10 Questions to Ask When Choosing Your Social Media Partner

You, as a marketing manager or small business owner, will be in a position to engage a team or agency to manage your social media communication. Here are some essential questions to ask when choosing your social media partner.

1. Who will manage your social media accounts?

To make a deal with the director and the most experienced team members is one thing. Another thing is which member of the team (or members) will be directly responsible for managing the social media accounts. You can ask about his experience and responsibility with other clients. Who to look for when you need info or want to suggest something.

2. Does the agency develop a social media strategy?

A strategy is a key to effective targeting and developing your social media accounts. If you come across a potential social media partner who does not develop a strategy before starting working for you or does not know how to do a briefing, it is probably time to look for another partner.

3. Do you need to provide content?

You should always be clear about what you are in charge of during your engagement or campaign. Do you need to send them pictures or will the agency provide it by them? Do you need to send them industry news, or will they find them themselves? Clearing all these dilemmas will make it clear to you how much time will last this engagement.

4. Does the content is unique for your business, or it is used for other businesses?

It is vital to know if you have exclusive access to the content your social media partner will provide or will use the same content for something else. Your communication must be unique.

5. What type of content will be published? Will all posts be for your business?

While one of the reasons you use social media is to promote your brand, every update must not be just for your business. Remember, the key to social media is being social. You need to make a balance between updates that provide something of value for your followers (such as an interesting article, inspirational quote, or funny picture) and directly promotional updates.

6. Will the content have your recognizable brand "voice"?

Your team for managing social media campaign must be able and capable of transmitting your brand voice into every post that appears on your social media accounts.

7. How will you know what they are posting on your social media platforms? Will you see the updates before they go live?

Before engaging a social media partner, it is necessary to set clear expectations. While some businesses may prefer not to spend time reviewing updates before they are published, however, it is an essential step in quality control. Spending a few minutes reviewing the content before its publishing to your page will make sure it is the message you want to share.

8. How will your brand stand out from your competitors? Do they track what the competition publishes?

This is an excellent question to ask to find out how much and what research your potential social media partner will do for you and your competition. Will they research what your competition is doing well or not doing well?

9. Who responds on your followers' questions, comments, and messages?

This is an issue to be established and discussed from the start. Will the social media partner monitor your interaction? What will they do if you get a question, comment or message? Do they expect you to provide an answer, or will they take care of it?

10. How much will my follower base grow and how fast?

The answer to this question will provide measurable quantitative indicators of engagement success. The growth of social media will depend on various factors, such as how often you update your site, whether you run a paid ad at the same time, etc.