Social media is an ever-growing segment of our marketing toolkit. These days, we find it everywhere we turn. Virtually everyone is using it, whether they’re your kids, your business—maybe even your grandma (hey, it happens… literally billions of people are becoming more tech-savvy all over the world in order to keep up and stay connected)! So the question for social marketing is no longer should it be used but how should it be used in order for it to be most effective?

The tricky part is that if you search in your browser for “social media marketing companies” you are bound to get a ton of different results. So how do you know which social media marketing companies to pick? How do you know which to weed out of the slew of what you see loading onto your screen after your not-so-simple visit to your search engine of choice? Here are three things to really be on the lookout for when deciding precisely which social media marketing company you should use:

1. Strategists 

You shouldn’t let a group of people who don’t know your brand (or, at least not as well as you know your brand) simply jump in and start working. You should make sure they have a plan in place—and they should be willing to share that plan with you. You should be invited to be as much a part of this process as they are, and be asked to give input along the way, so you can see your goals being reached and are comfortable with the results.

2. Full-service 

As much as it’s important for you to be part of the process, you should be able to rely on the company you're paying for those promised quality services.  You want to make sure there are no holes where major opportunities can be missed. They should be able to cover at least the basics since there are a lot of different things that go into social media marketing.  These include reputation management, community monitoring and customer service, the technology and knowledge to make, edit or at least upload video and images to all the key platforms, and competitive analysis.

3. Availability

This goes for both you and your customers. Once you start a social media page, even just one, you can think of it as a new pet. Your accounts will be just like living things. Your pages will require a good amount of attention, even a schedule. Thus, just like with a new pet, if there are any social media marketing companies that do not seem to have the time nor resources to remain fully dedicated to their clients and everything a new client comes with (you, your thoughts and questions, and your cherished customers), they are not ready.

Conclusion:

With so many people on the Internet and each one of them trying their hardest to be heard, finding good social media marketing companies is now more important for businesses than ever. Everyone is fighting for the spotlight, so it's crucial not to fall out of the public eye but to have your company be remembered. It won’t be hard though for your brand to stand out and stay in the thoughts of your customers once you start following our basic steps to better inbound, and ultimately, gain a major boost over time!