With 80% of internet users relying on social networks, your brand’s presence there is a must. Over two million businesses worldwide are spending considerable budgets on social media advertising, and the number of companies that want a piece of the pie is only growing. We’ve taken an enormous pool of social media marketing companies and applied a comprehensive analysis to find the best of the best. Read on for the criteria we included and how to apply them for your own research.
Disruptive Advertising takes pride in its passion for creating healthy and strong relationships based on marketing results. This pay-per-click advertising firm takes the time to understand the why, what, and how behind your company vision, and create the best possible strategy for you to achieve your biggest business goals.
Highlights
- Started : 2011
- Number Of Employees : 50 – 249
- Location :Lindon, United States
Firebelly Marketing has won many awards for its social media marketing achievements and is therefore considered one of the best social media management companies out there. Its goal is to maximize followers and profit for its clients via social media platforms.
Highlights
- Started : 2007
- Number Of Employees :2 – 9
- Location : Indianapolis, United States
This social media marketing agency employs the most effective social media strategies to help brands grow and achieve results. Its team creates top-performing social media campaigns for small to mid-size organizations. With a wide range of services in its arsenal, LYFE Marketing offers a rounded experience.
Highlights
- Started : 2011
- Number Of Employees : 10 – 49
- Location : Atlanta, United States
Sculpt focuses on B2B social media marketing. The typical clients of this social media advertising company are brands that aim to achieve great results with as little investment as possible. Sculpt believes in flexibility, flat pricing, and meeting goals.
Highlights
- Started : 2012
- Number Of Employees : 10 – 49
- Location : Iowa City, United States
Eboost Consulting has been helping ecommerce brands thrive with top-performing digital marketing services for over 15 years. This social marketing company creates and executes data and results-driven strategies, helping clients reach their goals fast and within budget.
Highlights
- Started : 2005
- Number Of Employees :2 – 9
- Location : Carlsbad, United States
Spin Brands is a social marketing agency with headquarters in the UK and offices in the US. It’s among the top-performing startups with unmatched social media marketing expertise. Created by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, the agency has an all-encompassing understanding of business growth, brand relationships, and social presence.
Highlights
- Started : 2016
- Number Of Employees : 10 – 49
- Location : New York, United States
Build Relationships, Not Profiles.
Imagine puts relationships before profits, helping businesses generate a loyal customer base through their social media accounts. This social marketing firm creates compelling storytelling to engage target audiences and boost brand recognition.
Highlights
- Started : 2013
- Number Of Employees : 10 – 49
- Location : Atlanta, United States
Offering fully managed influencer marketing services, Socialistics always go one step further in conveying your story via social media channels. This premier social media marketing firm ensures a seamless process and measurable results. Alongside influencer marketing, it offers broader services, including social media management, paid social management, and social sales campaigns.
Highlights
- Started : 2018
- Number Of Employees :2 – 9
- Location : Seattle, United States
MediaBoostr uses artificial intelligence to generate innovative social media marketing strategies that transparently deliver your goals. It takes pride in the diversity and expert knowledge of its team, which manages millions of ads.
Highlights
- Started : 2017
- Number Of Employees :2 – 9
- Location : Portland, United States
BrandLyft proudly focuses on small businesses that want to grow fast without spending extra. This social media agency has over 20 years of experience in helping small brands achieve big dreams.
Highlights
- Started : 2014
- Number Of Employees : 10 – 49
- Location : Cartersville, United States
How We Selected the Top Social Media Marketing Companies
The criteria we employed to source these companies can help you narrow down your search for a social media marketing agency. The next paragraphs will go over each detail and suggest what you should focus on to get the best possible value for your money.
Services Offered
The first thing we focused on was the catalog of services. We collected this data by rounding up all of the services and checked them against the following questions:
- What types of services do they list on their website?
- What are their offerings aside from social media marketing services?
- If they offer other services, how focused are they on SMM?
Creativity
In the world of everything digital, being able to provide creative services and products is paramount. We’ve examined the overall approach of the best social media marketing companies to see how high they rate on an innovative thinking scale. Here are the things we looked at:
- Do they offer custom services based on the client’s needs or ready-made solutions?
- How did their clients respond to feedback and suggestions to solve a specific issue?
- How creative is the social media marketing firm with the platforms they use?
- How are they marketing their own brand on social media?
Metrics
When it comes to any type of marketing, metrics are everything. It’s all about measuring your campaigns and reaching set goals. We turned to former and present customers of social marketing companies to analyze this criterion and asked them to share their results. We looked at three major factors:
- Did they achieve an increase in their follower base by using a specific social media marketing company? If so, how long did it take, and how significant was the increase?
- If the company provided SEO services, were they able to improve the client’s ranking position? If so, by how many positions did the company jump?
- Were they able to bring leads that convert with minimal PPC budget waste?
Ratings and User Reviews
Sometimes, the best information you can get will come from user reviews. Aside from combing through thousands of ratings and reviews, we made an effort to reach out to real customers of the social marketing agencies listed here. Here’s what we wanted to know:
- How satisfied were they with the quality of service on a scale of 1 to 5?
- Were the implemented strategies goal-oriented and were they backed by metrics?
- How regular was the company in providing client reports and progress updates?
- Were there any miscommunications that resulted in issues with the provided service?
Case Studies
Case studies are an essential source of information as they tell us how the company is organized, what methods they employ, and what results they have achieved so far. Most social media marketing firms will have case studies available on their websites. We went through them and analyzed the data. Case studies are also a great way to determine if the company has a good chance to understand your brand and vision — one way to do that is to check if they have already worked on similar projects.
Certificates
Certificates aren’t be-all and end-all; however, they can be crucial when deciding between several similar social media advertising companies. Certification in specific areas showcases the company’s commitment to professional standards. It also provides clients with a level of certainty that the project will be done by someone knowledgeable.
Case studies are an essential source of information as they tell us how the company is organized, what methods they employ, and what results they have achieved so far. Most social media marketing firms will have case studies available on their websites. We went through them and analyzed the data. Case studies are also a great way to determine if the company has a good chance to understand your brand and vision — one way to do that is to check if they have already worked on similar projects.
Customer Service
While you might not think this is a noteworthy criterion, we know from experience that even the most straightforward services require the occasional call for help. Social media marketing can get confusing, so it’s smart to look at how the company handles customer service issues.
We went a step further and called the social media marketing agencies on our list and asked them various questions regarding the services they’re advertising on their respective websites. There are four important things you want to pay attention to:
- Is the customer service staff polite when communicating with a potential client?
- How accommodating are they with requests?
- Are they knowledgeable about the issues clients are concerned about?
- How long does the conversation last, given the complexity of the questions?
Pricing Structures
The social media marketing companies’ pricing can tell you a great deal about a company, given there is no rigid industry standard to follow at the moment. Chances are you can find social media marketing or social media consulting companies that price their services in a way that suits your needs. During our research, we have identified three primary pricing models that most companies follow.
Hourly Rate
This is perhaps the least appealing option for most clients looking for a top social media marketing company. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with charging an hourly rate in most industries. However, when it comes to marketing and social media management companies, many feel that it inflates costs considerably.
Result-Based Rate
This may be the most optimal pricing structure as it benefits both the social marketing agency and the customer. The firm is motivated to achieve the client’s outcomes as fast as they can. Instead of focusing on the cost, the company can focus on getting results that they can happily charge for afterward.
Fixed-Rate
Big social media management agencies typically use this payment structure since this type of service usually involves long-term projects. A fixed-rate is also common among marketing companies who can take on large clients. The basis for this type of payment structure isn’t just the work put into the campaign but also a relationship between the firm and the client. The client provides the goals, and the agency’s job is to work out how to achieve them. If you’re looking to hire a company to work on your project regularly and for an extended period, this might be a suitable pricing model.
Key Aspects of Top-Notch Social Media Marketing Companies
As part of our comprehensive analytical approach, we have also identified several key elements that the companies claiming to be leading the industry should possess. These factors will help you narrow down your search further.
Comprehensive Marketing Strategy
Creating a robust and effective marketing strategy should be the starting point for any business claiming to be the best social media marketing agency. But the secret lies in the careful addressing of three major components.
Identifying Business Outcomes
Social marketing firms should pay special attention to understanding and clarifying your business goals. It is your job as a client to make sure that you are as detailed as possible when explaining your desired outcomes, and the agency should create social media campaigns that are optimized to achieve them.
SMART Goals
Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Results-focused, Time-bound goals are what top social media marketing firms will define based on the data you have provided. The parameters set within these goals are tangible, making it clear for both parties when the goals are reached, which is especially important when you are on a result-based pricing structure.
Competition Analysis
Without this element, it would be impossible to create a strategy that maximizes your business market’s effects. Although you can separately hire specialists that deal with market research, any agency worth their salt will provide this service as a standard part of their strategy creation.
Customized Content
The classic adage that content is king rings true for social media marketing too. Any efforts to boost and optimize your brand social presence will be futile if the content you are publishing isn’t on point. The best social media marketing services will always include content writing, media creation, and design.
To further highlight the importance of content for driving impressive social media marketing results, we have outlined three elements to help you evaluate your potential media marketing partner.
Target Customer Analysis
Content creation starts with identifying the target audience who will be consuming your content and, ultimately, your products. Take note if the firm doesn’t ask you any questions regarding your customers — you don’t want their services.
Type of Content
According to most interviewed managers, top social media marketing companies should be ready to create and deliver all kinds of content at any time. So, blog posts, longer content assets, video content, animated content, photos, etc. of the highest quality should all be part of the agency’s content arsenal.
Publishing Frequency
There is no ideal content publishing frequency as it differs from one target audience to another. This is why you need to make sure that the suggestions from your social media advertising agency match the needs of your customers.
Distribution Channels
If you and your social marketing firm have done your job well, you already know what social media channels your customers are using the most. Your agency should be able to create an effective content distribution plan based on that data.
Social media marketing companies sometimes assign different channels to different social media channel specialists, depending on their proficiency with the specific platform. However, advertising experts should have experience dealing with all of the currently popular social media platforms, regardless of their specialty.
Activation Tactics
A strategy is only as good as its tools for increasing the client’s follower base. Activation tactics should be made a priority in most cases. The research we have conducted tells us that most of the top social media marketing agencies use two types of tactics.
Short-Term Tactics
Short-term activation tactics aim to produce the fastest return on investment. These techniques are typically applied in the early stages of every social marketing strategy and include social referrals and advertising.
Long-Term Tactics
Long term activation tactics are focused on attaining more significant ROI within a longer time frame. The tactics include incentivizing collaboration with the leading social media influencers, upping the engagement with the target audience, curating top-notch content, and fan acquisition.
Analytics Reports
The best social media marketing companies will always provide clear and comprehensive reports to their clients. If your marketing partner cannot explain what they are doing in measurable and objective terms and have reports to back it up, they probably aren’t worth your money. So, before you hire a social marketing company, ask them for details on that, keeping in mind that any solid analytics report includes the following main components.
Desired Audience Actions
The analytics report should encompass a number of actions you want your target audience to perform. These can be video views, newsletter signups, social interactions, form submissions, downloadable materials, etc.
Individual Platform Analytics
If your target audience spends their time on different social media channels, you want the analytics report to detail the breakdown of metrics on each of them.
Campaign Tracking
Well-founded data on the social media campaigns your agency is running is indispensable for achieving great results. It allows social media marketing companies to gauge their efforts and improve elements of the campaign that are potentially hindering progress.
