The Only 6 Questions That Really Matter When Picking a Social Media Marketing Firm
There are no shortages of social media marketers on the internet and they all claim to be “experts” in what they do. The thing is social media channels are open to all and the basics of sharing, liking, and posting stuff are really simple.
However, promoting businesses and engaging real people on the internet to actually give a damn about a campaign is really complex. Also, there is no cookie-cutter approach that fits all industries. Successful social media marketing firms have to tailor-make strategies for clients belonging to different industries. They also need to constantly monitor the social metrics of ongoing campaigns and be prepared to tweak these strategies on the go and weed out things that are not working.
Finding the right social media firm for your business is critical to edge out the competition. Here’re 6 questions that can help you separate the good social media agencies from the bad ones.
Are They Taking Time to Understand Your Business Goals?
In a bid to score your business, most social media agencies would talk a great deal about their past successes. That’s okay because at the end of the day they are trying to score a new client. However, the problem is when all they do is talk about them. Veteran social media marketers would ask plenty of questions about your industry, target audiences, and end goals. A good firm would also take time in understanding your requirement before quoting a price. If their prices are the same for all industries then there is a high chance they are employing a cookie-cutter strategy for all their clients, which might not work for you.
Do They Have Experience Serving Clients in Your Industry?
Some industries are easier to promote than others. People on the internet are genuinely interested in food, fitness, entertainment, and about other popular subjects. Promoting a business that belongs to these industries are much easier compared to say a business that supplies toners to other businesses. This is why never judge a social media agency by their success of promoting businesses that are outside your industry.
Can They Provide Client References?
Just saying that they worked with certain clients is not enough. Social media firms routinely display fake client testimonials and you have to be really gullible to take their word for it. Ask for client references and be clear about your intention of checking their claim.
Where Is Their Physical Location?
All the good social media firms have physical locations and it’s definitely a factor when picking them. You ideally want to hire a local social media agency that has sufficient experience in engaging your target customers. For example, if you own a business in New York then you need a firm that specializes in social media marketing in New York.
Do They Care About the Performance Metrics You Care About?
The company you choose to hire needs to be focused on the social media metrics that you care about. It can be anything from social media engagement (number likes, comments, and shares) to the number of visitors to your website’s money page. Make sure the social media company you hire understand how you would like to measure the success of social media campaigns and thus set strategies accordingly.
How Well Do Their Social Media Pages Perform?
It’s not a good sign if the company you are looking to hire have poor engagement metrics on their own social media pages. You would think a company that claims to be an “expert” would use their expertise to promote their own business. Check out their social media pages and check if the social media engagements on their posts seem organic. You can also use an SEO tool like SEMrush to see if their social campaigns are actually increasing the traffic to their website or the page they are trying to promote.