Guide to Choosing Right Social Media Marketing Companies

• 1. What is Social Media Marketing?
• 2. What’s the need for Social Media Marketing?
• 3. What if I do it myself?
• 4. Factors to Consider while Choosing a Social Media Marketing Company
• 5. Social Media Audit & Consultation
• 6. Common Set of Objectives
• 7. Do They Practice What They Preach?
• 8. Agency’s Client Portfolio
• 9. Company’s Founders and Team Memberse
• 10. Client Testimonials & References
• 11. Case Studies Review
• 12. Service Costs
• 13. Key Success Indicators
• 14. Communication & Support Strategy
• 15. Any Other Online Marketing Services
• 16. Conclusion

1. What is Social Media Marketing?

2. What’s the need for Social Media Marketing?

According to Hubspot, nearly one-third of the world population uses social networks regularly. For these people, social media and video viewing are the two most popular online activities.

What do these statistics convey? People spend most of their online time on social media and engagement levels are also the highest on social media.

So social media marketing is definitely a MUST for businesses who have any of the following purpose or goal to achieve:

Social media platforms are excellent sources for generating qualified leads. You can target the right set of audience and offer them giveaways in return for their contact information. Whether its B2C or B2B business; social media marketing works equally well in both cases.

Want to give a BIG shout out to the social media community? Share informational, engaging, and irresistible content in multiple formats. With social media marketing, you can extend your reach exponentially on all social media platforms.

People love what they see and if you show it to them on social media, you will definitely witness more conversions. With social media, it’s easy to target and retarget the audience interested in your offerings, whether it’s a product or a service.

A review can make or break your reputation. Most of the social media platforms, such as Facebook, also serve as review websites. You can initiate social media campaigns to engage existing customers and ask them to rate & review your services.

When it comes to search engine rankings, social signals have a significant role to play. A study indicates a direct correlation between search engine rankings and social media engagement. More social shares will give rise to more content visibility, resulting in higher search engine rankings.

With the right set of analytics tools, like Facebook Analytics and Google Analytics, you can identify content that’s performing well, find an audience for retargeting, analyze competitor’s campaigns, and much more.

3. What if I do it myself?

4. Factors to Consider while Choosing a Social Media Marketing Company

Don’t just settle for an “experienced” and “result-oriented” social media marketing firm. Look out for the following aspects when scouting the right candidate for your needs.

• Social Media Audit & Consultation
• Common Set of Objectives
• Do They Practice What They Preach?
• Agency’s Client Portfolio
• Company’s Founders and Team Members
• Client Testimonials & References
• Case Studies Review
• Service Costs
• Key Success Indicators
• Communication & Support Strategy
• Any Other Online Marketing Services

5. Social Media Audit & Consultation

A credible social media marketing agency will be willing to perform a social media audit for the client. This is beneficial for the parties.

For the service provider, it is an opportunity to convert a prospect into a client by showcasing their expertise and knowledge. Once they identify the loopholes and the remedial course of action, they inch closer to finalizing the contract.

For you, it’s an opportunity to analyze the proficiency of the service provider. Moreover, you will come to know whether they have a similar mindset as yours or not.

The social media audit will unveil the set of measures taken in the past, the current state of social media presence, and discover the possibilities for the future. The ultimate aim is to devise a social media marketing strategy that will aid you in fulfilling your objectives.

Once the audit is complete, it’s time for the consultation. The representatives of the company will sit down with you to discuss existing problems and suggest remedial measures. Make sure they have credible data, such as case studies, to back their suggestions and strategies.

6. Common Set of Objectives

When you hire a social media marketing agency, you are relying on the agency to meet your goals and objectives. You both will be working as a team and therefore, it is important to be on the same boat.

Instead of adopting the common market trends, the marketing company should launch campaigns that are specifically customized for your business.

For example, if you want to promote clothes made of 100% organic cotton, like in the case of No Nasties, the agency should emphasize the unique propositions of the product. They can work on the idea of “sustainable fashion” rather than promoting it as a “generic fashion brand”.

7. Do They Practice What They Preach?

There are social media marketing companies that promise to propel your social media engagement.

But when you look at their social media accounts, you will find a couple of thousand likes on the Facebook page, a few hundred followers on Instagram, and an incomplete profile on LinkedIn.

8. Agency’s Client Portfolio

The social media marketing company’s website always has a section where they have listed the clients they have worked with. Have a look at the brands listed in the section.

This will give you an idea of whether the company is the right fit for your needs or not. See the list of clients SimilarWebs has worked for.

Don’t just stop right here. When you look at the clients, check out if any of these operate in the same industry as yours. This will clarify whether the agency has prior experience in handling social media campaigns in your industry or not.

But you may argue, is there any proof of any association with the listed clients? Well, you can confirm this by:

• Contacting the agency’s representative, asking for the links to social media campaigns or any documental proof. They may not share complete information but they will do the needful to win your trust.
• Contacting an employee of the brand the agency has worked for. In most of the cases, you may not get the desired information because of confidentialities. But there is no harm in trying, right?

9. Company’s Founders and Team Members

As stated earlier, it is important to know about the people who will be handling your social media campaigns.

You just cannot bestow responsibility on anyone you don’t know about. Therefore, you have to dig in and get familiar with people like founders, key decision makers, employees, and others.

You can easily extract the details of the founders and employees from the company’s website.

For example, Moz has the list of all the leaders under “Teams” section. Along with the basic information, you will learn about their position and other credentials.

10. Client Testimonials & References

If a social media advertising company is an established one, there will be client testimonials on its website. Check out the testimonials section to know about client opinions.

Ensure that testimonials are written by authoritative personalities. For example, check out testimonials on Gloryweb’s website. These have been written by credible persons who are founders or belong to the C-suite.

However, not all testimonials are trustworthy. Most of the companies publish fake testimonials. So in case, you feel testimonials are not enough to assess the credibility of the agency, then check out online reviews. For example, you can check Google reviews or Facebook reviews or reviews on any other platform.

11. Case Studies Review

Everyone likes to boasts their achievements, especially to gain traction in the business. Social media advertising service providers are no different.

They will definitely post about their accomplishments in their blog or website. In most of the cases, you will find case studies about their social media campaigns.

See how Lyfe Marketing used their social media campaign results in the form of case studies.

12. Service Costs

There is no fixed cost for social media marketing. The costs vary depending on your goals and willingness to spend. In addition to this, the agency will charge their service fee. The pricing models can be described as:

The agency will charge a fixed fee for a particular time period, let’s say a month. While signing the contract, the list of services covered under the fixed cost will be listed.

The variable pricing model comes into the picture when your service requirements are subjected to change. For example, for the first two months, you focus on social media reach and from the third month onwards, you want to generate leads as well.

Confusion may arise when dealing with fixed and variable pricing structures. That’s why some of the companies simply charge a percentage of the total social media marketing spend.

Whatever the pricing model, there is always a scope for negotiations.

Also, check out if there are any hidden charges or not.

Once the negotiations are over, ensure everything is inked in the contract as well.

Most of the social advertising companies offer services at affordable or cheap prices. And to be very frank, most of us are actually looking for affordable services. There is nothing wrong with it. After all, who doesn’t likes to save money!

But if you find an agency offering social media marketing services at low prices, there may be issues that you are not aware of. Some of these are:

13. Key Success Indicators

60 percent of the small business owners are unable to track and measure ROI from their social media campaigns. What’s the point if you cannot measure the success or failure of campaigns?

Therefore, it is important to define key success indicators before beginning with the campaigns.

A social media marketing solution provider should gauge the success of campaigns according to the following metrics:

14. Communication & Support Strategy

You have the right to know what’s happening with your social media accounts.

And therefore, you should be aware of the communication and support mechanism of the service provider.

Some questions that you may ask:

• Do they have a dedicated account manager who is available all the time during working hours?
• What are the available modes of communication?
• How often will they share progress reports with you?
• Do they have 24/7 support or not?
• How many one-on-one meetings will be arranged?

15. Any Other Online Marketing Services

Besides social media services list, look out for other online marketing services offered by the company. They may also excel in other verticals, such as:

If you are looking for more than just social media marketing solution, you should get a consultation from the agency. It’s important to know how they will integrate different digital marketing strategies to fulfill a common set of objectives.

Moreover, discuss service costs in detail. When you opt for a complete digital marketing package, you will definitely get a discount.