If your business is not performing online and you don’t have the capacity to hire an in-house marketing team, you might consider outsourcing to a digital marketing agency. The job of a digital marketing agency is to get you found online through multistream avenues like SEO, PPC, CRO, social media ads, branding, and listings. 

However, not every digital marketing agency does the same thing, and not every agency works in the same way. So, realistically, what should you expect when you reach out to one? Let’s take a look:

What services do digital marketing agencies offer?

Digital marketing covers a wide range of services that work in tandem to create an umbrella strategy. You don’t have to invest in every service, but the benefit of choosing to outsource your marketing efforts is that you can discover what works for you without overexerting your hiring budget. 

Most digital marketing agencies will offer a combination of the following:

SEO

Search engine optimisation is the process of improving your website’s online visibility in search engines. 

SEO techniques are split into three main categories, all of which work simultaneously to boost the crawlability of your website. Each of these can be managed by an experienced digital marketing agency: 

These are: 



1. On-site SEO: Optimising the elements that appear on the front end of your website, so both visitors and search engines understand what each page is about. This includes title tags, meta descriptions, URLs, headings, internal links, image alt tags, website content and blogging.
2. Off-site SEO: The factors outside your website that affect how trustworthy and authoritative search engines consider your business to be. This includes backlinks from reputable websites, your Google Business Profile, online reviews and local business listings.
3. Technical SEO: The behind the scenes elements that make it easier for search engines to crawl and index your site. This includes website speed, mobile friendliness, metadata, sitemaps and business schema markup.

When you approach a digital marketing agency for SEO, they will first conduct an audit of your website to determine where improvements can be made. Over a number of months, updates will be made within your budget. The strategy will be regularly assessed to identify areas of improvement. You will be given a report at regular intervals (this could be monthly or quarterly) to update you on the work that has been done and the results this has generated for your business, as well as the next steps. 

PPC

Pay per click (PPC) advertising places your business at the top of search results and across partner websites, and you only pay when someone clicks your ad. Platforms such as Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising let you target people by the keywords they search, their location, the device they use and even the time of day.

PPC can start driving traffic almost immediately. This makes it ideal for promoting a seasonal offer or generating awareness while your organic rankings grow. An agency will: 



• Research keywords
• Write ad copy
• Set budgets and bids
• Continuously refine your campaigns
• Keep you updated with full breakdowns of your results 

To see how this works step by step, read about our PPC process.

Social Ads

Social media advertising puts your business in front of people on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok. 

A digital marketing agency can help you choose the right platforms for your audience, create scroll stopping ad creative, and use retargeting to bring back people who have already visited your website. Because every click and conversion is tracked, it's easy to see which ads are paying their way.

Website Design

Many digital marketing agencies offer full website redesign as a service. This is because your website is the online equivalent of your shop’s interior. 

Imagine walking down your local high street and seeing a really appealing shop front. It has all the signs of an excellent company: reviews plastered on the window, decals with the promise of industry leading service, a member of staff standing outside welcoming you in, and products on mannequins that look high quality. Then you walk into the shop and there’s dust on the fixtures. The lights aren’t working. The floor is gathering dust bunnies. And, to top it off, when you ask the staff for help, they point you at the wrong item. Would you still trust them? 

This response is exactly the same online. A company could appear at the top of Google’s search results promising exceptional service, but if the website looks outdated, studies have shown that users will instantly trust the brand less. 

This is why many digital marketing agencies will suggest refreshing your design as part of your overall marketing strategy.

Other digital marketing services

Depending on your business and objectives, an agency may also provide services such as:

• Conversion rate optimisation (CRO)
• Content marketing
• Email marketing
• Online business listings
• Local SEO
• Branding
• Website development
• Analytics and reporting

What can a marketing agency not do for you?

Oftentimes, this depends entirely on the agency you approach. Certain digital marketing agencies specialise in helping SMEs boost their online presence, and others offer highly bespoke systems development. 

The best way to find out whether an agency is the right fit for you is to have an honest conversation about your goals and expectations. You can then decide if you are the right fit for each other. You may find that sometimes the agency themself will feel that your needs may be better fulfilled elsewhere. 

Crucially, digital marketing agencies cannot transform your online presence instantly. Getting found online takes time and refinement, and it is important to understand that every company will require different strategies and methods of testing.

A digital marketing agency cannot: 

Guarantee first place rankings on Google: No agency controls Google's algorithm. Be wary of anyone who promises a guaranteed number one spot. A reputable agency will instead commit to proven best practice, transparent reporting and steady, measurable progress.

Deliver overnight results: Some channels, such as PPC, can generate traffic quickly but SEO and content marketing take time to build momentum. Lasting growth is usually the result of consistent effort over months.

Know your business better than you do: You are the expert in your products, customers and industry. The best results come when you share that knowledge openly and remain prompt in your feedback. 

Work without a budget: An agency can help you spend wisely, but it can't generate results from nothing.

The benefits of working with a marketing agency

If you are still on the fence about whether to work with a digital marketing agency, we can provide you with:

A full team of specialists: Building an in-house team with expertise in SEO, PPC, social media, design and analytics is expensive. An agency gives you all of those skills for a fraction of the cost of hiring each role individually.

Lower costs: There are no salaries, recruitment fees, training costs or holiday cover to worry about. You pay for the services you need, and you can scale up or down as your business changes.

Industry insight: Agencies work with businesses across many sectors. That breadth of experience means they can spot opportunities and pitfalls you may not see from the inside.

The latest tools and technology: Professional SEO, keyword research, analytics and ad management tools can be costly to license. Agencies already invest in them, so you benefit without the extra subscriptions.

Keeping up with constant change: Search engine algorithms and advertising platforms change all the time. Staying on top of them is part of an agency's day job, so your strategy continues to bring you returns.

More time to run your business: Handing your marketing to a trusted partner frees you and your team to focus on growing internally.

Clear, measurable results: A good agency tracks performance and reports back regularly, so you can see exactly what your investment is delivering.

When is the right time to hire a digital marketing agency?

There is no right or wrong time to hire a digital marketing agency. However, the best time to hire a digital marketing agency is sooner rather than later. 

You might also consider hiring a digital marketing agency if:



• Your website isn’t generating sales 
• Your competitors are outranking you 
• You don’t have the time or resource to hire in-house
• You’re spending money without seeing results
• You are ready to see real growth 

What to expect from a marketing agency

Every agency works slightly differently, but a good partnership usually follows a similar process:

1. Discovery and briefing: The agency will want to understand your goals and expectations. At this stage, a budget will be discussed, and you should expect to be asked plenty of questions and have the freedom to ask questions in return. You should be given a time frame on when to expect a follow up response, and a point of contact who you can reach out to with any queries or concerns in the meantime. 

2. Audit: Following briefing, a digital marketing agency will review your current website, rankings, online presence, and conduct a market analysis to identify areas for improvement, where SEO or website design is involved, or a proposal will be built if PPC is chosen. 

3. Strategy: You will receive a quote and proposal based on your requirements and the data extracted in our audit. 

4. Implementation: Once you are happy with the proposal, the agency puts the plan into action. 

5. Reporting and refinement: Regular reports show how your campaigns are performing. The agency then uses that data to adjust and improve. Throughout, you should expect transparent communication, a named point of contact, honest advice and reporting that is easy to understand. If an agency can't explain what it's doing and why, you should consider this a red flag.

Digital marketing with 28 years in our pocket

At Infoserve, we've spent nearly 3 decades helping businesses of all sizes grow online. If you’re ready to boost your online presence, our web design experts are on hand to help you create and build a unique, functional and responsive website, and our PPC, SEO, and Listings teams help your website get found.

We start by understanding your business and what success looks like for you. From there, we build a strategy around your goals and budget, then keep you informed every step of the way with clear, honest reporting.

Our work speaks for itself.