What questions should you ask a Melbourne social media agency before signing?

The 10 most important questions to ask a Melbourne social media agency are: (1) Does this include a shoot day at my premises, or do I supply content? (2) Who owns the ad accounts — me or you? (3) Is ad spend billed at cost or with a markup? (4) Is paid advertising included, or quoted separately? (5) What CRM or lead follow-up system is included? (6) What happens to leads that come in after hours? (7) What does the monthly report show — reach metrics or cost-per-lead? (8) If I cancel, do I keep full access to all accounts? (9) What's the minimum commitment period? (10) Can I see examples of results for businesses in my vertical? A Melbourne social media agency that cannot answer these clearly is not running a full-service retainer.

What are the red flags when choosing a Melbourne social media agency?

Red flags to watch for when choosing a Melbourne social media agency: the agency runs your ads from their own account instead of yours (you lose the pixel, data, and audience when you leave); ad spend is marked up rather than passed at cost; the retainer includes no original video production (the agency expects you to supply content); there is no CRM or lead follow-up system included (leads go cold after hours); monthly reporting shows only reach and engagement, not cost-per-lead or attributed revenue; the agency cannot show examples of results in your specific vertical; and there is no clear answer to what you keep if you cancel.

How do you compare Melbourne social media agency quotes?

To compare Melbourne social media agency quotes accurately, confirm what each includes across five categories: (1) Production — does it include a crew shoot at your premises, and how many deliverables? (2) Paid advertising — is it included, and is ad spend at cost or marked up? (3) CRM — is lead follow-up automation included? (4) Account ownership — are all accounts and data in your name? (5) Reporting — does it track cost-per-lead and revenue outcomes, or just reach and follower count? Two quotes at different prices are not comparable unless all five categories are specified. An $800/mo quote with no production, no paid management, and no CRM is a posting service, not a retainer.

Field notes · decision guide

10 questions to ask a Melbourne social media agency before you sign

Most Melbourne businesses sign a social media retainer without asking the ten questions that determine whether it will generate leads or just cost money. Here they are.

The Melbourne social media agency market is not transparent. Agencies use the same language — "full-service", "results-driven", "end-to-end" — to describe services that range from scheduling your own posts to running a complete production, advertising, and CRM system. The only way to tell them apart before you sign is to ask the right questions and hold out for specific answers.

1. does this retainer include a shoot day at my premises, or do I supply the content?

This is the first question because it immediately distinguishes a content management service from a full-service retainer. A retainer that includes original video production should specify: when the crew comes to your premises (the shoot day), how many deliverables you receive (4 Reels, 12 posts, etc.), what format (vertical for Reels, horizontal for broadcast), and the turnaround from shoot to delivery.

If the agency expects you to supply the content and offers to edit, caption, and post it, that is a content management service — not a full-service retainer. It may be the right service for a business with an in-house production capability, but it is not the same thing.

2. who owns the ad accounts — my business or yours?

Your ad accounts — Meta Business Manager, ad accounts, Facebook Pixel, and Google Ads — should be owned by your business, not the agency. The agency should be an admin on your accounts. If the agency runs your advertising from its own accounts, you lose all historical data, your entire retargeting audience, and the pixel history when the relationship ends.

Ask specifically: "Will you create these accounts in my name, or run them from yours?" If the answer is anything other than "in your name", treat it as a red flag.

3. is ad spend billed at cost, or does the agency mark it up?

Ad spend is the money that goes from you to Meta and Google to run the ads. Transparent agencies pass this at cost — you pay exactly what the platforms charge, either directly on your card or via a pass-through invoice line. Opaque agencies take the ad spend and pay the platforms a lower amount, keeping the margin.

Ask: "Is the ad spend billed at cost with no markup?" A transparent answer is yes. An evasive answer ("it's included in the retainer fee") deserves a follow-up: "Does that mean the $X I'm paying you covers both your fee and the platform costs? What percentage goes to the platforms and what percentage is your management fee?"

4. is paid advertising management included, or quoted separately?

Some Melbourne agencies include paid advertising in the retainer. Others quote it separately. Others don't offer it at all. Know which applies before you sign — because organic content without paid distribution produces limited results for most Melbourne service businesses, and discovering the paid component is separate after month one is an unpleasant surprise.

5. what CRM or lead follow-up system is included?

Social media marketing generates enquiries. The retainer should include the system that converts those enquiries into bookings before they go cold. At minimum, this means: a missed-call text-back (so after-hours calls get an immediate SMS), an automated DM response for Instagram and Facebook enquiries, and a unified inbox that consolidates all channels.

If the agency has no answer to this question, ask: "What happens to leads that come in after business hours?" If the answer is "you handle that side," the campaign will generate leads that disappear.

6. what happens to enquiries that come in after business hours?

This is the practical version of question 5. Most Melbourne service businesses receive a significant proportion of enquiries outside business hours — Friday evenings for hospitality, Saturday mornings for automotive, evenings and weekends for finance and real estate. An agency that doesn't have a specific answer to this question doesn't have an after-hours follow-up system.

7. what does the monthly report show?

Monthly reporting should connect campaign activity to business outcomes. Ask to see a sample report before signing. A reporting package that shows only reach, impressions, follower count, and engagement rate is not a business outcome report — it's a social media metrics report.

The metrics that matter for a Melbourne service business: cost-per-lead (how much does it cost to generate one qualified enquiry?), lead-to-booking conversion rate (how many enquiries became confirmed bookings?), and attributed revenue (at the Growth and Scale tiers, how much revenue can be directly connected to the campaign?).

8. if I cancel, do I keep full access to everything?

You should be able to cancel the retainer and retain full admin access to every account and asset — Instagram, Facebook Page, Google Business Profile, Meta Business Manager, ad accounts, website, domain, and CRM data. If the agency is the primary owner of any of these, you have a leverage problem that should be addressed before you start, not after you decide to leave.

9. what is the minimum commitment period?

A three-month minimum is standard and legitimate — the algorithm learning phase, content compounding, and attribution setup all take time that can't be compressed. A twelve-month lock-in with no performance clause is different. Know the minimum commitment and what the exit conditions are before signing.

10. can you show me results for businesses in my vertical?

A Melbourne social media agency that works in hospitality, automotive, real estate, or finance should be able to show you examples of work and results in your specific vertical. Generic case studies ("we grew a client's Instagram by 200%") without vertical specificity and without revenue outcomes are not evidence of the capability you're buying.

If the agency can't show you a Melbourne restaurant campaign that increased bookings, a dealership campaign that drove test drives, or a finance broker campaign with pre-approval enquiry data, ask why.

For a full checklist of what a full-service retainer should include, see what should be in a social media retainer in Australia. For how to compare Melbourne agency quotes accurately, see social media management cost Melbourne. To discuss a Konquer Media retainer for your business, use the brief form.

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