It’s easy to overlook the importance of social media when we’re busy running our businesses—and that’s why it’s so important to get ahead of the game by hiring a social media agency to handle our social media.
Social media platforms are everywhere today and are increasingly becoming part of our daily lives. With a variety of tools at their disposal and many more opportunities available, social media agencies have become an integral part of most marketing efforts.
Your business must have a strong social media presence to sell in a digital marketplace. For this reason, you may hire a social media agency, but you have to make sure you find the right one for your needs.
Here are seven questions you should ask to narrow down your options.
1. What Brands or Clients Have You Worked With?
High-quality brands only trust the most experienced and talented marketers, so there’s a good chance your agency of choice is also quality if they’ve worked with well-known brands. For example, Hello Social, a social media agency, works with popular brands like Uber and Amazon.
If multi-billion dollar companies like Uber and Amazon receive great results from a prospective social media agency, think of what they could do for your startup when they take the reins.
2. What Separates You From Your Competitors?
All businesses, big or small, have to stay one step ahead of their competition to stay afloat. A social media agency that’s aware of its strengths should be able to communicate them to clients. They also need to explain why you should choose them over anyone else in their niche.
While this question helps you assess their confidence, it also reveals their focus. If the agency works with a specific industry, customer base, or client, they should declare that in their answer.
3. Can You Walk Me Through Your Onboarding Process?
When we think of onboarding, we usually imagine an employer training an employee. But a great social media agency will also onboard their clients to get them familiar with their process. Mature and experienced agencies are much more likely to have a client onboarding process.
Your social media agency of choice should be able to explain how they’ll onboard you to their systems and what direction they wish to take with your brand without using complicated jargon.
4. Who Will be Managing Our Social Media Accounts?
The person you’re speaking to may not be responsible for your social media marketing. Unless the agency is small, you’ll likely have a team of people managing your accounts. If that’s the case, follow your question up by asking about the team’s experience, expertise, and availability.
Even in a large team, there’s usually one person who’ll communicate with you directly. Make sure you know who that is and how to contact them if you need to relay important information.
5. How Will You Measure Success?
This question is simple but important, as you need to know what a successful and unsuccessful campaign looks like and why that is. Typically, an agency will track metrics or KPIs that are relevant to your brand. Then, they’ll communicate their findings using a social media report.
If you’re satisfied with how they’ll track your profile, ask how often they’ll report any progress. Be sure to explain if you require a weekly or monthly report, so they can adjust to your needs.
6. What Social Networks Should We Focus On?
If a social media agency is knowledgeable or experienced in your niche, it should know what social networks will generate a positive ROI for your company. They should also want to focus on websites that have the highest lead generation potential, even if the site isn’t very popular.
For example, niche social media sites like BlogHer, Dribbble, and Goodreads could help certain businesses reach a specific customer base. Your agency needs to be familiar with these sites.
7. Do You Offer Other Services?
It’s hard to find a social media agency that only focuses on social media marketing, so ask them if they provide additional services that will make the customer acquisition process easier. For example, search engine optimization will help customers find your profile via Google search.
At the same time, you shouldn’t utilize their other services unless you’re sure they’re experts. Consider looking elsewhere if you need someone else to focus on other marketing aspects.
