What Should You Look For When Selecting the BEST Social Media Marketing Agency?

There comes a point in every small businesses life when they simply cannot handle the social media advertising aspects of their marketing strategy anymore.  At some point, any growing business must turn to a social media marketing agency to help maintain and optimize it’s online presence.  The most important thing is picking the best possible agency for your business.

92% of marketers say that social media is absolutely essential to their business and their marketing strategy.  If you’ve grown to the stage where your company’s social media marketing service can no longer be managed in-house, let us be the first to say congratulations!  Getting any small business to this point where outside help is needed for the marketing is impressive. 

Niceties aside, it’s time to find the best possible social media marketing agency to manage your unique business.  This blog will detail what you ought to look for in a company offering social media optimization services!  So, let’s get started!

What Do You Want from your Social Media Management Company?

Has this ever happened to you: you go to the grocery store on an empty stomach, without a list, you end up getting a bunch of junk food and regretting it later?  When looking for an agency to manage your social media presence, the same principles apply.  As opposed to diving in, a metaphorical “grocery list” must be made where you consider what you want to gain from hiring this outside marketing agency.  While it’s totally fine if you don’t know how to handle your social networking accounts (that’s why you’re hiring help, after all), you should have a clear idea about what you are expecting from your outsourced social media marketing firm. Visit SMM Panel for social media services.

Before you start looking, there are a few things you might want to consider, like:

• What do you want from a Social Media Marketing Agency?
• Why do you require their Social media Optimization Services?
• Do you want assistance in managing your channels? Which networks are you observing?
• Do you want daily posts? Weekly? Etc.
• Will you require content creation services in addition to just management?

By considering and knowing the answers to these simple questions, you’ll have a clear idea of what you want from any agency’s social media optimization services!  Let’s take a closer look at some of the key elements to consider when selecting the ideal social media agency.

1. How are their socials?

We always suggest that, to begin, do your own research and due diligence on the companies you are considering working with.  Is there a Facebook company profile for them?  What about a Twitter account?  How do their Google Reviews look?  How active are their social media pages?  How engaging is the content?

Any internet marketing agency worth it’s weight will have a great online presence, utilizing the tactics it will use to bolster your brand to promote it’s own.

2. Have you seen a portfolio of their work?

The best predictor of future success is often past success.  View a companies portfolio as insight into the kind of services and advertisements you will get should you hire that agency.  Consider some of the following questions:

• Can they cover all the bases, or are they a niche firm that focuses mostly or exclusively on a narrow range of advertising topics?
• What kind of campaigns are they actively working on?
• Will they cover pay-per-click ads?
• Do their campaigns track numbers and generate leads effectively?

It is essential to figure out the types of businesses that the social media marketing agency you are considering typically does business with and what kind of social media optimization services they provide.

3. References and Recommendations

Word-of-mouth marketing is often the best avenue for social media marketing agencies to get new business. However, in the era of online testimonials and ratings, you can look into whether the agency has had satisfied customers in the past by researching their reviews.

If clients are raving about how great an organization is, they’re probably worth investigating more.  So whether it’s case reports, ratings, testimonials, or simply social media mentions, pay attention to how brands who have hired the agencies you’re researching in the past have reacted to their businesses dealings with said agencies.

4. Long-Term Gain!

With online marketing, it’s all about the long-term payoff rather than the short term “I want it now” approach.  Outcomes take time to achieve, momentum takes time to build.  Don’t let your need for instant gratification cloud your view on your quest for the prefect social media marketing firm.

Companies that promise rapid results with their social media optimization services often produce these results using black-hat, counter-productive methods like purchasing Facebook followers or mentions.  While it can be fun in the short term to get a bunch of likes on a post, it will not lead to long-term growth for your business, which is the goal at the end of the day.

5. Research on LinkedIn!

We suggest looking up any agency you are considering’s executives on LinkedIn.  What have they been up to, and what are their credentials?  What are the skill sets and abilities of the agency’s employees?

Look for an organization of industry leaders, blogs, social media professionals, or even guest speakers on the board of directions.  If they are well known within the social media advertising community, they are probably worth considering hiring to manage your social media accounts.

5. Social Network Monitoring Software

A successful social media marketing firm should be able to provide potential customers with hard data about how they have worked in the past to improve KPIs for clients.  Whether they are showing leads generated, impressions made, or a litany of other metrics, any marketing firm worth hiring will have not only a portfolio of past campaigns run but also strict accounting of how those campaigns did.  Idelaly, the social media agency you select will have a software that provides:

• An easy-to-navigate monitoring platform
• Appropriate strategies for social media automation
• A report tool to track and showcase results
• A user-friendly social media scheduling calendar with automatic posting function
• A customer service dashboard to make your response timesfaster

So let’s review.  When looking for the prefect social media marketing agency to take over your online presence, the following are the top things to consider:

• Do you want to work with a local agency, or are you okay working with a national / international agency?
• Does the agency have leaders within the field or industry?
• Does the agency do broad stroke marketing for all different kinds of products and services, or do they seem to have a niche?
• What is their price?  Does it seem compensatory with the services they provide?
• Don’t forget about the human element!  Check out some of the content they’ve made it the past.  Is it engaging?  Is it funny?  Does it make you want to buy the product?

We understand how difficult it can be to choose the right agency when there are so many to choose from.  The fact is: you may not get it right the first time.

Do not be alarmed or panic if this is the case.  Remember, results are not overnight.  It may take some time to see momentum build from your online presence and convert that momentum into dollars in your pocket.  However, if after a couple weeks / months it’s clear that it’s not working with a specific agency, don’t be afraid to go back to the drawing board – this time with more experience.

If you’re looking for the best Digital Marketing Agency in Denver, look no further than Max Effect Marketing.  We can help your social media marketing strategy blast off!  With over five years of experience in both the Denver area and all over the country, there is no better time than NOW to contact Max Effect and supercharge your small business marketing.  Contact us NOW!