Hiring a Social Media Agency? Answer These 10 Questions First!

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Businesses of all sizes from startups, small businesses to Fortune 50 brands are turning to social media and digital marketing agencies to help them develop a social media and digital marketing strategy. They tap into the agency teams of experts for help to implement the plan and tactics, identify KPIs, select measurement systems and social dashboards, identify and reach out to influencers, build their digital brand, establish thought leadership, nurture social communities and the list goes on.

It is important that before contacting a social media agency for help that you first answer some foundational questions about your own business, team and goals. You need to know what help you need, what your strengths and weaknesses are so that the agency can best help you.

Know your business!

The better you understand your business, your ideal customer, your overall market and competition, the better an agency or consultant can help you. This doesn't mean that you need to know all of the answers before you start, or before you engage a third party for assistance. My point is that you need to be crystal clear on what you do know and what you don't know.

What are your greatest strengths? Who are your strongest team members that can help you win, not just stroll along with status quo?

What data do you have in your marketing arsenal that the agency can leverage to help you zoom turbo in building, launching and optimizing your online digital and social presence?

Get real with your weaknesses

In addition you must know what gaps exist. What are your greatest weaknesses? Where are you at risk? How do you plan to mitigate the risk?

What resources, time and budget to you have available to commit to the project? Many business leaders struggle with budget allocation for social media and digital marketing. They think that if they contact a ton of different agencies and request proposals from as many agencies as they can, that they will eventually get a proposal that is low price and delivers higher value than all the rest.

Prepare for success and be ready to invest

The truth is that most social media agencies are not going to lower or raise the price just because you give them a target budget. Instead, the better they understand your budget the better they will be able to better develop a proposal, strategy and plan that will serve your needs, help you win and can be realistically implemented with your available time and resources including money.

Knowing these details will enable the social media or digital marketing agency to help you win.

The online and social world is getting noisier by the minute. You can not just throw up a Facebook page, Twitter profile, Snapchat account, live Periscope stream, Facebook Live session or Instagram page and expect to build overnight community. Success using social media and digital marketing requires research, knowledge of the broader ecosystem, an understanding of your competition and how you fit within your industry and niche.

The goal is to develop a strategy and plan with tactics that will help you connect with your ideal customer and audience in a human and authentic way. The goal is to earn trust and bring people closer to your brand. You must trust the agency you hire with the knowledge they need to enable this to happen.

Results are not going to be achieved overnight or in a matter of a few days or weeks. You need to be invested in the program for the medium and long term, not just a short one night stand with Facebook and Instagram.

Listen to episode 197 of the Social Zoom Factor podcast for 10 Questions Every Brand Must Answer for Themselves Before Contacting a Social Media Marketing Agency.

Take a listen and be sure to subscribe to the entire series on iTunes, Stitcher or SoundCloud!

Episode Highlights

• 10 questions you must answer before hiring a social media agency
• Why you must know where you are going and why
• The importance of understanding your business key performance indicators for success
• Why you must know your budget before hiring a social media agency
• The importance of assessing the time, talent and resources available to allocate to your project
• Why you must do a sanity check on your in-house skills
• The importance of understanding your strengths and weaknesses
• Assessing the state of your digital platform
• Understanding the state of your social platform and digital brand
• The importance of a content strategy aligned with your business goals and audience needs
• Why you must understand the larger ecosystem at least at a base level
• How to clearly identify your gaps so that the agency can best help you achieve your business and marketing goals

Supporting Resources:

• Social Profit Factor: Social Media Training Academy
• How to Partner with Your Social Media Agency for Maximum Success and ROI
• How to Get Your Social Media Budget Approved (white paper)
• Audience Analysis Worksheet
• Audience Marketing 101: Why, What and How of Customer First Marketing
• Why You Need an Integrated Social Media, Digital Marketing Plan and Strategy 
• Let's Get Real: Does Your Content Convert?

How to Subscribe to Social Zoom Factor Podcast 

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