Most small business owners opt to enlist the services of a social media agency to address specific needs, such as insufficient in-house resources or a lack of internal expertise. Alternatively, the decision may be driven by considerations related to budget constraints or long-term planning, favoring the agency route over hiring a full-time resource.
Regardless of the rationale, businesses that engage agencies for social media tasks frequently encounter challenges in managing both the relationship and the quality of work.
With the economy being unstable and business owners frequently cutting jobs, it’s a good time to discuss when and how to use an agency effectively. Let’s talk about when it makes sense, what tasks to use them for, and how to make the most of your relationship with the agency.
Before you hire an agency
Put plainly, turn to an agency when you need assistance. It could be because your team in the business is not enough, or you require specialized knowledge in a specific social media aspect. The key is to figure out exactly what help you need from the agency before deciding to work with them.
Do you need assistance in planning? Making content? Handling your social media channels daily? What you require should guide the kind of agency you search for and how you assess candidates. Some agencies specialize in specific industries or parts of social media. It’s crucial to clearly state the help you need. Agencies are good at following directions, but not so great at creating their own and hoping it works.
A common mistake is letting someone who doesn’t know much about social media choose an agency. Imagine hiring a new chef for a restaurant—would you ask another chef or a hostess who never goes into the kitchen to interview candidates? For a social media agency, you need someone familiar with social media to assist in the selection process.
It’s quite simple for agencies to sound impressive when talking to someone who lacks the experience to tell the difference between the fake ones and the real deal. Even if you need to bring in an outside expert to help evaluate your options, that’s still better than making a choice without enough information and just hoping for the best. (By the way, people also make this same mistake when hiring for jobs within the business.)
When to use an agency
Considering the current situation, here are the most common ways I see agency partners being effectively and meaningfully utilized:
Strategy
If your business doesn’t have a solid social media plan in place, agencies can be a big help in this area. Search for a skilled agency that has crafted social strategies for businesses similar to yours. Request examples and references. Seek a partner with relevant experience in your industry and aligning with your business needs.
Content creation
If you don’t have an in-house creative team, agencies can be incredibly valuable by allowing your social media team to focus on engaging with your audience rather than spending time creating multiple versions of each post. This becomes especially beneficial if you require more advanced content like video, animation, or graphics.
Organizing and Managing Editorial Calendars
I strongly advocate for the ‘Air Traffic Controller’ role within a social media team. This person oversees the entire content flow on your channels, acting as the last check and gatekeeper. An agency can step into this role if necessary.
Governance
One aspect that frequently gets overlooked is governance, which involves the control and security of your social media accounts. While this is crucial for any business it poses an even greater risk for large enterprises. A compromised account can result in significant damage to your brand and a crisis that you’ve created yourself—the most challenging kind to handle. Unfortunately, many social media teams are too stretched to prioritize this, and it’s an area where an agency could potentially provide assistance.
Paid social
It’s no secret that paid social media requires a specialized set of skills. If you lack an expert in paid advertising on your team, it might be a good idea to outsource it to the right agency.
I’ve witnessed agencies incorrectly setting up ads, targeting them inaccurately, and wasting budget. Some even create ad campaigns that essentially compete for the same audience, driving up costs by bidding against themselves. Keep an eye on your ad campaigns, assess their performance, double-check the targeting, and request regular reports from your agency about their efforts and results. If your agency is reluctant to provide metrics, something might be amiss. Accountability is crucial, especially in this area.
Community management
While it’s feasible to enlist an agency to handle your channels on a daily basis, I approach this suggestion cautiously. Entrusting my channels and brand voice to just anyone from the agency team doesn’t sit well with me. Outsourcing community management tends to make responses slower and less nimble due to an additional layer of communication for every question that arises.
Cost is another factor to ponder. Depending on the agency’s charges, it might be more cost-effective to hire a part-time resource or a junior staff member for your community management needs. It’s wise to crunch the numbers and weigh your options.
Invest in the right partners (and hold up your side of the deal)
If you find yourself depending on your agency for tasks beyond this list, it might be time to reconsider. If your agency is handling everything without oversight, accountability, or your input, they’re taking the lead instead of you.
Remember, you’re the paying client. You dictate the work and determine what’s acceptable. However, this requires your active involvement and knowledge. I’ve witnessed too many instances of social media agencies dominating their clients because the clients lacked sufficient knowledge, giving the agency too much freedom.
Despite this, I don’t want agencies to get a bad reputation. I’m the CEO of my own agency now, so I must have a positive view! It’s entirely possible to find an excellent agency partner and establish a fruitful working relationship that adds value to your team and brand. However, if your current relationship with your agency doesn’t align with that, some adjustments may be needed.
As budgets tighten and expenses come under scrutiny in boardrooms worldwide, it’s the right time to assess your agency relationships. When asked to justify the spending, you want to ensure that the collaboration and results are worth defending
