The key to any great relationship is asking the right questions before you get in too deep.

"What's your relationship with your mom like?" "Cats or dogs?" "What's your credit score?"

While we'll leave the personal relationship questions up to you, we're happy to share the questions you should have prepared to ask any social agency you're meeting with.

Question One

"What resources do you have in-house to develop content?"

Visual content creation is one of the biggest lifts for social, and with so many platforms being photo- or video-first, you need to make sure that your agency can deliver beyond stock images. Moreover, you're paying your social media agency for their expertise on trending social media content, so having an in-house designer and photographer is the best way for them to hop on social media trends before they expire.

Question Two

"How do you measure ROI?"

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A pretty Instagram feed is great, but at the end of the day, organic social should drive return. It likely won’t be immediate, but any quality social media agency should have a model in place to measure ROI.

Measuring social media ROI is different from other business investments because social media delivers "soft leads," increases brand awareness, develops brand identity and familiarity, builds credibility and brand recognition, and drives engagement. As a follow-up, be sure to ask: "How do you report ROI and how often?" If your agency isn’t delivering thorough monthly analytics reports, complete with competitor stats, observations, and recommendations, it’s not going to be long before you’re having to justify their retainer to your internal team.

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Question Three

"Is there a minimum contract length? What's the cancellation policy?"

Like therapists and shoes, sometimes it can take a few tries to find a social agency that’s the right fit for your brand and your team. The last thing you want is to be locked into a contract with a social media marketing agency that’s delivering suboptimal results, can’t quite capture the brand voice, or just doesn’t mesh with internal stakeholders.

While we always recommend trying it out for at least three months — organic social is a long-game — we cringe every time we hear a potential client say that they're waiting for their contract to end before they can leave their current social media agency. If it isn't working, there's no reason to be locked into a contract. Plus, contracts with the option to cancel within reasonable notice indicate that the agency is confident in its ability to deliver results and maintain a good client-agency relationship.

Our standard agreement term may be one year, but both sides always have the option to cancel with 60 days notice. We’re not about unrequited love.

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With so many options out there, it can be challenging to decide which agency is the best fit for you. Asking these questions will help narrow down your list and ultimately choose the best partner for your business.

Talk to us about how we can help.