State of Social Media Marketing: Agency Edition

Welcome to the first publication of our State of Social Media Marketing: Agency Edition report in collaboration with Sendible! Agency Vista strives to provide a network that fosters authentic networking opportunities with brands, agencies, and marketing software. Over 218 marketing agencies worldwide came alongside industry leaders such as Jay Baer and Nilla Ali to participate in the report.

Marketing agencies continually evolve through the growth of technology and the rise of social media marketing. Understanding this evolution can assist in setting benchmarks for other agencies, bring more transparency for businesses, and improve products in the martech space.

Agency Vista would like to thank all of the vetted marketers that participated in the report to provide more transparency in the agency landscape. Are you ready to uncover these social media marketing trends and benchmarks to fuel your holiday strategy? Let’s take a look inside the State of Social Media Marketing: Agency Edition report!

Chapter One: Agency Client Management

Chapter one of our report focuses on overall social media marketing agency client management. This includes acquisition strategies, number of clients, client objectives, sales process management, and customer lifespan.

72.7% of the agency respondents anticipated growing their spend this year. The biggest contributor to their client’s social media marketing success has been the quality of the content they provided.

What is your agency’s main source of acquiring new clients?

How many clients does your agency have?

Who handles your sales process?

What is your average customer lifespan?

Chapter Two: Agency Account Management

Chapter two of our report focuses on overall agency account management. This includes the number of employees dedicated to social media management, payment structure, time dedicated to social media management, social networks used, challenges managing paid accounts, client’s objectives, services offered, and more!

Agencies are dedicating 2-5 employees to focus on their client’s social media management. Having a diversified team available allows for a deep understanding of channel dynamics. There are no single-size-fits-all remedies when it comes to maximizing channel engagement. And strategies vary across each industry.

How many of your employees are dedicated to social media management for your client(s)?

What percentage of time does your agency dedicate to social media management for your client(s)?

What social media networks do you use for your clients marketing?

What are the biggest challenges you face in managing paid accounts?

What is the top outcome your clients are trying to achieve with social media?

Which platform are you currently allocating the most marketing spend for your clients?

Do you struggle to increase followers for your clients on social media?

What social media services does your agency offer?

What percentage of the social accounts you manage were NOT created by your agency?

Do you have a social media posting schedule for your clients?

Chapter Three: Agency Tech Stack

Chapter three of our report focuses on marketing agency tech stack trends. This includes the top tools for agencies, reporting software, and agency tech stack categories.

The pandemic has resulted in more remote collaboration, e-commerce, and a shift to the public cloud, which have accelerated, having a domino-like effect on agencies’ tech stacks. There are hundreds of tech stacks out there that have been created for agencies.

Top Tools for Agencies on The Agency Vista Hub

The Agency Vista Hub features and ranks the top marketing software used by the agencies on our network. Agencies must claim that they use that tool in order for it to appear in the Agency Vista Hub. If an agency stops using a software, then the search will reorder the tools in the Hub.

1. Social Media Management: Sendible

Sendible is an all-in-one social media management platform that is loved by thousands of digital marketers around the world.

Agency Vista enables platforms such as Sendible to launch partnership programs for their marketing agency customers and award them with verifiable badges.

Sendible Agency Partner Program includes digital marketing agencies that have excelled in using Sendible Social Media Management platform and have a proven track record of delivering social media results for their clients.

2. Marketing Automation: SharpSpring

SharpSpring is a comprehensive revenue growth platform with robust sales and marketing automation features, functionality and performance.

What does your agency use for reporting?

What does your agency’s tech stack look like?

If you’re looking for new tools to support your marketing in 2021, the Agency Vista Hub makes it easy for businesses to review and compare the top tools for marketers.

Are you a marketing software looking to boost brand awareness of your tool on Agency Vista? We’d be thrilled to assist.

State of Social Media Marketing: Agency
Edition Key Takeaways

• Referral marketing is key. Almost 70% of agencies’ main source of acquiring new business is through client referrals. Agency Vista’s network does matchmaking in a data-driven format that takes key information from the client portfolio on an agency profile. This information is then used to find a lookalike audience similar to the agency’s existing or previous clients. Verified agencies also can unlock complimentary RaaS (Reviews as a Service) to improve their credibility and drive more referrals to their profile.  
• Facebook continues to be the platform of choice.  There has been a lot of buzz lately about TikTok’s rapid growth. However, only 24% of agencies are using the app for their client’s marketing. Facebook continues to dominate for social media marketing, with 94.9% of agencies taking advantage of the wide audience available. 
• Keeping up with the algorithms is a struggle. Social networks continue to evolve, and agencies are challenged with staying up to date on these trends. Most agencies utilize a cross-platform strategy for their client’s digital marketing, and new algorithm changes can affect their game plan.
• Strategy planning is in demand. A number of marketing tools and networks offer agency partner programs to verify the credibility of that business. Agencies can unlock partner-specific resources and gain access to new features that allow an advantage to strategy planning. In 2021, businesses are tapping into their expertise to assist in their social media marketing strategy. Agency Vista’s search can be filtered by partner badges for businesses looking for support with a specific tool or network. 
• A marketing tech stack is a must.  85.5% of agencies use a social media management software, and 84.1% use an analytics tool. The Agency Vista Hub features and ranks the top marketing software used by the agencies on our network. Agencies must claim that they use that tool for it to appear in the Agency Vista Hub. If an agency stops using a software, then the search will reorder the tools in the Hub. 

We would like to thank all of the marketing agencies and industry experts who participated in the State of Social Media Marketing: Agency Edition survey in partnership with Sendible.