The more social media becomes engrained in the lives of consumers and our customers, the more important it is for fresh produce marketers to vet the right companies to work with when presenting their brands online. Sometimes not knowing the right questions to ask when interviewing an agency can be half the battle when social media marketing isn’t your forte. This is why social media marketing companies exist. Social media takes strategy and a full day’s work, seven days a week to successfully manage a brands’ presence online.

In this post, I’m giving you ten questions that you need to use when interviewing a social media agency to support your brand’s voice and image online.

1. What’s process would your team adhere to on a daily, weekly and monthly basis to manage my brand’s social media effectively?

Social media management requires careful planning, strategy and skill. Before you hire a social media agency, be sure to ask for details about the content planning and promotion process. If they are a skilled team, they will have their social media strategy down to a science that can prove to be successful for your brand.

2. How quickly do you respond to comments?

People use social media today to talk about everything from what they had for breakfast to making customer service centric comments that demand a brand’s attention – fast. Be sure to understand the timeline that the agency deems appropriate for addressing questions and customer service centric matters that will inevitably surface via social channels.

3. What types of brands and products do you most often represent on social media?

Do you want to work with an agency that tweets about automotive brands one minute and asparagus the next? Finding out if the agency supports other businesses similar to yours will help you determine if they will have immediate context and empathy relative to your brand and how to address your online communities with confidence faster.

4. What do the managers like to do in their spare time?

If you grow and sell fresh fruits and vegetables, you might want to find out how the social media team feels about your products. If they are healthy eaters or moms trying to feed families living busy lifestyles, you’ll want to know they might incorporate your product into their daily lives. This is really one of the most important things you need to know.

5. Does the agency have a favorite social media network?

There really isn’t a right or wrong answer to this one, but you’ll be looking for signals that show you that this agency is capable of providing you with a well-rounded approach to social media management. With social media networks popping up on a regular basis, it will be important that you see evidence that the agency adapts to this truth and is willing to dive into the social network that will help you reach your goals with confidence.

6. Can I see your social media work in action right this moment?

You’ll want to be sure that you find out who the agency is currently supporting on social media and watch when, where and how they engage in action. Is there evidence of originality, personality and connectivity? I hope so.

7. Will I have the chance to approve content before it is published?

This is a trick question. You should be looking for the agency to explain the difference between planned content and live content. The agency should be able to provide you with a ratio that works best for them and your clients. For instances, our ratio is 40%:60% planned content to live content. The other 60% should be “live” content that is published or shared based on current consumer comments, or connections made with influencers in the moment.

8. How will you measure success of your work?

Social media can absolutely be measured and the agency should walk you through a discussion about your goals and the KPIs that together you should work to accomplish. But before you can establish goals, the agency must first take an assessment of the work that you’re currently conducting digitally to determine the proper audiences and types of content that you should be sharing to optimize your social presence and meet your goals.

9. Will you provide regular progress updates?

Agencies with great communication techniques will keep you informed regularly about the progress they are making or new strategies that they are working to put into motion on your behalf. You should expect to hear from your social media agency a minimum of twice a week: First, to establish the week’s goals and second to recap.

10. What can I do to help the agency best support the brand?

Asking a question like this would be music to a social media marketer’s ears and their answer may be music to yours. You would be looking for answers that display their willingness to integrate deeper into your brand and thus, expanding their context around your products. Responses that you might want to hear are “Allow me to attend your next brand strategy meeting so that I’m kept in the loop if we need to adapt our voice or approach online,” or “Keep me posted on website updates, photographs and recipes that are under development for the brand so I can incorporate them into our content plan.”

Whether you’re currently working with a team or agency to support your social media efforts, consider DMA Solutions for support to help maximize your brands’ exposure on social media. We offer a wide variety of services like social media assessments, content creation support and full social media brand management services for fresh produce companies. We currently support brands like California Giant Berry Farms, SUNSET Produce and Natural Delights Medjool Dates. Want to see our work in action? Be our guest! We would love to help you get started or get strategic on your social media journey. Send us an email at info@dma-solutions.com and tell us how we can help.