You’ve done it! You’ve started your own business! Congrats!
Customers are trickling from your website, BUT you feel there could be more.
You know by now that future customers — are on the internet. They’re having real conversations with other real people, liking different things, recommending products, searching for things to buy….
You are also aware that social media has the ability to establish multiple touchpoints into the customer’s journey on the internet.
But the reality is that you don’t have time to build your brand on social media. There’s content to develop, constant interactions with the audience, finding and using different strategies, figuring out which platforms would benefit your brand better, etc.
In your case, hiring a social media marketing agency could be a definite game-changer for your business.
Answer the following questions honestly:
Are you struggling to acquire or retain customers?
Are you getting the ROI you want from social media?
Are you unsure about what your social media strategy should be?
Do you lack social media experience?
If you have answered yes to one or more of these questions, you could use the help of an expert.
So, what could a social media agency bring to your business?
Well, first, social media agencies have the knowledge and experience to turn your lagging social media campaigns into lead generating campaigns with strategic planning and great advice.
There is no doubt that hiring a good social media agency is helpful for your business but you need the right agency to keep your company’s reputation at the top, build brand awareness, drive traffic to your business, and help develop marketing strategies.
A good social media agency must have strong knowledge and skills that will help your business flourish.
To find the right social media agency to work with you’ve got to be patient, do your research, and ask the right questions up-front.
In this article, you will find ten questions to ask before you say, yes!
Let’s go!
1. Who are your clients?
Satisfied and successful clients go a long way in proving a consultant’s credentials. Ask them what social campaigns are they most proud of? And did the results of those campaigns align with their clients goals and objectives? Were their clients satisfied? W
When asking about customer references, be sure to ask if they have examples from clients that are similar to your business.
2. What is your overall approach to social media marketing?
You want to gain insight into what the agency’s values are. It is important to understand that drives the agencies, and if you have any shared common core values. You want to make sure that the values and world-view of the agency aligns with your own.
3. How is your pricing structured?
Two common structures are 1) monthly retainers and 2) flat fees. It’s important to ask “what your money’s going towards?” How much are they spending on advertising, content development, etc. Get a clear breakdown of costs from the consultant.
4. What social media platforms would you recommend for my brand?
A great agency should tell you which ones are relevant for your brand. Particularly if you are a small or medium sized business, be careful of any agency that wants to put together a plan that includes more than 2-3 social media platforms. A good agency will focus on one platform first, and then branch out towards others.
5. What is your online community management strategy?
Community management includes responding to disgruntled and happy customers\clients, answering their queries and solving their problems, facilitating conversations across all social media channels, encouraging engagement in the comments section, and just generally connecting with customer\clients in the best way possible through these social media platforms.
While community management is an important part of a social media strategy, it is also very easy for it to get expensive fast. Look for agencies that are trying to cut costs as much as possible with community management — especially if you’re a small business. Ask what they would do if they got a question they didn’t know how to answer. That will help you determine if you’re better off handling community management on your own, or if you should leave it up to them.
6. Do I need to provide the content?
Will the firm or agency provide images or video for your Instagram or Facebook account? Do you need to send relevant industry news, or will they find it for you? Their answers will give insight into what the demands on your time will be as you begin working together.
7. Is the content created by the agency shared or used with other businesses, or is it unique and exclusive to my brand?
Many social media agencies out there use the exact same content for all their clients – or even themselves! In fact, many subscribe to third-party vendors that create content for them, as well as other firms.
If you want your business to stand out in the sea of social media content, it’s important your pages share unique content that is completely customized to your brand.
8. What is your content publishing schedule?
Get their schedule so you know when each piece will go live and you can keep a check on your published posts.
Questions to ask:
- How frequently will they publish content?
- What time will they publish it?
- Will they use tools to automatically publish content like Buffer or Hootsuite or manually publish content?
9. What time commitment is required from me?
You are looking for social media management because you don’t have the time to spend on it. You have to focus on running your business. BUT, if the agency requires you to spend a lot of time with them, it defeats their purpose. You want an agency that keeps you updated with the information you need to make decisions but doesn’t take over the time you could be spending on other business operations.
10. What results can I expect with my budget? How long will it take to achieve these results?
FACT: Nobody can guarantee results, like, x amount in sales, etc. And an agency that doesn’t even know what results you should expect, is a big NO, too.
The right agency will be able to pull up case studies and give you an idea of what results you can expect based on their previous campaigns.
This is why it’s important to find an agency that has a track record with brands like yours.
We hope these tips help you on your journey to finding the right agency for you.
The aim is to help you focus on running your business. If you find social media challenging, experts like us at Social Know How, can help you with your social media marketing! We would be happy to share other content marketing strategies that can be beneficial for your business!
