10 Things To Check Before Buying A “Digital Marketing” Gig

You would find countless tips on getting jobs as a digital marketer but hardly any words about hiring the perfect digital marketers online. Finding the right Gig or service for your next digital marketing campaign could be as tedious task. I faced a lot of difficulties while searching for best sellers for my company. So, I decided to figure out this problem by disclosing the secret strategies of evaluating a Digital marketing Gig. Below are the findings of my study on how to buy the right digital marketing Gig or service for your next marketing job.

10 things to check when purchasing a digital marketing Gig

1.    Check for Packages (And compare them)

Sit down calmly. Take some time to read the descriptions and compare relevant packages of the digital marketing Gigs before you start the hiring process. Identify different features under each package and the pricing. Compare them side by side and across multiple freelancers. Select the best match for you. Contact the freelancers immediately if you are not clear about the details. That will save you time and help you find the perfect gigi for your digital marketing project.

2.    Have clear filtration criteria (And Shortlist Candidates)

Make sure you identify certain set of filtration criteria specific to digital marketing. Some example criteria are:

• Number of different digital marketing platforms covered (Eg:- Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinrest, Google Ads)
• If marketing creative included in the package
• Is it graphics only or videos also included?
• How many creatives are included in the package
• Is A/B testing included?
• Is it only display advertisements or PPC or both?
• Is freelancer willing to alter the campaign by monitoring the results?
• What are the performance monitoring methods available?
• Is pay-as-you-go model available?

You can easily filter out several Marketing Gigs by benchmarking on these criteria. Then you can have a shortlist of gig candidates. Evaluate each of them separately by Communicating. Discuss the details of your work requirements. Observe their work deliveries to make sure that they would be able to meet the marketing targets. Make everything 100% clear before hiring anyone.

3.    Ask for the steps they will follow (And understand freelancers marketing funnel)

Once you have shortlisted few Gigs, ask for the detailed steps they will follow in their digital marketing campaign. Once you have the steps they provide compare them against the several critical steps of any digital marketing campaign such as:

• Will there be multiple creatives used for the campaign?
• Are their any A/B testing?
• Identification of the primary time-zone for the campaign
• Identification of the target market(s) and what criteria are used to separate multiple ad sets (eg:- Age, Gender, Location, Interests)
• What are the primary conversion points of this campaign?
• What conversion tracking methods to use?
• Identification the performance measurement criteria (Number or clicks, CTR, Bounce rate, average session duration, average pages per session, number of repeat visits)
• Identify the monitoring tools to use (Eg:- Google analytics, Google search console)

By comparing freelancers responses against the several critical checklists above you can judge how well the freelancer is prepared. This helps in further filtering your perfect digital marketing guy!

4.    Ask “What if Questions” (And check if your marketer is well prepared for all possible contingencies) 

“What if questions” are a way to identify the depth of knowledge a digital marketer possess in his field or work. Once you have an initial short list of marketers fire them with a list of “What if questions” and check how well then handle them. Below are few digital marketing related “What if questions” you can ask:

• What if I run out of marketing budget before I reach my goals?
• What if the campaign does not prove effective?
• What if there are unexpected changes to our target market in the middle of the campaign?
• What if the results start taking longer than we expect?
• What if we have missed to take a critical variable into account before launching the campaign?

The depth and the confidence levels each shortlisted digital marketer demonstrates when answering each of above questions will give you strong signals on whom to hire and whom to archive.

5.    Check the Portfolios (And check the success of previous marketing campaigns)

The portfolio is a powerful way to display ones capabilities especially in digital marketing. Check the marketer’s portfolio of what he/she has done previously. Examine the work most relevant to your marketing task. Some of the things specific to digital marketing you should check are:

• Industries of previous marketing campaigns under taken
• Success rate of campaign carried out on similar industries as yours
• Durations of each campaign (Longer it is, more trust clients have had on the marketer)
• Dollar spending on each campaign (Higher the amount spent more positive impact the campaigns would have had on the bottom lines of the clients)
• Number of repeat clients

By checking portfolios you can sort out various skills as per what you need. Just identify the right Gigs.  

6.    Refer Reviews and Testimonials (Also ensure authenticity of them)

One of the most authentic ways is to go through the customer reviews and testimonials. That would verify that they have maintained the quality in their advertising tasks. Take the time, read reviews, and make sure that they have put in an effort to write complete and informative descriptions of the gigs. Combine portfolio reviews, ratings, and testimonials and you will be able to effectively filter out them. Also ensure the reviews and testimonials of previous digital marketing tasks are genuine and not made up. Below are few methods you can use in that regard:

• Study the product or the service covered in the review or testimonial and check if the product/service is in fact performing well in the market.
• If contact details of previous clients or companies are available reach them directly and inquire about the freelancer of the marketing Gig
• Are all reviews consistent? Are there any bad reviews?
• When was the 1^st positive review received? You can get an idea of the freelancers marketing career history

By this method you will feel that you are going to hire a well-reputed, skilled marketer.

7.    Ask For Samples (And social media feeds)

Work Samples are something through which you can check a marketers past work to a greater extent. You can also judge the quality level and style throughout the past deliveries. Most professional digital marketers maintain online profiles where they exhibit their career profile as a digital marketer. Below are few references you can inquire about:

• Do they have an instagram feed?
• Do they have a facebook page?
• Is a LinkedIn page available?
• Do they have their own blog?

I know, here, what is in your mind? What to do if the markere does not have samples. Well, do not hesitate, go ahead, and ask for the samples. 

8.    Be specific to your niche (This helps filtering)

Identify your exact digital marketing need. Then search for marketing Gigs specializing in it. Searching for niche expertise is a reliable source to grab a seller you need. Do not waste your time by exploring all the gigs. Few questions to ask yourself to help you identify your digital marketing niche are:

• Is this your first marketing campaign?
• Have you had past failed marketing campaigns on the same product/service?
• Will your campaign be highly industry specific?
• Are you targeting a specific geography or is it worldwide?
• Are there any local language biases in your marketing message?
• Are you looking for a long-term commitment of a short-term campaign?
• Have you had any previous bad experiences hiring digital marketers? If so what went wrong?
• How much are you willing to spend? Small budget/Medium budget /Large budget

Just shrink your choices. Search out some specialists in the market and start working together. 

9.    Have a pre-prepared  Questionnaire

Evaluating candidates or Gigs through a questionnaire is a powerful way. Since you will be presenting the same questionnaire to all marketing Gig owners it is easy to compare their responses. Prepare few simple questions to help you better decide who to hire and get your digital marketing job done quickly. Few suggestions for the questionnaire are:

• Ask about similar campaigns done by the marketer. 
• Industry work experience (for how long he/she has been freelancing). 
• For how many hours per week the seller can work? 
• Is he/she able to provide you with samples of previous work? 
• How does he/she charge?  
• Is he/she familiar with the tools needed for the marketing task? 
• Is he/ she loyal enough to meet the deadlines? 
• What would he/she do if a deadline is missed? 
• Is there anything he/she wants to ask about the task? 

Be as comprehensive as possible. You will soon find the perfect freelancer for your budget and sales target.

10.How to negotiate a Gig (And make it more viable)

I do not recommend you to negotiate on price of freelancing Gigs especially digital marketing related as the results are not easily measurable against the actions taken or tasks completed but it can be beneficial in some cases unless it affects your quality. Have a maximum marketing budget figure in mind before requesting an offer. Below are few non-offensive strategies to negotiate down the marketing gig price without affecting the results:

• Offer a long-term commitment
• Agree on a positive review or a testimonial up on successful completion of the campaign
• Allow to publish the campaign results on freelancers portfolio feeds unconditionally
• Commit to provide all support needed to successfully carryout the digital marketing campaign

Be cooperative. In this way, you can ask for the free revisions and changes that you may need. Most of the time, digital marketers are flexible enough to offer you an affordable deal. 

Final Remarks

Digital marketing is a fast changing industry. With the proliferation of digital marketers across the globe selecting the perfect marketer for your digital marketing task within you budget could be a tedious task. Follow the above 10 steps and make your life simpler by buying the perfect digital marketing Gig!