INTERVIEW
Pictured: Vitaliy Vardzal
The Wind of SMM Change
On the SMM Market, Social Media as a Business Tool, Adapting During Quarantine, and Brand Stories from Lviv
Interview with Vitaliy Vardzal, Co-founder of Miks Digital Marketing Agency
You were one of the first agencies in Lviv to dive into SMM professionally. How has the business attitude toward social media changed over the years?
Back in 2014, business owners in Lviv viewed social media as just another passing trend. Some launched business pages but had no idea why or how to use them. It took a lot of explaining and educating to get them on board.
What helped convince them? Our team's solid background. At that time, our team brought experience from both the U.S. and Ukrainian markets, having worked on both the brand side and within international PR agencies. Today, marketing and social media are inseparable—often even synonymous. Businesses have come to understand that social media is the most direct and cost-effective way to reach their audience.
What are the pros and cons of hiring an in-house SMM manager, outsourcing to a freelancer, or working with a marketing agency?
Too many still think SMM is just posting pretty pictures with a clever caption. But it’s not just about aesthetics — it’s about marketing, performance metrics, and real results.
Often, business owners aren’t well-versed in SMM, and end up hiring someone who might not be either. Everyone feels like the job’s getting done, but the business sees no real impact. If your post only gets 1 or 2 likes and reaches 15 people, you might as well print it out and tape it to your door — more people would see it that way.
Now, say you hire a fantastic full-time SMM manager—they still can’t be a pro-level copywriter, designer, photographer, media buyer, and strategist all at once. And great SMM requires each of those components to be excellent, every day. Freelancers can be more affordable, but they’ll lack deep insight into your business and won’t be able to give you the same dedicated attention.
At an agency, you get a whole team. Our media buyers know which audiences are reacting best this week. Designers stay on top of trends. Copywriters write for engagement and conversions. And our in-house design studio ensures top-notch visuals that really stand out.
So, the visual element is a big focus?
Visual content defines
the face of your brand. That’s why we created our own design studio. Our clients loved the social visuals we delivered and started asking for us to apply that same style to outdoor campaigns and print materials. Now we handle everything from social graphics to brochures, billboards, and beyond—not just in Lviv, but also in Kyiv and Odesa. For example, we’ve created full-scale visual campaigns for Riviera Shopping City, the largest mall in Odesa.
How does working with small vs large businesses differ?
It’s easier with large companies. They have marketing departments that speak the same language, understand KPIs, strategies, and tools. Small businesses often lack that kind of knowledge. They may not grasp how much discipline and daily effort SMM really takes. It’s often repetitive, detail-oriented work — and that’s not always appreciated.
Take Forum Lviv, for example. We started building their social presence from scratch before the mall even opened in 2015. Brick by brick, we shaped their communication and attracted a core audience. Three years later, Forum Lviv ranked #1 on Facebook and Instagram among all shopping malls in Ukraine, outperforming even Kyiv’s top centers.
Same with Mercedes-Benz: it took us three years to grow the second largest auto page in Ukraine for the Western Ukrainian Automotive House, with laser-focused targeting.
SMM takes time and consistency.
What are the key ingredients of successful SMM besides consistency?
Continuous growth and learning. Trends evolve. Audience behavior shifts. What worked a year ago may be irrelevant today. Take our work with Galka Coffee. Compare their page now to two and four years ago—they’re completely different. Flexibility is critical, especially in uncertain times.
How did the COVID crisis affect your business and SMM in general?
The crisis has shown that businesses that can easily adapt will survive. And SMM, which will help businesses, is in demand.
The main thing is to feel the wind of change and give the client SMM sails at the right moment for the business.
Original story
by Air Magazine
Pictured: Vitaliy Vardzal
Oleksandr Bilyk