Often, you will hear stories about businesses constantly changing social media agencies. However, that is far from advisable because it takes away from consistency and cohesiveness. Furthermore, the learning curve for every new agency coming on board to grasp your brand can take away from overall efficiency. Here are four important things to keep in mind when working with an external social media team for the first time, to make the whole process stress-free and worthwhile.
1. Be Detailed
Graphic designers are not mind readers – you will need to explain the client’s brand to them, provide very detailed creative briefs with things spelled out as much as possible, from copy, requirements (such as inclusion of logos, contact information, etc.) and placement of each element, to format and technical specs. Can’t communicate thoroughly? Then don’t be surprised when the files you receive aren’t anywhere close to what you wanted! Never underestimate the power of a very comprehensive creative brief – it saves everyone grief in the end.
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2. Give References
Elaborating further to point 1, if your brand needs revamping, you must create a mood board of reference images to share with your design team so they know the look and feel you are aiming for. It also helps to share style guides, if there are any in place, with them so color palettes, font sizes and typography choices are consistent and in sync with your client’s brand guidelines. If your client has no brand book in place, you might want to take the initiative to build one for them in conjunction with the inputs of your design team.
3. Give Buffer Time
The perfect planner @atelieraarhus ? Jeg prioriterer mine to-dos ved at sætte en stjerne ud for de vigtigste ✨ Den er desværre udsolgt, men en ny udgave er på vej! A post shared by METTE (@chaoticharmonydk) on
It helps to provide creative briefs and references, along with an upload schedule, well in advance, so there is enough buffer room in case someone falls ill or something needs to be redone a few times. As a rule of thumb, try to send in requirements to your design team 2 weeks in advance – and 1 week is the bare minimum if you want their work to show thought was put into it. It is important you set clear expectations with the client to take into account how much lead time is needed before they ask for any last-minute favours; your design team will love you and respect you for this!
4. Set Up a Status Pipeline
In case you have one design team working on several accounts for you, make sure you use a client pipeline system to track the status and deadlines of every file needed from their end so nothing slips through the cracks. An Excel master sheet works easily, combined with a weekly 30-minute status recap call, however you could also try resources, such as Asana and Slack.
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5. Mix It Up
Designers also experience fatigue – do not put all your eggs in one basket. Divide accounts between various designers to maintain variety and creativity. You could possibly consider rotating brands among various designers on a cycle basis if your clients have projects divided into phases. Often clients get upset when they see monotony in every upload, so try to keep things fresh.
If you are looking for more tips about social media from our team, click here.