The Benefits of Partnering With a Local Digital Marketing Agency

Over the past 25 years, the internet has brought us into an incredibly interconnected world the likes of which have never been seen. Because of this global platform that we all reside in, especially those of us in digital fields, it can be easy to forget that geographical location is still a contributing factor when planning out your business strategy.

For those of you that are planning to connect with a digital agency, there are a wide variety of benefits that come from working with someone local. To learn what those benefits may mean for your business, read on.

A Local Agency Understands Your Area

When planning any business strategy, eventually you will have to work out exactly who your ideal target market is. For some companies, such as Amazon or Netflix, the idea of a specific audience isn’t quite as pressing, but for most companies and small businesses, there will be a certain geographical demographic that they are looking to appeal to. After all, if your business is a small chain of cafes with locations across Australia’s CBD, trying to push your message toward a global audience isn’t going to offer much in the way of returns. Therefore, it’s important to focus your marketing efforts toward the area you’re operating in, and it’s vital that the team spearheading those marketing efforts has a strong understanding of that targeted location.

A local digital marketing agency in Melbourne, such as Digital Next, will offer a far more intimate understanding of your chosen market than a more remote alternative. They can also provide more targeted strategies and will be much more adaptive to local changes and opportunities that may arise. Plus, each country and region is going to have its own trends and nuances, which can be difficult to stay on top of if you aren’t directly faced with them on a regular basis. A local agency, on the other hand, will have a much easier time staying up-to-date with trends, and in turn, keeping your business at the forefront of these subtle shifts.

Face-to-Face Meetings

While phone calls and email chains are all well and good, communication is much simpler when you have the option of doing it in person. Unfortunately, for those that decide to work with agencies that are either out-of-state or in a different country entirely, these meetings aren’t always feasible, meaning that issues have to be handled and discussed remotely.

By working with a local digital marketing agency, you can schedule regular meetings to discuss your campaign and provide feedback on how you feel your business’ marketing is being handled. This ensures a more transparent digital marketing experience, whilst also allowing you to feel more involved in the choices that are being made regarding your business’ online presence. In an age of video conferencing and real-time online collaboration, it’s no coincidence that face-to-face meetings have stood the test of time.

More Localised Campaigns

As we discussed earlier, a local agency will have a more thorough understanding of your target area. Whilst this is a fantastic boon on its own, it also means that they will be able to make more informed decisions when targeting local campaigns. For example, if you were attempting to create a campaign exclusively targeting the American Midwest, an agency based out of the UK would have a much harder time pinpointing other surrounding areas that would provide value. Digital marketing is a subtle art, and it pays to have as much innate knowledge of a targeted area as possible when forming your strategies.

You Can Get to Know Your Account Managers

It can be difficult to trust someone that you’ve never met, especially when you’re paying them a monthly retainer and entrusting them with the future of your business. Working with a digital marketing agency is a collaboration as much as it is a service, and being able to see the people you’re working with as trustworthy and credible will offer you some much-needed peace of mind.

Knowing your account managers and being able to meet with your agency will also make sure that your agency is accountable if things start to take a turn for the worse. You never have to worry about your presence taking a hit and not being able to contact your agency about it. No matter how much involvement you’d prefer to have in the progress of your campaign, working with local digital specialists will give you many more chances to be hands-on.

Don’t Deal With Time Zone Trouble

Anyone who has ever tried to maintain a long-distance friendship across countries knows the frustration of trying to schedule times to talk. Different countries often don’t have 9-5 hours that sync up with each other, so if you’re working with a digital marketing agency internationally, you either have to:

• Keep up communications after hours, meaning that you never really get to “switch off” once the clock hits 5pm.

Or,

• Play phone tag with your agency, constantly trying to pass information back and forth and not knowing when you’re going to get a response.

As you can see, neither of these options is ideal. Imagine finding out your website is down, only to be forced to wait 9 hours before you can get answers. This type of delay can cost you time, money, and patience, which is why a local digital marketing agency is a fantastic option. Local agencies work generally work the same times you do, and can, therefore, be contacted during office hours to hash out issues and find solutions quickly. No more hassle, no more delays, just the services you’re paying for exactly when you need them.

There are a lot of advantages to partnering with a local digital marketing agency, and it’s definitely something to consider for businesses that are tired of dealing with delays and a lack of local knowledge. So, have a look online, and you’ll be sure to find dozens of highly-rated local agencies to choose from. Good luck!