Choosing A Social Media Agency: What You Need to Know

Something you need to be aware of is the social media internet marketing agency that will charge you monthly rental for your website. You will find that addition to monthly retainers for SEO and/or social media management, you may be asked to pay for a website that they develop in their own proprietary content management system. If that is the case, you may not be able to easily migrate away from them if you are not happy with their work.

Also be aware that most of these companies will charge you a hefty monthly fee each month without really tracking their time. You might want to ask them if they will submit timetracking sheets to you so you will understand what they are charging you for. If after a period of time you feel comfortable with how they are spending your money, then you can drop that request.

While hiring a website from a social media company might be right for you, make sure that the company you contract with does not use a proprietary content management system that you have no access to if you decide to leave them.

Very few businesses at this point offer this option, but it is becoming a way to pay for social media management, so you might want to inquire about it if you are a small business. Pay As You Go enables your business to pay for the hours the social media manager actually works on your account.
You will need to agree on a social media strategy and budget spend. They will want to be assured of your timely payments as you will want to ensure that they account for the work that they perform on your behalf. Make sure that they submit time tracking sheets of the tasks involved in the social media marketing management they perform. These tasks from content creation through to posting can easily be identified and their time tracked. We have found that it almost always costs less to use a Pay As You Go option, depending upon the hourly rate being charged as it is a great way to get a foothold into social media.

Pay As You Go is a great way to get your plan off the ground because it enables you to control your spending and know where your marketing dollars are being spent. And if that company is doing a really good job for you and getting you results they promise, it enables you to put more money in to continue expanding your market share. It also forces transparency with that social media company.

The advantages to Pay As You Go is that you only pay for what you need and there are no hidden costs. There are very few companies at this point that offer pay as you go, obviously because it is easier for them to charge large sums of money based on algorithms and average costs. Just be sure you’re not paying for someone else’s account.

A word to the wise, however. If you do choose Pay As You Go, you best make sure you are a timely payer, because if you’re not, your social media management company is probably going to require you to pay an upfront retainer or not work with you at all.

No matter what solution you choose for your social media management or how you decide to pay for it, you will have to be patient. It does take time to establish a really good social media presence. Social media advertising campaigns can be tremendously effective if combined with a great conversion page on your website.

Depending upon your type of business, sales have the potential to translate quickly with the right strategies.
The most important takeaway is to make sure you are using social media, start developing a plan and begin to implement an effective social media strategy that works for you and your business.