How To Hire A Qualified Digital Marketer

How To Hire A Qualified Digital Marketer 

Hiring a Digital Marketer or a Marketing professional can be a risque endeavor for a few different reasons.  One – it can be a big investment to hire someone to essentially build your brand and start generating a positive ROI by advertising your brand.  Two – you are trusting this Agency or individual with your message and brand; you want to make sure you are comfortable with how these are perceived and preserved in the marketplace.  This is why I created this brief guide to hiring a qualified marketer for your reference. 

Unfortunately, it is not as easy as just finding someone with the best credentials or who attended the most prestigious schools and received an MBA or PhD in the field.  There are some amazing Marketers who are crushing it in some industries and could benefit you, without even having attended college. There are also many “so called experts” that have no clue what they are doing. 

The biggest reason this is, or may be, a difficult process is because no one has ever created a guide to help you quickly sort out the fly-by-night marketers, or the over-hyped marketers that do not really understand how to increase your bottom line.  These marketers may be able to generate leads, or help you with some online/digital aspects of setting things up, but they are far from taking your brand to the next level nor exactly what you are looking for. 

Remember, when taking the time to hire a qualified Marketer you want to be sure you get the best!  Do not just go for the cheap one because you typically will get what you pay for. You don’t have to find the most expensive one as well, just the best that fits your goals, personality and knows what they are doing to produce results for your brand. 

In this short guide, I am going to explain the do’s and don’ts to hiring a Marketer, things to look for in a Digital Marketer, cost of hiring, how to decipher the good apples out there, and finally, important questions you should ask when hiring your Marketer to take care of you and your brand.

First, Let’s Cover The Do’s And Don’ts Of Hiring A Digital Marketer:

• Don’t hire someone that can’t walk the walk. Be sure they have past clients, success stories, certifications, take courses, and understand the lingo.
• Don’t hire someone that makes big claims and guarantees success.  There is no guarantee in business – just because I’m an amazing digital marketer doesn’t mean I can make every business I touch a success.  There’s a lot more behind why a business is a success or a failure than just their marketing and advertising strategies. 
• Do hire someone that is willing to keep you updated with weekly calls or share a system so you can see what they are doing. 
• Do hire a digital marketer who is tracking progress and keeping you up to date on what’s working and what’s not.  If they aren’t looking at the data turning, adjusting and optimizing campaigns then you will be spending money on someone who isn’t doing the job.  Be sure they are consistently finding the best solution to get you results. 
• Do hire someone that doesn’t have a problem expressing and doing what’s best for you.  It’s not your job to tell them what will get you the best results -It’s their job to do this for you.  Hire someone that you can trust and will do their job so you can focus on running the business and growing it. 
• Don’t hire a Digital Marketer who has taken just one course, just recently certified or has never really run a business themselves. 
• Don’t hire a Digital Marketer based on the hype they have online. This information can all be made up or untrue. Be careful with who you hire.
• Don’t hire anyone that claims to know everything about marketing.  This is a very complicated and vast subject and is constantly changing based on market shifts.
• Do hire someone that understands human behavior well,knows how to tell a story about your brand and is experienced in good copy. 
• Do hire a Digital Marketer who has experience selling what you want in your business. 
• Do hire someone you live and feel you can have a good working relationship with. 
• Do make sure you sign an agreement that protects both parties. 
• Don’t sign an agreement that has you locked in a contract, drains your bank account and, ultimately, not giving you any results. 

Things To Look For In A Qualified Digital Marketer

Check their credentials.  You want a marketer who is a constant learner.  A degree is great, though, superfluous to this field. You want someone who has taken some of the top courses in the industry, attends some of the top workshops, seminars and has produced some amazing results for other clients/brands in the industry. 

Ask if they have taken any of these courses by any of these individuals: 

• Facebook Courses:
• Nicholas Kusmich
• I-Stack
• Dan Henry
• Cat Howell
• Neil Patel
• Maxwell Finn
• Conversionxl
• Tim Burd
• Google Courses: (Google Adword Certified)
• Perry Marshall 
• Neil Patel
• Lynda, udemy, wordstream, ppc mastery adwords course
• Internet Marketing Courses: 
• Frank Kern
• Russell Brunson – Sales funnels
• Sam Ovens – Business Consulting
• Ryan Deiss 
• Dan Kennedy
• Jay Abraham
• Brendon Burchard
• Tai Lopez
• Corey Rudl 
• Copywriting Courses: 
• Dan Kennedy
• Conversion XL
• Paul Hollingshead
• Email Marketing: 
• Mike Shreeve
• Ryan Deiess
• Ezra Firestone
• Sean Voster
• Seath Godin

Here Are Some Additional Things To Look For In An Awesome Digital Marketer: 

• Check to make sure their google certifications are up to date and they are possibly a Google partner.  This just means they are hitting a threshold of spending within their google ads that they are associated with. 
• Certifications are great,though there are a ton of us who aren’t certified, knowledgeable about the industry and are far more advanced than any certifications out on the market.  Vast experience in this field beats having a degree!
• Check to see where they have received their experience in the industry and get to know their background.  Ask them about how they got started in this industry and how long ago. Are they passionate about the industry?  Do they love their craft? Are they constantly learning, going to new conferences and staying up on trends in the industry?  Do you feel they will fit your culture, engage with you, and let you know what’s going on? What’s working or not? Do you feel comfortable with them and their personality? 

For example, I personally started off with my own company in the fitness industry.  I discovered how you can rank your website #1 on Google through a technique called “SEO” and then took off from there.  I was building funnels, purchasing ads, building landing pages, email funnels and follow up systems before it was even a thing!  I was instantly hooked after I learned I can bring in massive amounts of customers all by utilizing the digital methods I learned.  I even got into self publishing books and selling them on Amazon, which still generate income today. I became instantly hooked on all the different ways I was generating income, all by working remotely from my computer.  Since I loved this aspect most about business, I eventually decided to sell my company. My motivation behind this was that I love helping people sell their products or services online, motivating them to generate more wealth and have the freedom to do more.

• Ask for testimonials or success stories of clients’ results.  See if they are willing to do a video share of current campaigns that they are working on.  I do this from time to time, though I’m also very sensitive of my clients’ information and business model.  I have clients generating millions of dollars with some of their sales funnels, and I take great pride in keeping their information private, so that others will not replicate them.
• Determine that the Marketer has a willingness to learn, listen and is open to new ideas in the marketing field.  Avoid anyone that promises or guarantees results or tells you this is the only way. The industry changes so fast that the approach can vary
• Check references, their online profiles, and what they have going on online. View their website and any other materials they might have to offer. 

How You Can Find And Hire A Good Digital Marketer:

There are some very easy ways to find a good Digital Marketer and these tips will help lead you down the path to finding qualified marketers.  Just because you have been referred or have found a so-called great digital marketer, don’t forget to interview them and ask the questions I have listed in this guide. 

The best ways to find a qualified Digital Marketer:

• By asking around through your friends, colleagues, family, and successful business owners in similar industries. 
• Checking around on the internet and social media, such as FaceBook Groups.
• Searching through business directories and organizations. 
• Asking other successful business owners. 

The Cost Range For Most Marketing or Digital Marketing Agencies:

The costs range from $40-$750 per hour for a freelancer or a monthly retainer from $500-$50,000 per month, depending on the services they offer.  They may offer a % of the Ad spend as well. Be sure to do your research to get someone who is qualified. You will typically get better results from agencies that are charging you a monthly retainer.  Anyone who is typically great won’t only be doing freelance gigs. 

What questions to ask when hiring a Digital Marketer?

• What are your credentials? 

o Do you have a degree? 

o What certifications do you have?

• What is your philosophy when it comes to digital marketing? 

o You want to be sure they can put together a proposal and cover what they can do for you. Are they able to discuss a solid strategy? 

Want a Proposal: Book One for $250 with Us Today! 

• What are some of your past success stories? 

o Do they have a video like this:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChLtHiIaSwU&feature=emb_title

o Can they show screenshots of clients success: 

• How long have you been a Digital Marketer?

• Do you White label your services?  This means they farm out your work.  A lot of companies do this. I have personally worked for some of the largest gurus/agencies in the industry doing their work for them.  Do they do it all themselves or have a team they work with? Find out specifically who you will be working with.  

• What services do you offer?
• Ads: (Which platforms) 
• Facebook, Google, Bing, Pinterest, SnapChat, Twitter, TikTok, etc. 
• Sales Funnels
• Lead Generation
• Ecommerce
• Business Analytics
• Pay Per Click
• Social Media Management
• Programatic Marketing
• Influnce Marketing
• Webinars
• Content Marketing
• Strategy
• Systems
• Customer Experince
• Coding & Development
• Mobile Marketing
• Affilate Marketing
• Sales
• Automation
• Website Design
• Email Marketing
• CopyWriting
• Social Media Marketing
• Videos
• SEO

• Is this your Full-time job?
• Do you have any references? 
• Do you think you can help me? How?

• What specific thing should I focus on my business to start turning a positive ROI. 

Things A Qualified Digital Marketer Should Offer:

• Professionalism.  Your marketer should have an attitude of professionalism at all times. They must be on time for calls, set up a project management flow, provide updates, express the strategy, implement strategy, let you know why they made adjustments or what needs to happen to get it to work.  You should feel that you are a priority when you’re with them and that your project is important to them. 

• Results.  A key role of the marketer you hire is that they turn a positive ROI and have a solid strategy to do this as fast as possible.  This is largely what you are paying them for. Face it. If your marketer can’t produce results and pay you back in profit by what they charge you, it’s not a good fit.  Yes, it’s always about profit, either if they create a better system, email follow up, sales funnel or run better ads. The metrics as a business you should measure does what they did help you generate a better return. Granted, you also have to be patient – don’t expect them to do this within a month or two.  Give them at least 3 or more months to do so. At the same time, you should see progress and improvements along the way. 

• Accountability.  It’s important you can count on them updating you and making sure you know what they are doing.  Creating weekly reports or, what I prefer, is a weekly call going over what was finished, what’s being worked on, and how things are headed.  Sometimes things don’t work and that’s fine, though it’s important that they fix this to hopefully see better results next week/month.  

• Availability.  You want someone who is putting in the work.  Be sure you find someone that keeps their commitments and you can count on for the weekly calls and updates.  Make sure you know they will be focused on your project. 

• Success. They should be focused on you and your business success. Sometimes you need to hear some hard truths about what will work and you need to listen. As the marketer, we can only do so much though if you trust us enough to pay us and hire us then listen to what we say. Be sure they have your best interest and are seasoned vets that can really help you grow. 

• Experience.  Experience is extremely valuable.  Remember you typically pay for what you get.  There are a ton of young and inexperienced people calling themselves digital marketers, with no real credentials.  Anyone can say they do this and then farm out the work to people in foreign countries or in the states. Make sure they are the ones doing the work and have the experience to make you successful. 

Things You Should Bring to Your 1st meeting:

• Specific goals.  Ask them to outline a basic strategy on what they believe will benefit you most within your business.  Allow them to put together a proposal. Don’t expect them to tell you everything, but they should be able to express a general plan based on your business model.  If you don’t have a clue about your business model, get this taken care of first. 

• Be willing to do the work.  Don’t hire a marketer if you are not going to listen to their guidance or let them do the job.  Listen carefully and follow their advice. Let them get in and do the work and don’t jump the gun. Give them at least a month or two to see progress.  Give them the freedom and ability to do their job, but don’t let them take advantage of you and not show any results. 

• Ask questions.  If you don’t understand something, ask about it. That’s why they’re there.  And above all, make sure you ask for what you want. Be clear in what you want.  Are you ok with no updates as long as you see great results or do you want weekly updates or daily updates?  Both of you should come to an agreement where you can work together. 

• Most importantly, be honest and patient with your results.  Don’t expect to become a millionaire tomorrow or have campaigns to instantly become successful.  If you are a startup, you need at least 3-6 months or more to grow your brand, get data and make adjustments to see what works best.  If you are a business generating returns already, expect a much shorter time to get better results with your campaigns. 

• Note: Lack of results when you both are working hard can mean two things– they don’t know what they are doing or you have a business that isn’t going to be successful.  If that’s the case, they should warn you ahead of time. They should come to you and let you know this. Use your discretion — and get a new marketer if the lack of progress continues even after you’ve shared your concerns with them.  Remember – they should be tracking progress (or lack thereof) and making adjustments to get you the best results. So, listen to their advice and keep with it. Though, if it’s still not working you might want to hire someone else! 

 Things to Avoid:

• Glitz and glamour.  Don’t hire someone simply because they (or their building) look good on paper or online.  Make sure they can back up their so-called results with knowledge and expertise.

• Having someone try and shove different services, email software, sales funnel software and spend too much time changing your systems. Find someone who can make what you have work, unless it truly needs a simple, more effective model. Be cautious to not invest thousands to build a funnel when you have no immediate system or strategy to bring in new business (unless of course you are a startup and you have nothing to get started).  Granted, I still say there are more effective ways to test your product/service first.

• Don’t just spend money on advertising to build a brand or get likes.  The goal should always be “yes we want to build this while we generate sales.”

Remember, hiring a Marketer is important so don’t just let anyone convince you they can do the work.  Most will not deliver and you will have no way to track if they do. A good one will set up tracking, or at least try to, so you have metrics knowing if you are moving closer to the goal of the business.  Continue to interview people until you feel confident you’ve found a Marketer who will be able to help you meet your goals.

Ask for references and check with the marketers current clients to determine whether they are happy.  Ask the marketer as many questions as it takes to help you gauge how compatible you are with them. This relationship is important and you should have a good rapport.  Be clear about your expectations in this relationship, and for maximal success, cultivate the best partner possible.