Thinking of hiring social media/marketing services

[Jwan]

Hello everyone

I am thinking of hiring a local social media/marketing company. On Google, they have eleven, 5 star reviews, but these could be family/fake reviews.

My business a limited company selling tea. It isn't making much money. The money is makes just about covers the cost of accounting, hosting and packaging.

What should I be aware of when approaching a social media/marketing company? How do they work? How can I measure and confirm that they're doing a good job?

What I really want is brining in more orders whilst still making a profit (after paying all business fees). Do such companies make their money by taking a % of any orders that they bring in? If not, how does their pricing work?

I'm thinking of approaching them via email but I really wanted to get some clarity on this side of things before doing so.

Thank you

 

[Mark T Jones]

From you questions, I'dsuggest that what you really want is somebody to help you to put together a strategic marketing plan - very few social media companies will help with this.

Good ones will operate in line with your plan, bad ones will just spam their favourite platforms.

As with any service, the first thing I'd pay attention to is the questions they ask, and how much they challenge you.

Quick / cheap / easy is generally the hallmark of an incompetent or a scammer

 

[Jwan]

Thanks Mark, for clarity, what is typically outlined in a good "strategic marketing plan"? And how much does it cost to get someone to come up with one?

 

[Mark T Jones]

Oh dear.

Start of with identifying exactly who you customer is, where they go, how they consume information, who the competiotion is etc etc

Cost? Somewhere between £500 and £ 50 million

 

[Jwan]

I see, thank you.

I can answer some of those questions because a while back I sent out a questionaire.

Customers are between 25 and 40 years old, they are professionals and health conscious. Competition is other sellers of the same type of tea, but in the UK, there's one major one, though they don't have their own brand, they sell other brands.

Good question about how they consume information, I don't really know that.

 

[AstEver]

You can identify a few potential marketers/agencies and have them pitch for your business but you would need to know how to evaluate them.

I concur with Mark T Jones on the marketing plan. In general, the money and time spent on planning will bring much better results long term than the money handed to marketers and praying that they know what they are doing.

 

[Alison Moore]

In our experience social media companies will talk the talk but rarely walk the walk. They never guarantee any return on investment so you end up spending a small fortune with them for nothing in return.

 

[UKSBD]

What should I be aware of when approaching a social media/marketing company? How do they work? How can I measure and confirm that they're doing a good job?

Don't rely on anything you are told if it isn't in the contract.

A lot of these marketing companies have something in the contract that effectively says,
"Nothing any of our salesmen tell you applies if it isn't in this contract"

 

[AllUpHere]

You can identify a few potential marketers/agencies and have them pitch for your business but you would need to know how to evaluate them.

I concur with Mark T Jones on the marketing plan. In general, the money and time spent on planning will bring much better results long term than the money handed to marketers and praying that they know what they are doing.

Good luck finding anyone who knows what they are doing who will 'pitch' for the business.

 

[Paul Carmen]

The reality is they'll probably do what you ask them to, or what they normally do. Unless they carry out analysis of your business and the market as part of the project.

Doing what they normally do may work, but without any research on the customer, market, competitors etc, you'll be relying on dumb luck. It's far more likely you'll just spend some money and not make any.

The reason that research is key to the process is, identifying the customer and your USP, and how to get in front of them, are what the marketing plan should be all about.

I suspect at present you don't really know enough about your customers or have a real plan; e.g. where the customers are, who they really are etc. This is key, as Facebook may not be relevant, I'm assuming this is B2C, so:

• Do they shop on Amazon? - Then do you sell there, are your product pages & marketing optimised for this...
• Do they look for health conscious brands and ethical advice as part of the purchase? - If so, your website content, landing pages are key, plus Google PPC/shopping and some SEO work may be more relevant...

This is the kind of marketing you need, if you don't know the answers to these questions. Essentially a service from research to implementation, with proper analysis and testing as part of the marketing solution. Unfortunately most companies like that wont work with a very small budget, or on a percentage of sales, as they don't need to...

 

[Darren_Ssc]

Hello everyone

I am thinking of hiring a local social media/marketing company. On Google, they have eleven, 5 star reviews, but these could be family/fake reviews.

My business a limited company selling tea. It isn't making much money. The money is makes just about covers the cost of accounting, hosting and packaging.

What should I be aware of when approaching a social media/marketing company? How do they work? How can I measure and confirm that they're doing a good job?

What I really want is brining in more orders whilst still making a profit (after paying all business fees). Do such companies make their money by taking a % of any orders that they bring in? If not, how does their pricing work?

I'm thinking of approaching them via email but I really wanted to get some clarity on this side of things before doing so.

Thank you

You already say you are not making any profit so a social media/marketing company is not the answer for you.

In any case, most of them are shysters who have no idea what they are doing. Those that do are not going to be knocking on your door looking for work.

You really need to address your problem of low sales and no profit in a low cost way and that means doing all the work yourself.

Stay clear of social media for now

 

[fisicx]

My business a limited company selling tea.

Selling where and to whom?

Are you selling on eBay and Amazon? Can I find you on google shopping? When I search for your tea on google are you #1? Do you sell at farmers markets? Are you stocked in all the local garden centres?

 

[Naheed Mir]

In my opinion, it is better to give the task to your own employee for social media marketing instead of outsourcing it. Many marketing companies will give you the opinion that they have the best social media managers, but they use a "packaged" style approach to social media. You will also get an idea of their organizational skills when they are making a social media plan for you to review.

 

[tony84]

Give @Lee Oakley a shout. Probably the best business decision I have ever made.
Not really social media marketing, more SEO but he played a big part in changing my business from a one man band earning a wage to an actual business with enough turnover to support a couple of us.

 

[Mark T Jones]

In my opinion, it is better to give the task to your own employee for social media marketing instead of outsourcing it. Many marketing companies will give you the opinion that they have the best social media managers, but they use a "packaged" style approach to social media. You will also get an idea of their organizational skills when they are making a social media plan for you to review.

Just - why are you here?

 

[fisicx]

Just - why are you here?

Not just here. @Naheed Mir is posting similar junk on other forums.

 

[tigawoods]

OP You have not explained how you market your services. Don't go jumping into social media like many do thinking it will bring in leads. 99% don't and you end up giving all your money to social media companies who quite frankly do zero.

 

[Jwan]

Selling where and to whom?

Are you selling on eBay and Amazon? Can I find you on google shopping? When I search for your tea on google are you #1? Do you sell at farmers markets? Are you stocked in all the local garden centres?

I sell on Amazon, eBay and own site. If you search for my exact brand of tea, yes, but I am not first for the generic term of the tea.

I am not stocked anywhere physical, I went to a couple of local health stores, but they weren't interested.

 

[fisicx]

I sell on Amazon, eBay and own site. If you search for my exact brand of tea, yes, but I am not first for the generic term of the tea.

I am not stocked anywhere physical, I went to a couple of local health stores, but they weren't interested.

So if you are already selling on a number of platforms, how is a social marketing wonk going to help? You are better off paying for advertising.

 

[Jwan]

I tried that for a while, and although I did get a slight increase in orders, the money that came in didn't cover the advertising cost.

I will steer clear of hiring anyone for social media right now.

 

[MH-startaweb]

Hi Jwan, if i was you i would first see if there was very many people searching for your type of product, as you said your in it to get more sales.....if there isnt willing customers to get sales, have a browse on google keyword planner and see what people type in? just my thoughts.

 

[ethical PR]

I agree you need a marketing strategy that helps you identify which channels and approaches to take to reach your target market.

Any marketing strategy should include SMART objectives against which evaluation mechanisms should be built in to measure the effectiveness of any recommended activity.

Have you identified why customers should buy from you rather than your competitors- what tangible benefits do you offer them?

 

[Lucky8]

OP, I agree with other posters here, but let's step back for a moment.

Social media is all about telling a story. What story do you have to tell about your tea? Is there one?

If you have a story to tell, surely you're the best person to tell it at the start? If you don't have a story, then any social media channel you create will be inauthentic, or even empty.

 

[UKSBD]

If you have a story to tell, surely you're the best person to tell it at the start? If you don't have a story, then any social media channel you create will be inauthentic, or even empty.

He could go skateboarding down the street, drinking his tea and singing a song

 

[BusterBloodvessel]

I honestly think you have bigger things to worry about before you blindly employ a social media company. You really, really need a marketing strategy developing from the ground up.

I've looked at your website. it tells me absolutely nothing about what this product actually is or does - and let's face it, who knows what Yerba tea is? You said your customers are 25-40 health conscious professionals - I'm right in your target market, and I've been sucked in before buying herbal teas, high quality tea bags etc (not diet tea I should add!!!). So i'm right up your street, but there is absolutely nothing that entices me in about your product or how it will differ to any other tea, how it will make me feel, what it will do for me....

As someone said above, I can only assume there is a story behind this tea but you need to be telling it.

 

[Sanjay Patoliya]

Do cross-check their testimonials. I think this would work better.

 

[BreezSteez]

There is some comprehensive advice here: know your brand story and your niche when searching for social media marketing.

 

[Vin Gupta]

Try to speak to at least 2 former clients. If they're good at what they do, they'll have lots of happy clients. Those clients would be happy to speak to you

 

[BillyFo]

Be wary of many online marketing companies in general.
A lot of the cheaper solutions over promise and under deliver.

If you're willing to invest up front to promote your products (given you've got sufficient demand already) then don't necessarily just do it on price.

You may be able to get agencies to work with you on a cost per lead model (affiliates).
Which is an ideal solution, but unless you've got a proven product/brand, it may be hard to get them on board, especially if your profit margins are low already.

 

[globalEM]

Hello everyone

I am thinking of hiring a local social media/marketing company. On Google, they have eleven, 5 star reviews, but these could be family/fake reviews.

My business a limited company selling tea. It isn't making much money. The money is makes just about covers the cost of accounting, hosting and packaging.

What should I be aware of when approaching a social media/marketing company? How do they work? How can I measure and confirm that they're doing a good job?

What I really want is brining in more orders whilst still making a profit (after paying all business fees). Do such companies make their money by taking a % of any orders that they bring in? If not, how does their pricing work?

I'm thinking of approaching them via email but I really wanted to get some clarity on this side of things before doing so.

Thank you

There are many free tools with google-like 'posts' that generate organic traffic. wait for a few weeks to get result
Then you can try Adwords a paid google advertisement plan. Search engine optimization is the key to get organic traffic. there are many ways that you can do yourself with little investments. When you understand the bottom line, you can choose which company and service that you want exactly.

 

[Ben Clay]

If you're already up and running, it's likely you already have some data which would help you get a picture of where you are now. Knowing this might help you understand where you're currently getting value and it may be that if it is through social, you could look into pushing ads on social to try and immediately impact your cash flow, giving you a little more flexibility... If it turns out you're getting more of a balanced revenue stream through, it would be worth digging into each to find out what's working well. Knowing this will likely give you the best information to start creating a strategy.

Marketing agencies like ours will focus on strategy, and as others have said, it's very difficult to choose the right partner. You can only take precautions to clearly outline the scope of work, the goals, any break clauses you'd like within the contract... etc.. Following this you're already doing the right things by checking reviews, although you could always go one step further, a recent client of ours before signing reached out to the MD of a client on LinkedIn to ask them directly about our services and performance.

 

[ethical PR]

If you're already up and running, it's likely you already have some data which would help you get a picture of where you are now. Knowing this might help you understand where you're currently getting value and it may be that if it is through social, you could look into pushing ads on social to try and immediately impact your cash flow, giving you a little more flexibility... If it turns out you're getting more of a balanced revenue stream through, it would be worth digging into each to find out what's working well. Knowing this will likely give you the best information to start creating a strategy.

Marketing agencies like ours will focus on strategy, and as others have said, it's very difficult to choose the right partner. You can only take precautions to clearly outline the scope of work, the goals, any break clauses you'd like within the contract... etc.. Following this you're already doing the right things by checking reviews, although you could always go one step further, a recent client of ours before signing reached out to the MD of a client on LinkedIn to ask them directly about our services and performance.

A client should always take up references . Pretty standard in our industry. Something we always offer clients.

Surprised you only do strategy - the majority of marketing and PR agencies do strategy and implementation.

 

[fantheflames]

Hi @Jwan

What has made you want to contact that specific company, may I ask?

As the owner of a marketing agency, many business owners have an idea of what they're looking for, in your case social media, but the reality is you may need a different plan depending on your business and advertising history. It sounds like you can't afford regular monthly retainers or project fees at the moment, but you're interested in boosting your sales to make your business more profitable.

Some marketing agencies can take advantage of business owners that don't know what they're doing, so presenting your business case and objectives, and requesting a proposal covering their strategy, outcomes, and costs is a good way to go about things. If you were to make a small initial investment, you'd need to make it clear that your goal is not just increasing sales but doing so profitably, including their fees - and see what they say.

There's all sorts of ways to measure ROI, such as website traffic, engagement, leads, conversions, etc. You'd want to understand early on what to expect, and also understand their services to ensure it aligns with YOUR business goals. You basically need to look beyond Google reviews and request direct references related to your industry to gauge how they can help you. A good marketing agency will help you with recommendations for your business before going ahead.

initiate contact via email or book a call, and compare proposals from at least three marketing agencies so you're choosing the right partner for your business.

 

[fisicx]

All good advice but the OP hasn’t been seen here in 18 months so it’s likely the advice will fall on deaf ears.

But helpful for others unsure of their marketing plans.