Facebook Advertising

How We Ranked the top Agencies for Facebook Advertising Services

To present you with our top selection of companies in the field, we applied extensive ranking criteria. Read on to learn more about our process and the factors that we took into consideration.

Services on Offer

Before we can evaluate whether a Facebook marketing agency is the best of the best, we need to find out what services they offer. Some agencies have a narrow focus, opting for a niche selection of services, while others are full-service firms catering to most of your digital marketing needs. By evaluating these services, we can determine exactly whether an agency should be ranked on our list. While we don’t expect all companies to offer the full range of services, what follows are the most common services we look out for.

Social Media Marketing

We want Facebook advertising companies to offer more than marketing on this particular platform. Ideally, social media marketing specialists should cover all essential platforms, including Spotify, Twitter, Instagram, Google Ads, Pinterest, YouTube, Snapchat, and more.

Mobile Advertising

Mobile ads are 30 times more effective than internet ads, while recent research has shown than the success of an SMS/MMS campaign, on average, was 27 times higher than internet banner campaigns.

Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing has been gaining traction in recent years and now has its place as part of an effective marketing strategy within a company offering Facebook advertising services. This modern form of word-of-mouth marketing gets your brand in front of the right people, which is why a lot of businesses opt for specialized influencer marketing agencies.

Email Marketing

Email marketing remains one of the most effective marketing strategies. Over 2.5 billion people use email, with 196 billion emails sent daily and 109 billion of those being business emails. Email marketing is important as it builds relationships with leads, customers, prospective customers, and even past customers, which is why you should either go with a Facebook marketing agency that applies it or opt for one of the top email marketing companies.

Content Marketing

Content marketing has always been considered a priority in an effective digital marketing strategy as its main aim is to improve conversions, connect with and educate leads and customers, and improve brand awareness. It also continues to prove itself by increasing visibility online and building brand authority and credibility in the industry, which is why it should not be neglected by the top Facebook advertising companies.

SEO

Users trust search engines and having a top spot for relevant keywords increased a company’s credibility and reputation. SEO improves user experience and generates more clicks and traffic to your site. Therefore, it will always be an important element in digital marketing, which your Facebook advertising consultant will be able to advise you on further.

PPC

PPC advertising agencies can make key changes to improve the Quality Score, which increases the overall ROI of your PPC campaigns. That said, PPC remains one of the most profitable and effective marketing channels for businesses wanting to see tangible results in the form of ROI.

Video Production

Video is easily digestible and accessible to anyone with internet access and adding video production to marketing campaigns has the potential to improve overall ROI, boost conversations and sales, build trust, and improve SEO, to name a few. Talk to your Facebook video ads agency to see if video production should be a part of your Facebook advertising strategy, or check out these Facebook video stats for more information.

Facebook Certified

In 2016, Facebook launched its Blueprint Certification as a way to establish a consistent level of quality for advertisers. This certification is not just doled out to any company that claims to be experts in Facebook advertising. The agencies must partake in a series of online exams in media buying and planning. These tests are not for beginners and only suited to someone who possesses a considerable amount of theoretical and practical knowledge on the Facebook platform.

While not mandatory, we do give preference to Facebook marketing companies who have made an effort to attain this certification. This Facebook advertising certification must also be renewed annually, so these certified agencies prove that they don’t just have the initial skill, knowledge, and expertise to earn it, but keep up with current trends and requirements.

Knowledge & Understanding of Facebook Rules

There is nothing worse than spending hours upon hours putting together the perfect Facebook campaign, only for your ads to be rejected. Sometimes it’s a glitch, but other times it unknowingly violates one of Facebook’s requirements. A top Facebook advertising agency will have extensive knowledge of Facebook rules and regulations, improving the chances of your ad being approved. We check to make sure that the firms under consideration apply Facebook’s best practices for ads and have proven themselves before making it onto our list.

Case Studies & Portfolio

Any reputable and self-respecting Facebook marketing company will have a portfolio of their previous work and their current work to show to potential clients. While we check the agency’s portfolio, we don’t forget the results to make sure their campaigns went well. We check to see if the client’s following grew as a result of the Facebook advertising campaign and whether the audience was more engaged.

Have companies experienced an increase in ROI since working with the agency? We don’t just take the agency’s word for it. We ask for references and reach out to past clients to learn about their experience and whether they saw any impressive results they’d like to share.

Company’s Reputation

The best Facebook marketing companies will only show off their best work, so we need to do more digging than simply checking out their website. We browse for online reviews and testimonials to determine how other customers found working with the team. We also look at how the agency handled any negative feedback and criticism. With this information, we can determine the level of customer satisfaction, the company’s depth of experience and expertise. Once we have all this information, we only list reputable companies with a proven track record.

Creative & Technical Capabilities

A leading Facebook advertising agency can handle both the creative and technical aspects of marketing on the platform. The social network features a wide range of Facebook advertising options, so we look for agencies that have experience with most of them in creative and technically effective ways. We look at what makes their ads successful and how they perform against competitors.

Custom Designed Strategies

Each business is unique, and Facebook advertising companies need to have an agile approach when working with different brands. We look for agencies that custom-design their strategies based on the unique business goals of a client. In addition to customizing strategies and understanding a client’s business goals, we also check to see how these agencies reacted to any Facebook campaigns not performing as intended. They need to be flexible and quick enough to detect an issue and solve it accordingly without wasting any time and money.

Technology

We look at the technology the companies for Facebook marketing services use to get the job done. Some will use their own technology, while others make use of third-party applications. Either is acceptable in our eyes, but we do insist that our recommended agencies use the latest, most advanced technology when it comes to advertising on Facebook and other social media platforms. We also make sure that these agencies are able to manage all the required tools and software to get the best results.

Measuring Results & Reporting

We take into consideration how Facebook marketing agencies measure results as well as their reporting procedures. Agencies should not just report on things like impressions, clicks, and click-through-rates. While it’s always good to know that there is an interest in your product or service, you want results in the form of sales.

To investigate an agency’s reporting measure, we present ourselves as potential clients and ask about what ROI can be expected after a specific period of time. We share our goals with the Facebook ad company and inquire about how they measure conversions and what Facebook metrics they suggest. What’s more, we once again approach past clients and ask for case studies to determine how well their Facebook campaigns performed.

With these important findings, we can eliminate any company that over-promises and under-delivers or makes use of unnecessary or irrelevant elements in their reporting. We look to see if agencies are sugar-coating results or data to make it seem impressive but are actually irrelevant to the overall goals of the campaign. A top Facebook ad agency will give clients an accurate picture of how your campaign is performing based on relevant data and stats.

Responsiveness

Communication is key when collaborating with an external agency. Things move fast in the digital age, and ad agencies need to keep up with the pace. Ads must be created, optimized, and changed quickly, resulting in a more efficient ad spend. When choosing the best Facebook advertising companies, we present ourselves as potential clients to test whether they respond to our emails in a timely fashion. Agencies should get back to client emails within 24 hours or less. Anything longer is too long, and we consider this a warning sign as they’ll likely treat client communication the same way.

Facebook Advertising Pricing

There are three ways top Facebook ad agencies charge — a % of ad spend, a flat monthly retainer or a combination of the two. We prefer to list agencies who charge a % of ad spend, as this indicates that they are more interested in performance and results. That said, small campaigns, for example, those under $5,000 per month, will typically be charged a flat monthly fee. When it comes to actual Facebook advertising costs, we recommend agencies that fall within the industry standards and provide good value for money.

How to Choose the Right Facebook Advertising Agency for Your Business

While we’ve presented you with the top industry options, not all agencies will be a good fit for you and your business. So, read on to learn what to look for and what questions to ask to hire the best option for your specific needs.

What Are Your Goals and Challenges?

Before you even approach a Facebook ad specialist for their assistance and expertise, you need to understand your own needs and goals. This way you can easily eliminate any agency that doesn’t align with these goals or simply doesn’t offer the right services. Are you strictly looking for effective Facebook advertising, or are you looking to tackle other social platforms like Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, etc.? Are you looking for a specialist Facebook advertising manager or a company that offers a wider range of services? Once you know this, you can choose a company that fits your needs.

An Agency with Industry Experience

Remember that all markets are different, and agencies should not have a one-size-fits-all approach to your ad campaigns. That said, you should find a Facebook marketing company that has worked in your domain or industry so that you know they have the necessary experience to create the most effective campaign. In addition to experience, you should also find out if they have successful campaigns in those markets.

Facebook ad agencies should understand not only your business, but also your overall marketing needs, including target demographics, competitors, and goals. Ideally, agencies should present you with case studies with statistics and information on how their client’s Facebook ads are working.

Is The Agency a Cultural Fit?

So you’ve found an outfit that offers the right services, has experience in your industry, and understands your unique goals and challenges. Now, it’s time to make sure that it is a cultural fit — this is what it will make it the best Facebook advertising agency for you. Ultimately, what you get out of the agency will depend greatly on the team creating it. A cultural fit is important to ensure a good and successful working relationship.

Define Your Budget

Before making any final decisions, you need to think about your Facebook advertising budget. Ask your prospective Facebook ad partners to provide you with a brief proposal with expected timelines and costs, suggestions, as well as examples of previous projects. Armed with this information, you can work out a more specific budget and eliminate companies that fall out of it. That said, you should never choose a Facebook advertising agency based on costs alone. Instead, opt for a company that falls within the industry standards. Ideally, look for a Facebook agency willing to customize its services to help you achieve your goals within a budget that you are comfortable with.