Social media. Everyone knows about it. Most people have it and, if they don’t have it, they know they need it!
But spending time each day developing powerful content, engaging with your audience and strategising can be pretty overwhelming, not to mention time consuming.
That’s where social media agencies (like us)come in. We help business owners develop strategic social media marketing strategies that resonate with their audience and generate real return on investment.
The best part? As a business owner, you barely have to do anything!
But handing your social media over to a group of strangers can be quite scary, so you want to feel it out and see:
- Whether you are ready to work with an agency
- Whether they are the right fit for you and your business
To help you get the ball rolling, we have put together a list of the top 15 questions to ask yourself before hiring a social media agency. Got your pen and paper? Let’s do this:
1. What is the budget you are willing to spend?
Agencies usually come with a higher price tag as you have multiple staff with different expertises working on your account at any given time. Make sure you take the time to assess whether you can and are willing take on this cost month to month
2. Who are your ideal customers? Do they hang out on social media?
Identifying your ideal customers is key to understanding whether investing in social media is a good avenue for you. If you are a local plumbing company whose customers are OAPs, then social media may not be for you. Set some time aside to research where your customers spend their time.
3. Who are your main competitors? Are they on social media? What is good/bad about their content?
Scoping out the competition is a great way to see where you would fit in the market and identify any gaps.
4. What is your USP? How will you break through the noise on social media?
Once you have looked at your competition, you want to dig into your unique difference. What is it that you can provide on social media to be different? Why would customers come to you instead of them?
5. What do you want to gain from hiring a social media agency? What ROI do you want to see?
It is important to approach an agency with an idea of ROI already in mind. This helps manage expectations across both parties. For example, if you are looking for pure brand engagement, what does this look like for you? How can you measure it? Make sure you have this clear in your mind before signing any deals.
6. Do you have the time to put into working with an agency?
Although the agency will do most of the leg-work, it is still a two-way street. You may be required to provide imagery from time to time, approve content regularly, have monthly meetings to go over metrics and provide insights from inside your company to make sure your social media is aligned with where your business is going.
7. Do you have strict brand guidelines that need adhering to?
Social media should be a reflection of your current branding. If you are a franchise, do you have to comply with rules from head office? If you are an educational company, are there any disclaimers that have to be noted within copy or images? These things are good to know as it will affect the way you communicate with your agency and the role you play.
8. How many of your team will need to be involved with the agency?
As a general rule of thumb, you should have at least 2-3 people across the work you do with the agency. There can be one main point of contact, but if they are away, it is good for the agency to be able to contact you to keep things running smoothly. On the flip side, agencies will do this too, ensuring there is always someone in the office that knows your business inside out.
9. Do you have specific goals that you need to hit for the investment to be worth it?
Similar to what value you want to gain, are there any specific goals that you will be required to reach in order to carry on? It may be that you need 50 sales per month or 10 good leads. Having an idea of this will help the agency understand what is required from them and decide whether it is possible or not.
10. Do you have someone in-house that can supply imagery and communicate effectively with the agency?
This will be the main point of contact for the agency. The one person they can rely on to get an inside peek into your business. You want to figure out who this person is and whether they would be able to be ‘on-call’ for the agency.
11. What is your ideal process for communicating with a social media agency?
Do you prefer calls, emails, zoom meetings or in-person meetings? How is it that you like to communicate? This will help you and the agency to set boundaries.
12. Are you interested in social media marketing?
Do you have prior knowledge/experience of social media but you simply don’t have the resources anymore? Or do you have zero experience and just want to hand it over to someone else to deal with?
13. How much input do you want to have in your social media strategy?
This is quite important as, again, it will help establish boundaries with the agency. Do you want to sit in on creative brainstorms? Provide ideas? Sign off on all content? Or are you happy to just leave the agency to it?
14. Will you require photography, videography or blogs?
Do you have this in-house or would you require the agency to come and take photos/videos or write blogs for you? This will be crucial when discussing price points.
15. Are you looking for a quick fix or a long-term relationship?
Getting involved with an agency isn’t a ‘one and done’ thing. In order to see results, you need to work with them for a longer period of time, in order to experiment and see what works and what doesn’t. Are you prepared to get into this relationship? Or are you just looking for a quick ‘boost’ on your content?
Once you have answered these questions, you should have a pretty clear idea of whether you’re ready to invest in a social media agency and what your goals are for working with them.
Need a bit more help deciding? Hit us up, we are always down for a chat.
