Solved: Advice Needed on Finding a Social Media Management Agency

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out. I've had a look through your situation and I'm happy to give you some initial thoughts and guidance. It's a common problem you're facing, so don't worry. While my agency's core focus is paid advertising, we work alongside organic teams all the time and I see what works and what doesn’t. It sounds like you've got the paid side handled, so your instinct to find a specialist for organic is spot on.

You probably should unbundle the services...

First off, let's talk about the agency issue. You're right, a lot of agencies will try to bundle organic content management with paid ad services. It's a classic upsell. For them, it's simpler to manage one client account with a massive retainer, and they can charge a premium for the convenience of being a 'one-stop shop'. That $25k+/month figure you mentioned is eye-watering, and frankly, it's not necessary if you've already got a team effectively managing your performance marketing.

My advice here is to be firm. Your budget of $7k/month is perfectly reasonable for a dedicated organic social and community management service, especially for two new brands. You should not be pushed into a bundled service you don't need. When you're talking to agencies, be upfront that you have paid ads covered and you are *only* looking for an organic specialist. If they still push the bundle, it’s a bit of a red flag. It suggests they're more interested in the size of your retainer than in solving your specific problem. It might also mean they don't have a strong enough organic offering to sell it as a standalone service, so they hide it behind their paid ads work.

Don't be afraid to walk away from these conversations. You should also seriously consider looking at high-end freelancers or smaller, boutique agencies that specialise *only* in organic growth and community building. They often have more focused expertise and won't have the massive overheads of a larger agency, meaning your $7k budget will go much further. You can find some incredible talent out there that will do a cracking job without trying to sell you services you haven't asked for.

I'd say you need to be realistic about KPIs...

Okay, let's talk about goals. You mentioned KPIs like follower growth, shares, saves, and comments. These are important, for sure. They show that your content is resonating with people and that the algorithm is picking it up. But from my perspective as a performance marketer, these are often vanity metrics. They look good in a report, but they don't always translate directly to business growth. It's easy for an agency to grow a follower count with generic, crowd-pleasing content that doesn't attract your ideal customer.

Your real goal, "brand retention," is much more valuable but also much harder to measure directly from organic social activity. This is where you need to really press any potential agency. Ask them directly: "How, specifically, will you measure an increase in brand retention?" If they give you a fluffy answer about 'brand love' or just point back to the engagement metrics, be wary.

A good partner should have some concrete ideas. For instance, they could suggest creating a private community for your followers and tracking activity there. They could use unique discount codes shared only on social media to track how many sales are driven by that community. They could work with your performance team to analyse customer cohorts, looking at whether customers who follow you on social media have a higher repeat purchase rate or lifetime value than those who don't. It's not a perfect science, but it shows they are thinking about business results, not just pretty numbers. They need to prove how their work impacts the bottom line, even if it's indirect.

We'll need to look at how organic supports paid...

This is where things get interesting from my point of view, and where a good organic strategy can have a huge impact on your business. Your organic social media shouldn't operate in a silo. It should be the engine that powers and improves your paid advertising. If you hire an agency, they MUST understand this relationship. This synergy is probably the most compelling argument for investing in organic content.

Here’s how it should work:

1. Social Proof for Ads: When your performance team wants to run an ad, they shouldn't just create it in Ads Manager. The best practice is to post it organically on your page first, let the new organic team work their magic to get some likes, comments, and shares, and *then* promote that existing post as an ad. An ad with 100 likes and 20 positive comments will always outperform an ad with zero engagement. It provides instant social proof and builds trust, which lowers your CPA.

2. Audience Fuel: A brilliant organic presence builds you valuable audiences for retargeting. Your organic team's job is to create content that gets people to engage. Every person who watches 50% of your video, saves a post, comments, or shares your content can be added to a custom audience in Meta. These are super warm audiences. They know your brand and they've already shown interest. When your paid team targets them with an ad, the conversion rates will be significantly higher than targeting a cold audience. This is definitely a more cost-effective way to get conversions.

3. A Free Creative Testing Ground: Paid ads can be expensive to test. You spend money to find out which creative, copy, and angles work. Organic social is your free testing lab. The organic manager can post 5-10 different pieces of content a week. The ones that get the most engagement and positive feedback are your proven winners. Your paid team can then take that exact content and turn it into a paid ad with a much higher confidence that it will perform well. This de-risks your ad spend and accelerates your ability to find winning creatives.

When you interview an agency, ask them how they see their role in supporting your paid advertising efforts. If they just talk about posting schedules and follower counts, they don't get it. You want a partner who talks about building custom audiences for the paid team and collaborating on creative testing.

You'll need to vet agencies properly...

So, how do you find the right partner? It comes down to doing your homework and asking the right questions. Based on your budget, you could get a very strong freelancer or a small, specialised agency.

Check Their Case Studies: This is non-negotiable. Don't just look at a pretty portfolio. Ask for detailed case studies. Given your situation, you need to see proof that they have successfully built organic communities for US-targeted brands before. It's a different market with different cultural nuances. Look at the numbers. Did they just grow followers, or can they show how their work led to an increase in website traffic, leads, or sales? Ask them to walk you through a specific example, explaining the strategy, the challenges, and the results.

The Intro Call is Everything: The initial consultation is where you separate the experts from the salespeople. Be prepared with specific questions.
-> "What would your 30-60-90 day plan be for our two brands?"
-> "How do you determine the right content pillars and tone of voice for a new brand?"
-> "Can you show us an example of a monthly report you provide to clients? What metrics do you focus on?"
-> "How will you collaborate with our existing performance marketing team?"

Listen to their answers carefully. Are they giving you strategic, tailored advice, or generic platitudes? An expert will ask you lots of questions about your business, your customers, and your goals before they start talking about solutions. They should sound genuinely knowledgeable and passionate.

Look for Trust and Chemistry: At the end of the day, this is a partnership. After you've reviewed their case studies and had a call, you need to have a good feeling about them. If you feel like they don't fully understand your vision or if there's a lack of trust, it's not going to work. I remember one potential client who, even after we had provided a free strategy review, asked to speak to our other clients. For us, that was a sign that the trust wasn't there, and it likely wouldn't have been a successful partnership.

I've detailed my main recommendations for you below:

Choosing the right partner is a big decision. Getting it right means you build a genuine asset for your brand – a loyal community that not only buys from you but advocates for you, providing immense long-term value. Getting it wrong means you waste your $7k/month budget on content that nobody sees or cares about.

While our core expertise is scaling brands with paid advertising, we often advise clients on their broader digital strategy to ensure all parts are working together effectively. If you'd like to chat through this in more detail and explore how a powerful organic strategy could directly improve your paid campaign results, we would be happy to arrange a complimentary, no-obligation consultation call.

Regards,
Team @ Lukas Holschuh