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One Umbrella is our top choice of the best social media managing companies. Specialising in improving your conversion rates, One Umbrella keeps clients happy with rigorous and well-planned social media marketing strategies.
Social media managing companies are ten-a-penny these days, but your marketing campaign isn’t. That’s why you need to know which social media marketing companies employ social media monitoring tools that UK businesses can truly succeed with.
Fear not, because we’re about to break down the “who, what, and why” of the best social media marketing agencies. We’ve been reviewing digital marketing services since YouTube was unheard of and Twitter was still in its nest. That’s why we’re best placed to review and recommend only the most trusted social media managing companies.
If you’re an ambitious SME business leader with a need for social media marketing (SMM) – you’re in the right place. Read on for a blow-by-blow of SMM agencies in the UK or tell us a few basic details about what you’re looking for. We’ll take your needs on board and match you with trusted social media marketing agencies from our little black book. It’s easy and your data is secure with us.
Social media managing companies: Quick overview
| Recommended One Umbrella | Social Republic | Macedo Marketing | Spin Brands | Yell |
 |  |  |  |  |
| 4.9 | 4.6 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 2.3 |
| Best For Conversion boost | Best For Charity campaigns | Best For Startups | Best For Creative content | Best For Reaching more search engines |
| Key Features
| Key Features
| Key Features
| Key Features
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| Free trial? | Free trial? | Free trial? | Free trial? | Free trial? |
We’ve chosen the best social media marketing companies based on the following criteria:
- Has more than ten customer reviews across platforms
- Greater than 50% of their business is social media marketing focused
- Based in the UK
1. One Umbrella: Best for conversion boost
Aiming at conversion rate optimisation, One Umbrella uses a mix of Facebook, Instagram and Google ads to boost your web traffic. A hefty 65% of their service lines focus on social media marketing, so you know their specialists have their ear to the ground on every tiny update across platforms. Clients praise One Umbrella's services for reducing cost per conversion while maintaining timely communication. That's a great indicator you can trust the agency to keep you informed and you know they're not simply taking your money for zero results.
Clients happy with conversion rate uptick
Efficient communicators
Structured approach to workflows
You may experience a learning curve regarding social media strategy
Strategy documents may seem rather lengthy
Ideal clients: Small and mid-sized businesses in digital services, Saas, ecommerce retailers, educators, coaches and consultants.
2. Social Republic: Best for charity campaigns
Social Republic manages tone-sensitive global campaigns on behalf of prestigious non-profits and corporations. As a CharityComms Partner, Social Republic have access to a network of experienced communications professionals best placed to increase charities' brand presence. eBay, Red Cross, Co-op, Red Bull – the calibre of Social Republic's clientele speaks for itself. They're official marketing partners with Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn so your channels' communications are in safe hands.
In-depth social listening tools
Clients remain with them for years
Highly favourable customer reviews
Unsuitable for small budget clients
Ideal clients: Large corporations, banks, healthcare groups, supermarkets, digital sales platforms, international charities.
3. Macedo Marketing: Best for startups
With experts trained in Facebook Blueprint and Hubspot certifications, Macedo Marketing specialises in accurately-worded and precisely targeted social media ad creation. Their accredited knowledge means your brand's online marketing will go a lot further than your niece's best efforts on the emoji keyboard. Depending on your specific project, you can expect to work with a copywriter, media buyer, strategist, graphic designer and videographer. That breadth of expertise ensures your staff will save time and your brand will save face with high-quality social media campaigns that bring in new customers.
Higher ROAS (return on ad spend) compared with other agencies
Deep industry expertise in Facebook and Instagram
Delivers high quality graphics
Detailed regular updates
Not as established as some other agencies
Less suitable for B2B clients
Ideal clients: Startup or scale-up ecommerce retailers, fashion merchants, apparel designers, Saas firms, online course sellers
| Service | Price |
|---|---|
| Facebook ads set-up 7 days management | £692.56 |
| Facebook ads package 14 days management | £1,495 |
| Premium facebook ads 30 days management | £2,392 |
4. Spin Brands: Best for creative content
The friendly and knowledgeable team has a narrower range of services than most: specialising in paid social, organic traffic and ambassador marketing. They've recently gained Google Ads specialists to support this work, too. Their in-house creative team will design a mood board, set up a photoshoot and produce professional branded content for your business. Meanwhile, expert strategists will curate social media timelines that hone your brand's consistency in tone, aesthetic, and messaging. Watch out for pricing changes, though, as at least one client felt they overpaid for services due to an unforeseen strategy change.
High profile clients including Asus, MUJI, Tango, Moët & Chandon, Funky Pigeon
In-house photo shoots
Winner of a Drum Award for Social Media 2021
Not suitable for tiny projects
Less suitable for B2B clients
Keep an eye out for unexpected costs
Ideal clients: DTC and B2C brands including ecommerce businesses, cosmetics companies, food and beverage firms, shoe retailers, adult products, pet food suppliers, alcohol merchants, high-end stationers, software and hardware retailers
5. Yell: Best for reaching more search engines
The modern-day equivalent of the Yellow Pages, Yell provides a wide range of social media marketing services to get your business seen by local customers. Unlike any other business on this list, Yell owns and operates its own businesses directory. As an official Meta Business Partner (the parent company of Instagram and Facebook), Google Partner and Microsoft Partner, Yell combines paid search, social audience targeting, remarketing and pixel tracking to maximise brand awareness.
Well-established brand
Owns and operates its own business directories
Partnerships with major search platforms
Customer review scores are somewhat low
Ideal clients: SMEs, local tradespeople, artists, designers, educational groups, charities and NGOs
Best social media marketing companies in London
We know that some entrepreneurs like to keep it local when it comes to a business partnership. For those based in London, social media marketing companies are essential to face off fierce competition. We researched until we found the best, and here they are:
Bespoke Brand Developers
Average customer review score: 5/5
Location: 1 Bell Yard, London, WC2A 2JR
Ideal clients: Small businesses and individual entrepreneurs
Bespoke Brand Developers carries out an audit of your current marketing set-up, then delivers a personalised strategy. That’s useful groundwork for letting you know where you stand, and helping to set future goals for your brand. You’ll get weekly consulting with your account manager, so you’re never left in the dark about the progress of your campaigns. A particular boon of this company is their breadth of expertise. They’ll help out with paid advertising, SEO, and conversion rate optimisation as well as social media marketing.
NinjaPromo
Average customer review score: 5/5
Location: 71-75 Shelton Street, London, WC2H 9JQ
Ideal clients: Start-ups and big companies
NinjaPromo specialises in graphic and video content creation, which makes them a great fit for businesses in need of visual marketing. Particular industries they’d suit include restaurants, entertainers, designers, and all kinds of product merchants. Happy clients praise the knowledgeable and open-minded staff as well as their ability to deliver strong return on investment. The agency is particularly experienced in marketing for tech groups, suggesting lesser-known social media platforms for clients depending on their exact niche. Such expertise will benefit businesses who’ve not been able to find or connect with their audience so far.
Favoured
Average customer review score: 4.5/5
Location: 2 Riding House Street, London, W1W 7FA
Ideal clients: Small businesses
Founded by a former Apple marketer, Favoured has some massive clients including Kodak, Veet, and Durex. They’re specialists in TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Google, as well as user-generated content (UGC) and influencer marketing. Perfect for breaking into a range of social platforms to reach wider audiences. Their team has diverse talent including motion graphics, video production and product photography. That makes them particularly suited to retailers of physical items. Clients of Favoured claim they work quickly and “feel like they’re part of your team”. So you should have no problems pulling off ambitious outreach projects within your chosen deadlines.
How do I know if I need to outsource my social media marketing?
Before we put together a game plan, we need to know the rules of play. Yet the social media marketing landscape is growing increasingly more complex as algorithms change, new channels emerge and existing platforms alter their prices. You could spend all week reading up on the latest changes and still end up as confused as when you started.
The question is: how well do you understand this brave new world of social media?
For example, the lockdown success story of TikTok hasn’t faded into the background since pandemic restrictions lifted; in fact TikTokers spent 48% longer on the app in 2021 than they did in 2020. In fact, it’s arguably an even more important search tool than Google these days. But how do TikTok users overlap with Facebook and YouTube users? Is it a waste of money showing adverts to the same people on different social media channels? And what about Instagram? By the way, do your customers expect to see your business on Twitter?
Honestly, with so much havoc whirling it’s always smarter to outsource your social media management. Partnering with industry experts takes the guesswork out of your return on advertising spend (ROAS). This leads to a clearer roadmap and more security in your burgeoning business goals. So long as you hire a reputable firm with a decent work portfolio and genuinely strong customer reviews, you can’t go far wrong.
How to choose between social media management companies
These days it’s hard to know which social media marketing companies are the real deal. After all, they’re experts in marketing. What if they’re better at selling their services than actually delivering them? We get it. That’s why we’ve done our due diligence to find the best in a crowded industry.
Let’s keep this simple. Social media marketing needs to achieve three major goals:
- Selling your products
- Reputation management
- Fostering repeat customers
Selling your products:
SMM companies need to understand your target demographic and how to reach it. Which platforms will they use? What content will they create? How often will they post? While Gen Z spends an average of three hours daily on social media, the median UK social media user is aged 42. Competent social media managing companies will successfully locate your brand’s specific market.
❌ Don’t hire an agency that’ll try to sell men’s razors on Pinterest (where 77% of users are female).
Reputation management:
Here’s where customer care and responding to crises comes to the fore. Nowadays, angry customers will do all they can to make their grievances heard… by your potential future customers. That means you need eyes across every channel. At all times. It also means you’ll need your business listed in local directories such as Yell, Google Maps, trade magazines and local news sites. And no social media strategy is complete without influencer marketing.
✔️ Hire an agency that can respond quickly and sensitively to angry customers.
✔️ Listen for mention of relevant influencers and an affiliate marketing plan.
Fostering repeat customers:
Any digital agency worth their salt knows the value of retargeting existing leads. It’s far more expensive to gain new customers than it is to sell to existing ones so you need a social media manager that’s fluent in remarketing, too. So make sure your prospective agency can present a solid strategy to foster repeat buying.
✔️ Hire an agency with a strong track record in boosting customer lifetime value (CLV).
One Umbrella is our first pick for social media managing companies overall. Their deep expertise in Facebook, Instagram and Google will find you the targeted audience you need to keep sales coming in.
Now you’ve seen the pleasing array of social media management service providers available, it’s time to reach out for pricing requests. Your social media channels aren’t going to grow on their own (trust us on this one!). So why not make the first move and ask us to get in touch with some social media marketeers for you?
If you give us a basic idea of the scope of your social media needs we can match you with an expert social media team pronto.
Remember that social media platforms go through significant software updates every few months, and only the industry insiders will be aware of how these can impact audience reach and traffic. In such a fast-paced industry, you’d only be wasting your time trying to start from scratch on your own. You’re better off calling in the cavalry 🐎
Social media management FAQs
We only took into account reputable review platforms, excluding customer testimonials left on marketing agencies’ own websites because they’re likely to be biased. We recommend small-to-medium-sized ecommerce businesses look to One Umbrella to hit those all-important sales targets.
We go into much more detail regarding digital marketing agency costs for small businesses in our dedicated feature, so take a look. Pricing always depends on exactly what you need, and you’ll find most agencies can adapt the scope of their work according to your specific budget.
- One Umbrella: Best for conversion boost
- Social Republic: Best for charity campaigns
- Macedo Marketing: Best for startups
- Spin Brands: Best for creative content
- Yell: Best for reaching more search engines
And if that wasn’t enough, we’re pleased to offer our unique digital marketing agency matchup service. All you have to do is outline what you’re looking for in terms of social media management and we’ll locate the best one for you. Leave the legwork to us and we’ll screen out unsuitable agencies, requesting only the best to get in touch with you directly.