With Social Media being one of the largest growing industries, there are many companies that are being taken advantage of. KiMedia Strategies encourages anyone looking to hire someone to handle their Social Media campaigns to do their homework.

Google IS your best friend here.

Searching For A Social Media Strategist or Social Media Company

1. Always Google the company or person before calling.

Googling can bring up the uber good of the company and/or person, but it can also dig up some serious dirt that you are going to wish you knew.

2. Is their Twitter account locked or open?

Why would any company lock their Twitter account, ESPECIALLY one that does Social Media?

3. If you’re able to see their Twitter account, are they social or just pushing content around?

Unfortunately, the amount of engagement they have within their own personal and professional platforms will probably be the type of engagement your business will receive. Do you like what you see? Would YOU engage with that account? 

4. Do they have a LinkedIn account?

No LinkedIn? Bye Bye! That should be like rule #3 of all things Social Media. LinkedIn is an awesome way to see their past work experience as well as what others have to say about them. PLUS, they seriously claim to do Social Media and don’t have anything other than Facebook and Twitter? They’re just trying to capitalize on what they see to be a quick fad to make money.

5. Do they provide multiple ways to contact or is it simply “fill out this form”?

All companies should have an available email and phone number, after all, you need to actually speak with clients, right? 

What To Ask When Contacting or Meeting

1. Will my Brand be monitored on the Internet?

If they stumble past this question, they may not be familiar with Brand monitoring through the Social platforms and while this isn’t the main focus of any campaign, it’s a crucial aspect to gauging where people are and what they’re saying as well as who is sharing your content. You ultimately want to know that your campaign will include the monitoring your Brand name.

2. How many followers can I expect in a month?

If they have any answer except the one that sounds like….. “We don’t focus on numbers, we focus on targeting and building real relationships with people that will compliment your efforts” …… RUN!!! Never hire anyone that tells you they can get you a ton of followers in a time frame because what you will end up with is a ton of people from a different country liking or following your accounts that will not engage making it look even worse.

3. So, you’ll be Tweeting and Facebooking, but will you be doing anything else?

If there is a long pause or an emphasis on how important only those two tools are then you need to keep searching for someone. Social Media is more than Facebook and Twitter. Twitter may be my favorite platform, but it’s not the only one I am on. (Have I confessed to being on over 250 platforms yet?? What? Don’t judge, someone has to check them out and do some research!) A committed Social Media company or strategist will want to know more about your company before creating the actual strategy for your company. Maybe you need to incorporate video and what about blogging? Does your target audience frequent forums? Do you have a more visual Brand? This all matters!

A good Strategist also knows that there is always a basic and initial startup process that takes time to implement and should be focused on before any hard core campaigns like contests, chats, promotions etc… 

4. How will I know it is working?

That’s one of the first questions so many people want to know, but is not ultimately the most important. There could be answers like: You might begin to see an increase in your web traffic, people may start interacting with your Brand, you may get some sales, your Brand exposure might dramatically increase. <– None of these are wrong as Social Media is so unpredictable especially when a Brand is just getting started.

Analytics reporting for Facebook and Twitter are definitely available to companies. If your hopeful new strategist promises reports like these, that’s a good sign!

Remember that being Social and building trust between your Brand and your potential customers/audience is the most important thing.

5. Do you have any examples or testimonials?

This is a no brainer. Either they do or they don’t. If they don’t, maybe they just haven’t sought any out, or they just don’t want you to see what people really have to say. 

6. How much will this cost?

Yes, I know you will ask this and I want to stress to you that there is no “going rate” for Social Media campaigns, however,  Social Media Strategy for a small to medium sized company should not reach 5 figures for a month of service and most Social Media campaigns should require no more than 40 hours a month (this is if your possible Social Media Strategy company/person is seasoned and knows what they are doing).

7. How Do We Begin?

Every company is different. We at KiMedia Strategies require a 50% retainer to begin any campaign. Make sure you do receive an invoice so there is a paper trail. 

Some Additional Pointers

– Make sure you keep all correspondence between you and the strategy company/person.

• Emails
• Contracts
• Direct Twitter messages
• Facebook messages
• LinkedIn messages

– Is your campaign strategy turning into a lot of talking about, but not a lot of doing? Be skeptical of those that talk a big game… Over and over and over again. Strategy is one thing, talking as an excuse for not getting shit done is unacceptable!

– Don’t expect immediate results. Most Brands don’t see them right away unless they already have an amazing reputation.

– Don’t be the client that holds up a campaign. Get your Social Media company/person all info that they need ASAP (images, bios, links etc…)

– Answer your emails and phone calls too! <- Sometimes we need more from the client and if you are unavailable then we do not get what we need to keep pushing forward/

– Make sure you are committed to starting this campaign. There is nothing worse for a strategy company/person to see their hard work go to waste!

– Pay attention to what they are doing Online with your Brand. Make sure your Tweets aren’t being run through any service that has “feed” in the name. Social Media wasn’t meant to be automated!

There are many other questions you should be asking, but seeing as you are in business and have probably hired a person or two in your lifetime, I’m sure you have the rest covered

If you have any questions or would like some more pointers, please feel free to contact Kim at (813)421-4153 or email at kim [at] kimediastrategies [dot] com

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