If your business is looking for someone to run your social media, you’ll need to start with an Instagram advertising Agency. The difficulty arises in knowing who to trust. Your choice of advertising agency is an important one, as you’re giving an outside entity a great deal of control over the public perception of your brand.

Obviously, nobody will pitch themselves as untrustworthy or unreliable, so what can you do to make sure the agency you’ve trusted your image to will deliver? Take the following into account when evaluating the agency you’ve assigned your Instagram business account.

1) Can They Adapt?

Likely, when working with an agency, you’ll take some time to plan out your months, and convey your overall goals and expectations. Invariably, these plans will change.

You, or your agency, may see new opportunities, roll out new products that need featuring, or decide that certain aspects of your current marketing plan are not working out as anticipated. Your agency should be equipped to act quickly when changes need to happen.

Look at All Good Apparel, who found themselves the lucky beneficiary of publicity via LeBron James. They quickly integrated this into their Instagram strategy. Look at the post below and how it blends into their overall aesthetic. This is a good example of being able to pivot to take advantage of a new opportunity.

When it becomes necessary to deviate from your plan, take note of how your agency reacts. Are they prepared to pivot quickly, or does their overall quality dip when plans change? You want an agency that knows how to project for the future, but that is also willing to adapt and adjust as circumstances change.

2) Are They Open?

When you meet with your Instagram Advertising Agency, how transparent are they with you? What do they present to you? If everything they present seems too good to be true, it probably is. You don’t want your agency’s numbers to be all sunshine and flowers because the reality of marketing never reflects that.

A good hint that your agency is upfront and honest with you is that their numbers and presentation will highlight certain areas that need improvement. The fact is, no agency will turn every ad into a viral success or drive a spike in sales with every campaign.

Good agencies will present you with a full set of data that shows you what’s working and what isn’t. They should also come prepared with a plan to fix what’s not working, and maximize the value of what is.

3) Are They Instagram Experts?

There are agencies out there who, in an attempt to stay relevant after the shift to digital and social media, scrapped together a social media marketing team. You want an agency who has hired experts in the field.

Obviously, you want the latter. Your Instagram business account needs a practiced hand operating it, so you need to know that your agency employs people who understand the intricacies of Instagram marketing.

Make sure that the people assigned to your account have experience and that they know how to utilize all of the resources available to them.

Look at Nike as an example of this. Their page-runners have clearly know when and what to post. Look at their use of location tagging, high quality and original images, and branded hashtags. You and your agency may not have the resources Nike does, but your agency should still apply the same principals in their design of your page.

4) Are You Seeing Growth?

Ultimately, the best indicator that your Instagram marketing agency is reputable is growth. Are you gaining new followers? Is your reach increasing? Are you seeing more engagement on your posts? Is this engagement driving sales?

Take all of this into account as you evaluate your agency. Have realistic goals, and expect them to meet those goals. Simply put, good agencies will deliver, bad ones won’t.

You can’t expect every campaign to be a rousing success, but it’s entirely reasonable to expect continued growth from your agency’s Instagram marketing efforts. You’ll see peaks and valleys, but the overall trend should be up.

Often, people’s first impression of you will be what they see from you on social media. Make the most of this! Be sure that the agency you’ve decided to trust is one that is deserving of that trust. With your image in their hands, they play a key part in your success. As you continually evaluate your partnership with them, keep this in mind, and make sure your brand is always moving forward.

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