This is a relationship! But what kind? The meeting, the first contact, the process of understanding and influencing each other, the sharing, the colour of the relationship, mutual expectations, even the breakup process… Yes, it's a relationship — but what kind?

Opening Sequence:

We're talking about the relationship between a brand that wants social media work done and the social media agency doing it. It's only natural that both sides start out cautious with each other. From the brand's side, there might even be some prior wear and tear — perhaps they tried another agency, and it just didn't work out, leaving them with a string of disappointments. An experienced agency understands this at first glance. Every new social media engagement wipes the slate clean and starts with fresh excitement.

When brand and agency first meet, they weigh up what they can do for each other. It's mostly the brand that tries to understand where the relationship is heading. Both sides come to the table very sure of themselves, and the brand in particular plays its cards openly with the agency. It wants to protect its brand image, it wants thousands of followers, fans and likes, it wants sales, and for that it wants colourful, highly interactive posts. In short, it wants to "shine."

But wait — as the conversation goes on, it becomes clear the brand doesn't really know what it wants. Yes, it has one or two bright ideas in its head, but naturally it doesn't know social media well, and isn't at all sure what's actually possible. This is exactly where a social media agency's skill at turning cacophony into symphony kicks in. The road from a jumble of scattered ideas to a coherent piece of media has now begun.

Relationship Part 1: Social Media Consultancy

Social media consultancy lays the groundwork for a coherent piece of work across social channels that branch off in a thousand directions. It's a kind of online corporate identity-building. It covers many important steps, from which media tools to use and how, based on the brand's goals, right through to structuring its social profiles. It sets out the turning points.

So here's the first rule for your relationship to run smoothly: is your social media agency actually giving you this consultancy service? Are they approaching your brand with a coherent, goal-driven perspective, or just doing post scheduling? How important that difference is will become clear as the relationship goes on. A coherent approach and real consultancy are the start of a long-lasting relationship. Get that foundation right, and the posts and engagement will follow naturally.

Relationship Part 2: Being Liked, or Becoming Lasting?

Measurable data matters to brands, but impatience is the feeling that undermines a social media effort. The right social media agency will map out steady growth for you.

Being liked and generating interest is a process. An agency that promises it can get your brand liked by thousands of internet users overnight is playing on your impatience. Tempting at first, isn't it? Thousands of people liking your pages, thousands of followers. But are they real? Are they "organic," in social media terms? How much engagement is there, and what level of communication exists between the brand and its users?

When a brand is assessing data from an agency that pulls off a sudden, eye-catching launch and delivers intriguing results in the short term, the key question has to be: is this genuine work? Is there a genuine agency in front of me, or am I just part of a virtual game?

If your social media agency gives you steady figures that took real work rather than a sudden spike, that means you genuinely have a loyal partner. That's the only way to get past the trust problem here. The relationship has to be genuine and open. Otherwise, a brand's reputation, built over years of effort, can be destroyed within a few weeks, and rebuilding it costs far more.

Relationship Part 3: Social Media Expertise

Social media consultancy and social media expertise are often seen as the same job, but they're actually two different departments of one complementary body of work. Consultancy gives the brand the whole picture, while the specialists deal with each individual brushstroke. The adjustments, profiles, corporate visuals and posts your brand's online reputation needs are each brought to life by different units within the agency. In fact, this is the roster that gives a brand the best insight into who its agency really is. Does your agency have a creative team, a content team, a design team, an implementation team?

It might not seem, on the face of it, to concern the brand much — but this may well be the most important criterion for the relationship to run smoothly: social media is a team job!

Relationship Part 4: A Reachable Agency

Once the agreement is signed and the work begins, the relationship enters its most comfortable and its most demanding phase, at once enjoyable and genuinely hard work. The brand's requests and the agency's ideas will be flying around: suggestions, campaign projects, approval emails, kick-offs and deadlines, regular reports… At times, in this relationship, you'll even see the social media agency's persistence acting like armour protecting the brand. An interactive, enjoyable relationship — and just as alert and exciting.

Final Part:

The more stable and well-defined the relationship between agency and brand, the longer it will last — provided, of course, it never loses that first-day excitement.