The Social Agency

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director of an advertising & marketing company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Destination marketing campaign for the province of BC.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire The Social Agency to accomplish?

• Promote the seasonal BC Bird Trail campaign (print, online, etc)
• Coordinate press trips to participating regions for additional project visibility.

SOLUTION

How did you find The Social Agency?

• Online Search
• Referral

Why did you select The Social Agency over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from The Social Agency were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

The Social Agency helped us apply a $27k budget towards media placement for The BC Bird Trail 22/23 campaign. Starting in late summer 2022 their team worked with us to identify media contacts that fit the brief of the project (conservation, community, birding). 

Throughout the campaign they secured print, digital, and radio placements for our campaign resulting in increased awareness. The Social Agency also helped coordinate press trips to select regions, identifying local influencers that aligned with the project well – and inviting regional press to explore The BC Bird Trail oncustom one and two day tours. The Social Agency also drafted and distributed press releases throughout the campaign.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• Press placements, print, online, radio, etc. 
• Increased brand awareness through social following, online buzz, etc.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Great, always available to chat through any ideas or opportunities. They were quick to respond and keen to find ways to improve workflows and results.

What was your primary form of communication with The Social Agency?

Virtual Meeting

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Their thoughtful approach and aligned values to a unique tourism marketing program promoting conservation, community, bird watching – rather than retail purchasing, event attendance, etc.

Are there any areas for improvement or something The Social Agency could have done differently?

I've been very happy with their team!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the executive director at BC Farmers’ Market. We’re a nonprofit organization that represents 145 members.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Social Agency?

We needed their PR skills to further get the word out about our business.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The Social Agency handles our media relations, and we help them strategize by identifying our media tools, subjects, and target audiences. They schedule interviews, conduct profiling, and share press releases and articles to promote our events and campaigns across our platforms.

What is the team composition?

We work with two resources from The Social Agency, including Monica (Principal & Communications Director) and an account manager.

How did you come to work with The Social Agency?

We chose The Social Agency among their competitors because of their extensive network of contacts and understanding of our goals.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $50,000–$75,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement with The Social Agency started in May 2015.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The Social Agency has efficient profiling and organizational skills that allow us to secure regional interviews and maximize the involvement of our members. They’ve given us a lot of earned media, amplifying our presence across different regions and communities.

How did The Social Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate via email, Zoom, and phone calls. I can’t say enough great things about The Social Agency’s project management skills — we’re pleased to continue working with their cooperative team.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re most impressed with their breadth of knowledge and understanding of our diverse audience.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We would’ve appreciated it if they identified the interview subjects earlier and more strategically to help streamline the succeeding steps.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Understand the needs of your audience and communicate those clearly to The Studio Agency’s team.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

BC Dairy is a not-for-profit organization representing BC's dairy farmers. Among other activities, the organization supports the community through nutrition education programs and services. I was Director of Nutrition Education.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire The Social Agency , and what were your goals?

We wanted to support and promote eating together among families in British Columbia, as eating together is known to have many benefits—for nutrition, for pro-social behaviour, and for mental health. We learned through research that the best way to reach families with our message was to reconnect food and fun in the kitchen, and we chose a social media approach to do this.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

The Social Agency was recommended to us as an agency that not only had the skills but was tightly connected to the demographic we wanted to reach.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and marking tools used.

The Social Agency was involved since the inception of the project and helped create and grow the social media following to what it is today. They are 100% in tune with the audience and know how to reach it. From managing the various social media platforms, and writing blogs for the website to conceiving, executing, and handling the media campaign for the enormously successful Hands-on Cook-off Contest, TSA has steadily grown Better Together into a social movement in BC.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We have been involved with The Social Agency since 2010. Initially, we worked with two individuals who helped with developing strategy, managing social media platforms (initially just Facebook and Twitter), writing blog posts, and developing and managing the Hands-on Cook-off Contest. Over the years, as the project grew, we added two more members of the TSA team—two working on the day-to-day activities (writing blogs and managing our social channels) and two who worked on strategy and bigger picture elements.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Better Together BC is a well-recognized platform for promoting and supporting eating together in BC and is widely promoted by nutrition professionals in BC. The campaign is very well targeted so we know we are spending our money on reaching people in BC with our message. Periodic evaluations of the audience show that we are primarily reaching those who are needing support to try to eat together more often and that the campaign is helping them do that. The website received the .CA Impact Award in 2012.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

As an agency, they are responsive, creative, dedicated, and always thinking one step ahead about how to foster the growth and involvement of the audience. It has been a pleasure to work with this agency.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The Social Agency is as passionate about the work they do for us as we are. Though our main messages haven't changed dramatically over the years, they continually keep the material fresh and engaging.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

I can't think of anything.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner and clinical director of a wellness center. We offer acupuncture, traditional Chinese medicine, massage therapy, naturopathic medicine, shock wave therapy, and so on.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Social Agency?

We wanted to be more active on social media. Another vendor was working on our socials, but it wasn’t working out, so we needed someone to take over.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The Social Agency handles our social media accounts on Facebook and Instagram. They use our existing assets to create the content. At some point, they used to respond to comments, but we’ve since put those efforts on the backburner.

In addition, The Social Agency manages our monthly newsletter and our PPC campaigns on Facebook and Instagram. Now and then, the team sends us a content calendar for both social media posts and our newsletter. We either approve of it or ask for changes before they execute it.

They also frequently suggest ways we could utilize blogs and videos. We plan on expanding to TikTok soon.

What is the team composition?

Our main point of contact is the owner and an account manager.

How did you come to work with The Social Agency?

A friend recommended them to us.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $14,000–$15,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in August 2020, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Thanks to The Social Agency’s efforts, we’ve definitely seen an increase in engagement and followers on Facebook and Instagram. The clinic is busier now, and their work probably contributed to that.

Additionally, we appreciate that even though the project doesn’t require a lot of work from us, we still have a lot of control over the content the team posts.

How did The Social Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is excellent — the team is quite organized and responsive. They’re always available when we reach out to them. If needed, they can also produce deliverables very quickly.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The Social Agency has grown to be very familiar with our business, so they’re very good at personalizing the content specifically for us. It’s very rare for me to reject their work because of how accurate it usually is. 

We also like how much they involve us in the process. Even though they’re the ones working on it, we always know what’s going on. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I’d prefer it if we didn’t have to make last-minute approvals because it’s not always easy for us to take time out of our day.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Educate them about your business and prepare to be somewhat involved in the process.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of Once A Tree Furniture, a retail furniture store and design service.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The Social Agency?

We needed someone who could help us establish our online presence. We realized that we needed to do that in order to be relevant in today’s world, but we didn’t have any social media presence at all.

We needed an approach that would allow us to educate people and get them more familiar with our brand, but for me, it’s not about growing my following to a million people and giving them inauthentic content — we wanted to target people who were actually interested in what we’re doing, and we wanted to push out content that’s very specific for them.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The Social Agency provides us with a full range of digital marketing and PR services. They’re primarily focused on managing our Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest accounts — they’re responsible for responding to comments, creating and posting content, and working with our internal team to deliver creative assets.

In addition to that, they also manage our site’s e-newsletter and publish content for our online newspaper. They write blog posts for our site and help us with our SEO as well, which involves getting our keywords out to help with our organic search growth.

As part of our PR process, they pitch all of our ideas to magazines and run our ads in some national magazines. Most recently, they’ve helped us put together a PR and social media campaign for a bedding line that we’ve recently launched.

What is the team composition?

My main point of contact is Krystal (Publicist & Strategist), who’s in charge of our social media, but we also work with Monica (Principal & Communications Director).

How did you come to work with The Social Agency?

The Social Agency was recommended to me by someone with who we were doing some creative work. I reached out to them and ultimately decided that they were the best fit for us simply because they listened to me in terms of the kind of content I wanted, which was very specific to the goals that we have as an organization.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $150,000–$200,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working in June 2019, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The Social Agency has done a fantastic job of increasing our engagement in our website and social media channels — we’ve heard positive feedback for our posts, and we are definitely getting the exposure that we wanted. Despite going through a pandemic, our sales are up by 25%, and our social media followers have increased by 3,000. I know that that’s not a big number, but those are 3,000 people we specifically targeted, so I’m very happy with the results thus far.

We’ve also seen a significant increase in our site traffic ever since they started creating content for our blog. They’ve done really well in getting all of our keywords out, and we seem to be coming up higher in our Google rankings through organic search.

How did The Social Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

The Social Agency is excellent in terms of their project management — they always delivered on time, and everything that they delivered has been fantastic. 

I admit that digital marketing is not something that I prioritize, but they’ve done a great job at helping me manage my process and pushing our marketing efforts to the front so that we can move forward.

We primarily communicate through email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I really appreciate The Social Agency’s ability to listen to our goals and what we want our message to be. Now that we’ve established a trusting relationship, they’ve been able to push me to open my mind to the digital world. They do their best to understand what we want, but they still nudge me along to where we could get the best results for our efforts. For instance, I wanted all of our articles to be in print magazines, but because the world’s changing, they’ve been pushing for our content to be mostly online.

They’re also very good at tracking our progress and providing comprehensive reports about how our posts are doing, along with actual suggestions as to how we can further our agenda.

It’s also amazing that they offer a full range of digital marketing services for us. They started with just doing one thing and then added more and more things to do, but it all comes full circle — everything goes back exactly to where our objectives are.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We would really appreciate it if The Social Agency could help us more with our creatives. Creating creative assets is not something that they’re strong at, but they have recently brought someone new who I think could really help with this aspect of their business.

Beyond that, I don’t think there’s anything else they could improve upon because honestly, I think they’re among the best companies that I’ve ever worked with. The services they deliver are so much more than what they charge in terms of quality.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure to go into the project with a full understanding of what you really want, and make sure to keep an open mind and to listen to what they have to say; they certainly have the right expertise to lead you in the right direction.

It would also be a good idea to let them know from the start how much you’re comfortable spending — it doesn’t matter how much because they’ll work with what you have. Perhaps start small and add more as you go. That’s what worked for us.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

President and Creative Director of Reveal Events Group. Reveal Events Group is an award-winning corporate event management and planning company based in Vancouver, Canada. As a leader in the Canadian events industry, we produce large-scale virtual, hybrid, and live events for private corporations and clients, local governments, associations, and the world’s biggest touring shows. With over 25 years of experience in corporate event planning and production, we don’t just plan an event - we create unforgettable experiences that generate tangible results and leave an everlasting impact

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire The Social Agency ?

Needed someone to manage all social, create awareness, and lead gen

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

Shopping local, experience, price

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

Kick-off meeting, plan, monthly reports, ongoing changes for success

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Owner, 2 Account Managers

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Increased visibility, likes, followers

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very effective

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

We appreciate the attention to detail and their prompt action.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Don't use Google Drive.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the owner of The Diabetic Fighter a nutritional and diabetes control coaching service.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire The Social Agency ?

TSA provided me with a comprehensive social media and marketing strategy, as well as a monthly content plan.

SOLUTION

How did you select The Social Agency and what were the deciding factors?

I chose TSA based on their personalities and proven track record of delivering high-quality work.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

TSA first did an audit of my website and current social media strategy. They provided me with an extremely detailed strategic plan as well as a competitive analysis.

How many resources from The Social Agency team worked with you, and what were their positions?

I've worked with the Principal/Creative Director, the Principal/Communications Director, Account Manager, Digital Strategist, and Content Creators.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

After implementing the recommendations made by TSA in their strategic plan my business grew 300%, and I have seen a growth of 25-30% each year since.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Amazing! They are extremely responsive, always deliver on time and within budget. They have no problems jumping on a call to clarify any questions that I may have, which is always so reassuring.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Their willingness to get to know my business and my personality ensure that all of my content and products are a true representation of my values and beliefs.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

None that I can think of.