Choosing a social media agency is a commercial decision before it is a creative one. A good partner makes your channels easier to run and easier to measure, while a poor fit leaves you with a monthly invoice and little to show for it. This guide sets out what to check before you sign.
Questions to ask in the first meeting
A portfolio shows what an agency can produce on a good day. Your questions should reveal how it works on an ordinary one. Ask about process, people and responsibility, and listen for specific answers. Vague replies at this stage tend to become vague delivery later.
Bilingual capability deserves particular attention in the UAE. Many audiences read both Arabic and English, and they notice quickly when Arabic has been translated mechanically from English. Ask to see paired examples of the same campaign in both languages, and have an Arabic speaker on your side read them.
- Who will work on our account day to day, and who is our single point of contact?
- How do you plan content, and how far ahead will we see it before it is published?
- Who writes the Arabic and who writes the English, and are both written by native speakers?
- What do you need from us each month, and how much of our time will it take?
- How do you handle a negative comment or a complaint on our channels?
- What happens to our accounts, files and data if we stop working together?
What a written scope should contain
A proposal sells the relationship. A scope defines it. Before any work starts you should hold a written document that states what will be delivered, on which channels, in what volume, by when, and for what price. If the agency cannot put that on paper, treat it as a sign that it has not been decided.
A sound scope also covers the less visible parts of the work: how many rounds of revision are included, who approves content and within how many days, what is excluded, and how extra requests are priced. The clearer the document, the fewer difficult conversations you will have in the third month.
Who owns the accounts
Your social media accounts, advertising accounts and pages are business assets. They should be created in your company's name, with your company as the primary administrator and the agency added as a partner with only the access it needs. The same applies to design files, video footage, written content and any source code produced for you.
This arrangement is easy to set up at the start and awkward to fix afterwards. Businesses that let an agency open accounts under its own profile can find themselves negotiating for access to their own audience and history when the contract ends. Ask for ownership and handover terms in writing, and check the administrator settings yourself.
How reporting should work
Agree on reporting before the first post goes out. Decide which measures matter for your objectives, how often you will receive a report, and who will explain it. A report should connect activity to outcomes you care about, such as enquiries, bookings, sales or qualified traffic, and not only to reach and follower counts.
Good reports are short and honest. They show what was delivered against the scope, what performed well, what did not, and what will change next month. You should also have direct access to the platform analytics, so that the report is a summary of data you can verify and not the only window you have.
Red flags to take seriously
Most problems with agencies are visible before the contract is signed. The following signals are worth acting on.
- Guaranteed results, such as a promised number of followers or leads.
- Reluctance to put deliverables, timelines or prices in writing.
- Accounts or advertising set up under the agency's ownership.
- Reports that show only favourable figures, with no access to the underlying data.
- No named contact, or a contact who changes with every query.
- Long lock-in periods with unclear exit and handover terms.
Making the decision
Compare agencies on clarity, not on the size of the presentation. The partner who explains its process plainly, writes down what it will deliver, and leaves ownership with you is usually the one that will still be easy to work with a year from now.
At Blue Star FZE LLC we work this way with businesses in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and the rest of the UAE: a written scope first, one point of contact, and client ownership of accounts, source code and content. You can reach us at info@aebluestar.com.