More businesses are turning every month to social media management agencies to make sure that their company stays in the game and abreast of the now-changed marketing landscape.
There's nothing wrong with that approach at all if your circumstances warrant outsourcing such a vital piece of your strategy, but you need to make sure that whoever you hire actually knows what they are doing.
Social media agencies are the new real estate; it's the job that everyone is getting into. With that in mind, it's understandable, if not frustrating, that there are so many newcomers vying for your business when you aren't sure how to properly vet them.
Let me share some insight with you that might seem like common sense after you've read it but which you may not have considered until now.
Do you need an agency or a software
Before you even begin negotiating with an agency, you should know their capabilities. A good agency will have the following:
- The right tools,
- The right experience and
- Interest in your success.
That sounds basic, I know, but it needs to be stated.
As far as tools go, all you need to do is check out some high-quality social media management software to see what kinds of features are available. After you've assessed the software, you will know two things:
- Whether the software alone will do what you need without the agency.
- What kinds of capabilities do bounce off the agency if you do go with one.
You may find that a certain dashboard does the trick for your company nicely, but if not, you can move on to human negotiations armed with some knowledge.
6 essential questions to ask when hiring an agency
Six questions might not seem like a lot, but trust me - these carefully tailored questions will tell you everything you need to know about the agency you're considering hiring.
1. What is your definition of a successful campaign?
Since you are dealing with an emerging business model and a short track record, it is vital that you understand how they view success.
First, to verify that they have a success-oriented plan and are not just jumping on a money-making bandwagon, and second, to ensure that their vision aligns with your company's vision.
There are far too many crash-and-burn stories that should have been successes had it not been for a company's poorly aligned or non-existent vision.
2. If you had unlimited resources and budget, which social marketing outlets would you concentrate on for my business?
This strips away the money talk to get to the meat of the matter: Do they know what they are doing?
When restrictions are removed, even for the sake of discussion only, creative solutions are allowed to flow more freely. This question will immediately weed out the bandwagoners, who will in lockstep answer "Facebook and Instagram" with some "Twitter" thrown in for good measure.
If they don't discuss LinkedIn, Google my Business, or TikTok with you at a minimum, run away.
The agency you choose needs to be able to assert where your target audience is and find the right measure between upgrading your existing social media presence and experimenting with new channels.
3. As my agency, are there people you can influence to get more traction for my brand?
In other words, who do they know?
What influencers can they leverage for exposure?
This question can also open up a discussion about their understanding of social influence and 'net cred'.
4. What do you see changing most in the next two quarters?
It's highly unlikely that there will be any plateaus reached in the social media world for the next few years, at a minimum, between Google's algorithm changes, Facebook's rules about organic reach, and the various other disruptions that occur with increasing frequency.
Do they know the differences between Panda, Penguin, and Hummingbird? What is their philosophy on Social SEO, content marketing, post length, etc.? Do they have a plan for adapting to new social media trends or are they reacting to what is changed on the fly? Do they even know anything has changed?
5. How will you measure my success?
ROI is everything. An investment is inherently made for the purposes of yielding a return, and without a measurable return, all investments are meaningless and costly.
This is the most important of the questions you should ask any agency because the wrong answer here impacts every other aspect directly.
They need to know what they are measuring, how they are measuring it, and how it can be quantified for you and analyzed in a P/L statement. Anything short of this, and you are simply throwing your money away. Social media has a "touchy-feely" quality to it that makes it easy to forget that it's business, but it is. Don't let this part of your business be run any more recklessly than you would any other.
6. Where can I see your own marketing efforts?
You can ask for references and success stories all day long, and you should, but if you really want to see whom you're talking to then look at how they market themselves.
Check out their online marketing portfolio, and make sure to look at their Facebook page, Google My Business, Twitter account, LinkedIn profile, and TikTok and Instagram account. Ask if they maintain a blog on their site. If they don't put much effort into practising their stated art for their own sake, don't count on them doing much for you either.
Do you want to double your followers? Ask them how their following has grown and at what pace? If they are really good at what they do, they should be rocking the social web. If a Google search on them gets you zilch, you're on your own. It may be that they are geniuses just getting started, but you'll have to make that decision based on their knowledge and plans if there isn't any empirical data.
Final thoughts
Hiring an agency is great if you don't have internal resources or lack time to invest in acquiring the right knowledge to grow your business through this powerful medium.
Just ensure to ask these questions that will help you put the pieces together and uncover if they'll truly help you achieve your goals. Remember - the agency should help you expedite things, not take away additional time from running your business.
