That promise to yourself of keeping up somewhat regular posting on your business’s social media account hasn’t quite panned out has it. So now you’re in search of a social media marketing agency to help get things back on track.
But where do you start? What do you need to prioritise? What shouldn’t you do?
I’m going to break down the essential do’s and don’ts to guarantee you get the most out of partnering with a social media marketing agency.
The Do’s
Trust in the Expertise
You wanted help and so you went to professionals for their knowledge. Trust it and them. You would hate if someone walked into your place of work and started dictating best practices for your work, so let the social media marketing agency do what they do best. Provide your vision but allow them to execute strategies that work. This is especially important when a social media audit has been carried out on your behalf, they will now have the data to guide the plan to be as effective as it can be.
Explain your Goals
What are you looking for out of this partnership? Is it more followers? Higher post engagement? More leads? The more specific you can be, the better for your agency. All of this is key information the social media marketing agency can work with to better their strategy.
Provide Assets, Insight, and Brand Guidelines
Unless you’re looking for a complete overhaul of your brand, provide your social media marketing agency with logos, brand guidelines, assets, insights, tone of voice, wording examples, your Pinterest board, and anything else that you deem might be even slightly useful.
All of this information can help your agency to create the perfect content that aligns with your brand identity.
Communicate Regularly
A successful partnership relies on good communication. Regularly check-in and schedule meetings to discuss progress or any changes happening. Inform your agency ahead of time about special events or offers that you have coming up to ensure they have plenty of time to promote it for you. The clearer and more streamlined the communication, the better.
The Don’ts
Micromanagement
Nothing slows down progress like every little detail being micro analysed and managed. You hired an agency for a reason, let them do their thing!
Bad/Slow/No Communication
Communication, as always, is key. Try and respond to emails and messages as promptly as possible to ensure things go as smoothly as possible. When providing feedback, always try to be as detailed as possible in the first instance so there’s less going back and forth with content and things can be scheduled and approved sooner.
Last Minute Changes and Edits
Your strategy is the key to your success. Constantly changing direction and repeatedly going back on things can hurt your brand’s consistency and performance. It can also give a negative perception of your brand that you’re not loyal and don’t do well to stick to promises made.
Trust the process and request any edits or changes well ahead of time.
Getting Started With Social Media Marketing
If your brand currently has no social media presence, here are some steps you can take to get your business up to speed and ready to partner with a social media marketing agency.
Create High Quality Profile Pages
Start by making sure you’re creating a Business Account when setting up your brands social media. Business pages are easier for followers to find and often include advanced features such as the ability to run adverts and track analytics. It is also easier to share admin access with people on a business page, so this is ideal if you plan on working with a social media marketing agency.
Next, upload a professional style profile photo of your logo or an image that represents your brand or brand’s aesthetic. Update your cover photo to be consistent with this also.
Make sure to fill out the bio with key information for your customers, include contact details and a link to your website – you want to make things as easy as possible for your customers to find and buy your products or services.
Identify Your Brand Voice
Determining how formal or casual you want your brand’s online voice and presence to be can help your social media marketing agency write engaging copy and captions for you. Take the time to identify your target audience so you have a better understanding of who you’re talking to and the type of language they may expect.
Plan Ahead
Planning post ideas ahead of time can help you and your agency of choice to develop more strategic campaigns and create high-quality content. Make notes of upcoming releases or product launches for your brand, holidays you wish to celebrate, key dates you want to shout about, and event you’re hosting or attending. Inform your social media marketing agency about all of these so they can start drawing attention to them well in advance.
Working with a social media marketing agency can be extremely beneficial to your business and brand, but it’s important to keep in mind the dos and don’ts when working with an agency as these can impact how successful your partnership is. For best results, follow our advice mentioned above and ensure that you’re doing all you can your end, so your agency can do all they can on their end.
Whether you’re looking for marketing expertise or have a specific project in mind, we’re here to assist.