{"id":9034,"date":"2023-01-16T06:00:39","date_gmt":"2023-01-16T06:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/blog\/?p=9034"},"modified":"2026-08-31T16:56:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T16:56:34","slug":"what-are-the-red-flags-to-avoid-when-choosing-a-social-media-marketing-agency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/blog\/what-are-the-red-flags-to-avoid-when-choosing-a-social-media-marketing-agency\/","title":{"rendered":"What Are The Red Flags To Avoid When Choosing A Social Media Marketing Agency?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over the years we\u2019ve heard plenty of horror stories from our clients about their past experiences with some social media marketing agencies that never deliver anything apart from an invoice and a headache.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We empathise with anyone who\u2019s been mistreated or not had the outcome they wanted.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fortunately, there are plenty of red flags that will help your business avoid the same fate.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Red flags? Yup. Wanna know what those are? Course you do. Follow me, partner\u2026<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>What Are <\/span>The<\/span> Red Flags <\/span>To<\/span> Avoid When Choosing <\/span>A<\/span> Social Media<\/span> Marketing <\/span>Agency?<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h1>\n

Low cost<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Pricing can be a relevant factor when deciding on a supplier for your digital marketing, so you need to find the right one for you. Often differences in cost can be down to the size of the agency, and other times it can be about the quality or uniqueness of the content created. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s no right or wrong way to go, but if you\u2019re looking for results and good social that supports your brand message and ensures you look good online, then avoiding the cheapest option is probably a good idea.<\/span><\/p>\n

Is this our stance just because we\u2019re not cheap so we\u2019re going to bad mouth cheap agencies or \u2018one man band\u2019 social media types? No. We\u2019re good friends with some fabulous freelancers who we love and trust, and <\/span>we greatly admire some of our competitors<\/span><\/a>. It\u2019s just previous experience from the past 10 years tells us that problems come more from cheap social than they do from larger agencies. #Facts.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

No transparency<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Be wary of agencies that are all cloaks and mirrors. If the marketing agency won\u2019t or can\u2019t tell you exactly what they\u2019re doing with your marketing budget, then you should be suspicious. With us, if you do <\/span>Google Ads<\/span><\/a> or <\/span>Facebook Ads<\/span><\/a> you’ll pay them directly so you’re in control and can be sure every penny of your ad spend goes exactly where it should.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A good marketing agency will be more than happy to explain their process and show you what\u2019s going on under the hood. Be wary if they just send you reports and can\u2019t explain them, either. As Einstein said, \u201cIf you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.\u201d And that includes hiding behind generic reports and not having conversations about them. Reporting should be a way of showing progress and making improvements.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Holding your company\u2019s social media pages and website hostage<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Ah man – this happens too much! We\u2019ve recently blogged about the importance of <\/span>o<\/span>ff boarding people from social media<\/span><\/a> because so many budget or cheap social media folk make a real mess of becoming an admin on your social or setting up Facebook ad accounts in <\/span>your<\/span><\/i> name, but on <\/span>their<\/span><\/i> logins.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If the agency or social media \u2018guru\u2019 you\u2019re talking to is going to \u2018save you some time\u2019 by setting it all up for you, just check that you\u2019ll be the main admin or\u2026 run a mile! This\u2019ll be a messy and costly mistake if and when you part company. We\u2019ve become experts at untangling these messes but frankly we\u2019d be happy to never have to deal with it again.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Poor communication\/ghosting when there\u2019s a problem<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Typically, a cheap\/budget social media service (understandably) won\u2019t be able to offer you much time to run the account. These accounts are often run using automation and lean processes that require little or no human input.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sound ideal? It\u2019s not always. Social media is a fluid and real-life content piece. If the agency suggests that you rarely need to talk or exchange ideas, then you\u2019re unlikely to get much in the way of bespoke content. Your Facebook Page won\u2019t get much engagement if they\u2019re posting generic images saying \u2018happy Friday\u2019 etc. Snore.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve also spoken to people who\u2019ve been unable to get ahold of their account manager to deal with any issues. This can be very frustrating and leave the client anxious and unsure.<\/span>\u00a0?<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Vague discussions around team members<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Agencies that don\u2019t specify who will be doing the actual work can do this because they’re usually hired on outsourcing sites such as Upwork, Fiverr, or LinkedIn. And the freelancer is only hired AFTER the client has been signed up and tied in for a year.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That’s fine if you’re happy for them to use random freelancers, but at Spaghetti Agency we only use individuals we know, like, and trust. We prefer to stick to <\/span>our employed team<\/span><\/a> and regular outsourced team as they understand what we do, <\/span>our values<\/span><\/a>, how we deliver, and the standards we have.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Too good to be true<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Be wary of the slick sales pitches. A budget social media company might be great at the sales piece and kudos to them if they are. But you need to be comfortable with the deal or package that you\u2019re signing up for.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be fooled or pushed into a service if you\u2019re not confident they can deliver what you want. Sometimes the hype and illusion hides a very poor rinse and repeat, high turnover of clients model. They\u2019re happy to get clients on board for a few months, take their money, and then move on.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At Spaghetti Agency we\u2019re proud of our <\/span>client<\/span><\/a> retention and we have hundreds of positive <\/span>reviews<\/span><\/a> and testimonials.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Promising specific results by a certain date<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Agencies that offer to get you XXX number of social shares, comments, or links are just not worth your time.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Apart from the fact that follower numbers, reach, or likes are vanity metrics at best, you can easily just buy these from sites online. You want real interaction and real results, and these are never guaranteed.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Watch for red flags<\/span>\u00a0?<\/span><\/h2>\n

To avoid being hoodwinked you’ll need to read some client reviews, ask plenty of questions, and listen to your gut.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When times get tough, it\u2019s easy to be tempted by the cheap packages that are out there. However, while they may seem like a great way to save money in a difficult economic climate, it\u2019s important that businesses prioritise value over cost.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Remember, like many things, you get what you pay for. The right social media marketing agency for your company may require a larger budget, but the results and client satisfaction they provide should more than make up for the cost.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We find that if you buy cheap, you buy twice. We\u2019re often the second or third agency people have tried, and we fix a lot of mess when we onboard clients too. From broken social, to incorrectly set-up websites, email account and tracking, we often spend hours fixing what a \u2018social media guru\u2019 had a go at doing and got wrong.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Social media and online marketing is very public.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Is it really worth the risk?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Want to find out whether Spaghetti Agency might be the right agency for you? <\/span><\/b>Get in touch for a quick chat<\/span><\/b><\/a>.<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the years we\u2019ve heard plenty of horror stories from our clients about their past experiences with some social media marketing agencies that never deliver anything apart from an invoice and a headache.\u00a0\u00a0 We empathise with anyone who\u2019s been mistreated or not had the outcome they wanted.\u00a0 Fortunately, there are plenty of red flags that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":9039,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[149],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9034","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marketing-2"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9034"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9034\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11181,"href":"https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9034\/revisions\/11181"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9034"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spaghettiagency.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}