Outsourced social media marketing transformation: an agency-side mechanism framework for agency–client coordination

Purpose This study aims to examine how agency professionals describe the structuring, governance and coordination of outsourced social media marketing transformation (SMMT) across the agency-client boundary. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative research approach was used, involving 16 semi-structured interviews conducted with professionals from digital agencies. The interview guide focused on two primary themes: the initiation of client–agency relationships and the diagnosis of outsourced SMMT needs; as well as the implementation, validation and management of social media strategies and communities. Findings The analysis develops an agency-side mechanism framework of outsourced SMMT. The framework links reciprocal knowledge asymmetry with resource complementarity, distributes decision rights through role allocation, locates client brand control in validation and feedback and connects operational evidence with strategic adaptation through reporting. Across repeated engagements, governance may move from formal controls toward more relational coordination as trust develops. Originality/value The study conceptualizes governed complementarity as the condition in which cross-boundary specialization simultaneously creates value potential, mutual dependence and a need for control. The framework explains how role allocation, boundary validation, feedback and performance learning organize this tension as an adaptive governance cycle. Developed from the accounts of agency professionals, the framework explains the agency side of coordination and provides a basis for subsequent dyadic examination.