Every social media agency shows a feed that looks good. What decides whether one is worth paying is harder to see: who makes the content, who answers your customers, what gets reported, and whose name the accounts are in. These 10 questions bring all of that out on a first call, with what a good answer sounds like and what should make you walk away.
- Ask to see live accounts they run now, not screenshots.
- Make sure the pages, profiles and content stay in your name.
- Ask who replies to comments and messages. A quarter of agency packages leave it out.
- Walk away from anyone selling followers. Buying fake ones is barred by the FTC's 2024 rule.
- Get the monthly deliverables, the fee and any ad spend in writing as separate items.
What a social media agency actually does
A full-service social media agency plans the content, makes it, posts it, replies to the people who respond, and reports on what came of it. Some stop at scheduling posts. Some add paid ads. Before comparing prices, find out which of those jobs each agency will actually do, because social media marketing pricing varies mostly with how many of them are included.
Don't start with the top 10 lists
Searches for the best or top social media marketing companies mostly return ranked lists. A list can give you names to look at. It can't tell you whether an agency understands your customers, which is what the questions below are for.
The 10 questions
Ask them on the first call. For each one, here's what a good answer sounds like, and what should make you pause.
Can I see accounts you run right now?
Good answer: live accounts you can scroll yourself, ideally for businesses like yours, and what the work led to. Red flag: follower counts and screenshots of one popular post, with nothing about customers.
Who makes the content?
Good answer: a clear split: what they write, design and edit, and what they need from you, such as footage of your team or product. Red flag: stock photos and templates posted under your name.
Which platforms would you use, and why?
Good answer: the two or three where your customers actually are, with a reason for each. Red flag: every platform at once, because more platforms mean a bigger invoice.
Who owns the accounts and the content?
Good answer: you do. Pages and profiles stay in your name, the agency gets access, and the content is yours to keep. Red flag: accounts set up under the agency's login, or content you can't use after you leave.
How do you grow followers?
Good answer: through content people want to share and save, replies, and collaborations with relevant accounts. Red flag: follower packages or engagement pods. The FTC's 2024 rule bars buying fake followers and engagement a business knew or should have known were fake.
What will you report on?
Good answer: reach and engagement, tied to website visits, enquiries and sales, every month. Red flag: a monthly screenshot of likes and follower counts.
Who replies to comments and messages, and how fast?
Good answer: a named person, a response time, and a rule for passing anything urgent or sensitive to you. Red flag: silence. In HeyOrca's 2026 survey, a quarter of agency packages didn't include community management at all.
Do you run paid social, or is that separate?
Good answer: a straight answer, with ad spend and fees quoted separately. Only 18% of typical packages in the same survey include paid social. Red flag: ad spend folded into the fee, so you can't see what went to the platform.
How do you handle creators and influencers?
Good answer: every paid or gifted post clearly labelled. The FTC's guidance for influencers says to disclose any financial, employment, personal or family relationship with a brand, including free products, in the post itself with words like "ad" or "sponsored". Red flag: "nobody labels these".
What's the contract?
Good answer: month-to-month or a short notice period, a written list of what's included each month, and the accounts handed back intact if you leave. Red flag: a 12-month minimum before you've seen a single month's work.
If you're also running ads
Organic social and paid social are different jobs, and most packages price them separately. What social media advertising costs covers the ad spend, the platforms' minimum budgets and what agencies charge to run the ads.
How we'd answer them
It's only fair to answer our own questions, as a social media marketing agency for small business:
- We make the content: strategy, captions, graphics and short-form video, in your brand voice. We may ask for raw footage of your product, team or space.
- Community management is in every plan: comments and messages answered daily.
- We never buy followers or engagement.
- The monthly report ties reach, engagement and follower growth to website traffic and leads. Engagement and reach usually climb within the first 60-90 days.
- Plans run $500-$2,000 a month, month-to-month, from $500. It's organic only: paid social sits under Meta ads management, priced separately.
Questions people ask
What is the best social media marketing agency?
The one that has grown accounts like yours, makes content that sounds like your business, answers your comments and messages, reports on traffic and leads rather than likes, and leaves the accounts in your name. Ranked lists can't tell you that; the 10 questions in this guide can.
What does a social media marketing agency do?
It decides what to post and why, creates the posts, graphics and short videos, schedules them, replies to comments and messages, and reports on what the work brought in. Some agencies also run paid social ads, usually for a separate fee.
Is it worth hiring a social media agency?
It can be, when your customers spend time on social platforms and nobody on your team has the hours or the skills to post well and reply every day. It's not worth it if the agency can't show how its work turns into visits, enquiries or sales.
Should I hire a freelancer or an agency for social media?
A freelancer suits one or two platforms and a steady routine, especially if you can supply photos and video. An agency suits more platforms, regular video production, or a mix of organic posting and paid ads. Ask both the same 10 questions.
How long does social media marketing take to work?
Expect weeks to settle into a routine and a few months to see a trend. On our accounts, engagement and reach usually climb within the first 60-90 days, and audience growth compounds after that.
Can an agency guarantee followers?
Not real ones. Guaranteed follower numbers usually mean bought followers, which don't buy anything, and the FTC's rule in effect since October 2024 bars businesses from buying fake indicators of social media influence they knew or should have known were fake.
Want to put these questions to us? Book a strategy call. Ask all 10, and we'll answer them about your accounts.
