The ULTIMATE Guide to helping you choose the right Lead Generation Agency for your Professional Coaching business.
You’re building your professional coaching business – and you are ready to let the world know! You are either just stepping out – or ready to scale. Either way – its time to change the game and take your lead generation to the next level.
The clients will not just pick up the phone – you know you need to get in front of audiences with the right tools so that they will know you are the right choice for them.
You think about working with a Facebook Ads Agency – brining in a partner to help you grow while you continue to build out valuable services and products for your dream clients.
But what should you know before you hire – and what is a good industry standard you should be expecting from your very own Lead Generation Agency?
Let’s look at the TOP 20 Questions every Professional Business Coach should ask their Lead Generation Agency they hire them.
1. Why do we need a Lead Generation Agency?
You may be at the stage where its time to grow or outsource, and even if you are 100% sure you are ready to work with a social media marketing agency it is still worth asking them why they think you need them!
Pay close attention to their answers and see if they align with your own values and current position. Genuine agencies will tell you where they feel you are at and whether their services will be of benefit to you. If they can’t tell you why they will be a good fit for you or whether their services and products are what you need, they probably aren’t right.
Some agencies may tell you that your business is not a good fit for them – and that is perfectly acceptable. This saves you both time and lets you get on with finding one that is!
Asking your Social Media Agency why they think you need an agency is key to finding out how they feel about things. If they are honest, they will tell you straight up if you are ready for them to guide you.
2. What separates you from your competitors?
This question should be asked of all Facebook Ads / Lead Generation agencies and the answer will tell you a great deal about them and their competitors. The answer will typically reveal what type of agency they are, who they work with and what sort of services they provide.
Look for agencies that offer full suite packages, entry level packages and paid social. Also – see whether they have an in-house graphic design team and how they go about creating content. Ask them what they do differently from another agency you know of.
Not all Business Coaches are created equal and neither are Lead Generation Agencies. This question will reveal some of the variables and help you make your selection.
3. Are you experienced in our industry?
Managing a Lead Generation for high ticket coaches is completely different from running ads for E-Commerce products under $100. Though some tactics and strategies can work for all industries – real results lie in the details and the specialties.
Experience and industry knowledge play a HUGE role in how Facebook Ads Specialists deliver their services, and if your agency is not experienced in your industry, make note that there will need to be time set aside for the learning curve they will need to go on to accommodate the intricacies of each sector.
They will also have a good understanding of what has worked in the past and can get the ball rolling much more quickly .
Having no experience is not a deal breaker – its is simply good to be mindful of potential roadblocks.
4. Who are your current Ads Clients?
You should be able to find out who your prospective Lead Generation Agency works with by looking at their websites and testimonials.
Most agencies will have clients that do not wish to share that they have an agency working with them – but many agencies will have an approved list they can share with you.
5. What is your overall approach to Facebook Ads? Do you have a guiding philosophy?
These questions will help you figure out whether the agency is mature and has developed company values around its goals, practices and objectives for the way it runs its campaigns. This philosophy will stand the Facebook Ads Agency out from the crowd.
You can then see if it aligns with your business objectives and values.
6. How is your pricing structured?
Agencies can use all sorts of creative jargon to describe how they do things – but there are basically two sorts of pricing structures:
1. Monthly Retainer; and
2. Flat fees.
Monthly retainers work well because the agency gets paid only for the work agreed to and they undertake – hence you do get what you paid for BUT some retainers may be high and expensive for new businesses and agencies may do more “fluff” than work to justify a high fee.
If you are new Business Coach or looking to take the next step to scale your time for money Facebook Ads Agencies that offer a flat fee have less commitment and a hassle-free process. Services are charged at a certain amount – allowing you to budget for the work performed and buy in according to your marketing budget.
For larger scale or long term marketing – a monthly retainer and having and agency on hand whenever you need will exponentially grow your reputation.
7. How many clients do you have?
Understanding how many clients an advertising agency works with at any one time will help you understand where you fit in to things. Some agencies may operate on a less is more business model, keeping their client numbers low, but their value and service high. Some work with larger numbers and lower costs.
Neither of these business models is wrong – the key to the right answer lies in the next question ….
8. How many employees do you have?
One of the main reasons you are probably hiring a Facebook Ads Agency is a lack of time. Hiring a Lead Generation Agency that also lacks time isn’t going to improve this problem much.
Try talking to several Lead Generation / Facebook Ads Agencies to identify what the typical employee to client ratio is. As long as a the agency has enough staff to serve its clients you can assess other criteria for working with them.
9. Who will be my main point of contact and how available will they be to me?
Once you have shortlisted possible agencies to work with – you will want to find out who you will be talking to and who will be handling your account.
Ask the agency who will be your main point of contact and look for their profiles on LinkedIn. Make sure you are looking for titles such as “Lead Generation Specialist” “Facebook Ads Specialist” or “Account Manager”.
Depending on the size of the agency you could even be looking for “Owner”!
10. What time commitment is required from me?
Although you are may be looking for an agency because you are stretched for time – be wary of an agency that says the will do it all for you. They will need to obtain information from you and will make ongoing requests to better represent your business.
Ask prospective agencies what they will need from you and how long it will take.
11. What is your content development strategy?
Running Facebook Lead Generation Ads need to position you in the market and that includes obtaining, buying and managing content and marketing assets.
It also requires a large production of content with different strategies to produce it, maintain it and scale it.
To assess whether your agency can provide the right level of service find out if they:
- Create original pieces of content or create content found on the internet;
- Will they make or use “user generated content” or “third party content” which is content created by other people? Creating content from scratch can become increasingly expensive so most agencies us a balanced amount of UGC and TPC. Be skeptical if they plan to ignore these areas.
- What type of content will they create? Will they use snippets from your website, blogs, other platforms to cross promote you?
- How will they create graphics? Will they use stock images or create new tiles?
- How many tiles will they create each month?
- Will they reuse content or create new pieces each month?
- Will they get you to create content to help build your brand?
12. How will you ensure that our Facebook Ads align with our brand?
Brand voice and branding are imperative to marketing communications. Find out how your prospective agency learns about your particular Business Coaching brand, its voice and how it stays on brand when talking from your perspective to your customers.
Find out if they utilise a Brand Voice system and research your customers.
13. Do you offer other services?
Some Facebook Ads Agencies offer a variety of complimentary services such as web design, branding, Social Media Management and graphic design.
Be hesitant when you start hearing a long list of services offered. Unless you are dealing with a large, well respected agency, chances are they are not experts in all of these services.
14. What is your on-boarding process?
The on-boarding process is the foundation for a successful relationship with your new Facebook Ads Agency.
It is important to understand how they plan to bring you onboard and to make the process as seamless and effortless as possible. A tested and seamless system shows the maturity of the agency. Keep in mind the time and money that could be wasted with an inefficient system.
15. How will you measure success?
Measuring for success is crucial when working with Facebook ADs.
Because Ads provide such data rich information – make sure your Ads Agency is capable of delivering to you an easy to understand analysis of your ads. Look for things like CPC, CPM, ROI and ROAS – which are all jargon for how well your ads are doing. Make sure your agency describes what each is and how they play a part in the decision making of your strategies.
Ask your agency to explain their thinking.
16. How often do you report progress?
Communication is key to any successful relationship and that is the same for social media marketing.
Most agencies have a schedule they abide by when it comes to reporting. Some may report monthly, some weekly and some daily. This will depend on the Business Coach and the work.
When asking this question – think about the frequency in which you would like to receive reports. Most agencies will break protocol if a client would like reports in time-frames they don’t usually do.
17. Is there a minimum contract length?
Because Facebook Ads do take some time to work – most agencies will request a 3 month minimum sign up.
There are others who don’t ask for any at all.
This is where you will ask the agency for the various packages they offer and you can create a custom retainer contract or go onto one of their pre-packages.
18. What results can I expect with my budget? How long will it take to achieve these results?
Some agencies will promise the world and deliver little, and others won’t promise you anything!
A good agency will have a strong idea on what your services and products can deliver to your industry and for your budget.
Ask them the results they have achieved for their earlier clients and get them to tell you a little about how they have gone about getting those achievements.
19. Should we just stay with Facebook Ads or try Google Ads?
This will all depend on your budget, your goals and the Agency’s expertise. Each area is specialised – so if there is not a dedicated team for Facebook Ads and one for Google or Tik Tok Ads – be careful. Is one better over the other – they both have their pros and cons. Talk to your agency about which one is better or if your budget can span both.
20. What emerging networks should we consider using?
THAT all depends on your objectives! Keeping an eye on emerging platforms is key to the success of any Ads Agency.
If they are unaware of the latest aspects of their industry – they may be outdated. They should be able to describe to you why a new platform would best suite your offer and not just jump on it for the sake of it
We hope this list has been helpful in finding the perfect social media agency. If you are still unsure, do not hesitate to contact us! We would be happy to answer any questions or provide more information on how we can help your business succeed online and off.
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