and an advertising agency helps brands in promotion on standard channels, that is, radio, television, print press, as well as with the help of leaflets, billboards and organizing conferences.
In contrast, an SEO agency only implements solutions that focus on website positioning, both in the form of organic and paid results. These services may also be the responsibility of a digital agency, but their main task is to create websites and implement various marketing campaigns on the network.
Advantages of working with a digital agency
A good digital agency will save your time and money. The specialists working there are well versed in their profession, so they know how to avoid mistakes and how current trends in marketing are formed. In addition, thanks to cooperation with the agency, you do not have to look for people who will be responsible for the regular conduct of network marketing activities in your company. And as you probably guessed, finding a professional team is not one of the simplest tasks and costs quite a lot.
You will focus on developing your own business. The digital agency will take care of building the brand image, and you will start improving your services and products or introducing new, innovative solutions.
You can also count on expert advice in any field of internet marketing. The digital agency has an experienced team that will honestly assess your situation in the market and help implement what should be implemented.
Professionals working in a digital agency
In small interactive agencies, you will usually meet a team of experts from different fields. Such a team may include, among others. web designers, who care about the attractive appearance and functionality of sites, and front-end developers, engaged in the implementation of projects in code or no-code developers implementing websites on no-code platforms.
Our offer: We create websites on Webflow platform
Copywriters are responsible for creating content for websites and Product Descriptions, while Internet marketing specialists focus on online strategies such as page positioning (SEO), advertising campaigns or data analysis. Computer graphic designers create graphic elements, and social media specialists manage customer profiles on social media and run advertising campaigns.
Digital agency and starting cooperation - The most common mistakes
Starting a collaboration usually means a lot of conversations, questions, arrangements, meetings and documents. The amount of formalities to discuss and sign obviously varies depending on the size and sophistication of the project. However, there are stereotypes and mistakes that at the very beginning can reduce the quality of the client's cooperation with the agency and expose the parties to unnecessary risks. The following mistakes are as easy to make as they are to be avoided. Just keep a few things in mind to save yourself unnecessary worries!
Lack of knowledge of the client's needs and questions from the agency
Creating websites and other interactive products requires more than just technical skills and a professional team. Even the most technically sophisticated product can prove ineffective when it does not respond to the real needs of the audience. The digital agency must therefore take into account at least two groups of needs and ask questions to which it will receive answers.
The first group of needs are the expectations of the customer, that is, the company that wants to realize a given project of a website or other product. Usually, already at the stage of conversations, those responsible for the implementation of the project in the company have specific requirements, the scope of functionality and the most necessary elements of the future product. All of them must be included in the presentation of the final results, since their use is usually justified and consistent with the strategy pursued by the company.
The second group of needs is the factor on which the real effectiveness of the final product depends. If the digital agency understands them and responds with the appropriate software, the chances of success increase at least several times. The needs will be read from the persons of potential users constructed by the company at an earlier stage. If, on the other hand, it has not constructed them, it will be necessary in cooperation with the interactive agency during an in-depth interview or consumer research.
Lack of focus on potential business value
When building a website or other type of product with a digital agency in Poland, companies may mistakenly focus not on those values that will really contribute to their growth in a given market. One of the biggest mistakes is the lack of business justification for the use of a given functionality or element. The modern consumer is extremely demanding, which forces software houses from all over Poland to justify the solutions used with knowledge, business experience, previous successes and research.
It happens that projects are carried out without considering the business value they can bring to the company. However, the fact that a given idea has been liked by several people in the organization does not mean that in the long term we will achieve the objectives set. It is worth planning the project in such a way that, first of all, you have in mind the added value to the life of the consumer, and on the other hand to the company's budget. Otherwise, we increase the risk of making an aesthetic, useful and compliant product, but completely rejected by the market.
Communication problems and lack of response from one of the parties
The creation of a website, online shop, web application or other product usually involves the need to exchange information on the degree of project implementation. Acceptance and feedback of the work done so far, acceptance of the agency's ideas, analysis of the degree of achievement of objectives and consultation on the necessary materials are just a few of the activities that are necessary during the cooperation. The delay in their execution and the delay with the next answers may unfortunately result in the delay of the project and the receipt of the final version after the deadline.
How to overcome this challenge? How to avoid prolongation of work? It is enough at the beginning of cooperation, when signing the contract, to talk about the dates on which materials, acceptances and other information necessary for the correct execution of the product will be sent. Thanks to this, not only does the client feel motivated to respond efficiently, but he has the feeling that the agency will easily make a report on the work done to him as soon as he asks for it.
Changes in the basic concept of the project
Have you ever had a situation where a given project was commissioned to an agency immediately after developing the basic idea? Was the work started before the basic examination, the review of the documentation by the supervisors and other formalities?
Haste is usually a very bad advisor, and this is evidenced by projects that, due to the huge amount of changes in the basic concept at the stage of implementation, at some point it is easier to do anew! Agile methodology allows us, as an agency, to carry out projects in a way that allows them to be modified at any stage. However, it is worth noting that with changes in the basic concept, sometimes the development strategy and the place of concentration of most works should also change. It is recommended that the company discuss the whole thing with a digital agency in case of problems defining the concept of the project on which we will base all the refinements.
Consultations and joint workshops will certainly help to combine the contractor's experience, user knowledge and assumptions with the characteristics of the client's industry and communication regarding needs. It will be better to spend more time refining the initial arrangements than to make endless budget and deadline changes in the next stages.
Focusing only on the local market
Which agency to choose to create a website? Is location a competitive advantage that should influence our decision? Do we need personal contact with the agency?
The answers, contrary to appearances, are very simple! A mistake that many companies make, especially from smaller towns, is to look for a digital agency only in the nearest neighborhood. The choice then may simply fall on the company that is closest, and all this without deeper analysis and conversations. Of course, it is not excluded that such a company will go to a competent agency, but it takes a very high risk in this way.
Regardless of whether you choose a digital agency from the Tri-City, the capital or the southern part of the country as a client, you can conduct most of the meetings, arrangements and reports remotely. Even if the client does not have experience in this type of cooperation, he can count on a contractor. Our software house has proven schemes and processes for remote collaboration, so communication is as good as in face-to-face meetings. Tools, applications and technology allow you to save time, which can be spent on effective work on websites.
Lack of clarity in settlements with the contractor
Why do I get more invoices? What actions did the agency perform? How often do I need to make payments?
If, as a client or manager responsible for running a specific project, you have ever asked yourself similar questions, it is worth refining the communication with the contractor! The methods of settlements with a digital agency for large and small projects are different. Choosing one may seem difficult at first and is a subject of many negotiations, but once we have determined it, we will know exactly when and for what the invoice will be issued.
Billing methods are usually divided into monthly subscription, time & materials or fixed price. The first method assumes that with constant maintenance of the service, the client pays a certain amount cyclically every month or a longer, fixed period. The second method is payment for the completed stages of the project. When choosing this type of settlement in the contract should be the deadlines for the delivery of a specific added value for the client and the price that he must pay for the stage. If you decide on a fixed price, the customer pays for the project in advance. Then it is up to the agency to refine the product in the smallest detail, within the initial calculations.
By preventing these mistakes, the chance to deliver a project of the highest possible quality increases several times. We hope that now the process of concluding cooperation will go smoothly and without major challenges. If necessary, willingly We will talk to you about the next project!
Completion
In conclusion, an interactive agency is more than just a team of technology and design specialists. It is a partner that helps companies achieve their goals, builds their brand and increases their online reach. With a well-thought-out strategy, refined creative and technology, an interactive agency is able to bring value that standalone efforts often cannot.
If you are considering working with a professional digital agency, consider the opportunities Hilvec® can bring. We're ready to help you realise your visions, creating solutions that will not only attract attention, but also contribute to the growth of your business.
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