PR AGENCY DIARIES: HOW TO TELL IF YOUR DIGITAL AGENCY IS RIPPING YOU OFF
Hiring a social media agency is a smart move – leave the tinkering with hashtags, ad sets and viral trends to the experts and you’ll maximise your ROI while you focus on what you do best. But not all digital agencies are equal and, unfortunately, there are plenty of agencies who talk a big game but don’t deliver.
It's far too easy to be bamboozled by shiny reports, positive language, and complicated jargon – so read on for a cheat sheet on avoiding the swindle.
They tell you that targeting is hard
The biggest myth in social is that targeting should be complicated. Facebook algorithms are pretty clever – the truth is, Facebook is really good at getting your ad in front of the right people with a few nudges in the right direction. What’s more important is your creative and copy, your offer, and your strategy – don’t try to outsmart the computer with a list of interests as long as your arm.
They think it’s okay to use stock images
Stock images are the Comic Sans of content – they have a place, and that place is usually in memes. Your posts and ads need to tell your story and you can’t do that with mass-produced stock images. Plus, there’s nothing worse than using the exact same picture that your competitors are using.
Every month is a great month
Don’t be fooled by the positive language and shiny graphs in your monthly report. In social we test, and we learn, and we try things out – and they don’t always work. Likewise, some months are more expensive to advertise in (like around Black Friday and Christmas) and your advertising dollar simply won’t go as far as it will in other months. A good social agency will front up, admit what didn’t fly, and show how they’ll do it differently next time.
They ‘set and forget’ your ads
Social ads aren’t billstickers – you don’t just paste them up and walk away. Your agency should be checking your ads every day, making changes to refine and improve the results. Go on, hop into ads manager now and view the edit history of your ads – if no changes have been made since it was posted, you have a problem.
They ‘rinse and repeat’ your ads
There’s nothing wrong with reusing ads if they work, but your agency should be trying new things and running new tests to make sure that your marketing spend is backing the right horse. If you see the same ads running month after month, it’s time for you to start running away from your agency.
They haven’t given you a clear strategy
Testing and trying still needs a roadmap. A good social agency will prepare a well-thought-out, thorough strategy that shows how your ads will work and how they’ll move your customers through the buyer journey funnel. Without it, you’re just posting for posting’s sake.
A lot of agencies are very good at making social sound hard and themselves sound smart, while not getting you the results you’re paying for. Take stock of your relationship with your digital agency and, if you see any of these red flags, it might be time to have a chat with us.
