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Once upon a time, having a Facebook page was a new, rare thing, and very few people had even heard of Instagram. Well, it’s 2018, and hardly anyone can escape the social media frenzy. Let's face it- I'm sure you even think that social media was actually fun before you started your own business. Now that having an online presence is a complete necessity when it comes down to your business, brand, or blog (or all 3!) it can all be a little overwhelming to keep up with. A consistent social media presence is essential for creating and maintaining a relationship with your customers.
Companies often underestimate the power of social media, and therefore under-utilize this asset. Brands today need to be out there to reach their audience, get their message across and – more importantly – engage. When I speak to prospective clients, I'm sometimes surprised by how they often view social media as intangible and hard to measure. They're also usually unaware of the total amount of time involved for effective social media marketing. Lots of brands don’t realize the value of creating a social strategy and believe that a few tweets here and there with a paid budget will make them go viral. Sadly, social media doesn’t work that way, but it is an incredibly important tool that can enhance a company’s performance in terms of brand awareness and conversion.
Here, I want to explain the power of engagement with your audience, and give you a few reasons why outsourcing your social media will be a huge benefit to your business:
Strategy
No matter if your company consists of "Business Owner party of 1" or 100+ employees, they really shouldn’t be posting on behalf of your brand unless any of them are experienced in social media. And no, uploading holiday albums onto Facebook doesn’t count... Why?
First, language and content should be consistent across all channels, and it needs to align with your overall brand strategy.
Second, your content needs to support the theme of each social channel. Not everyone is aware of what the best practices are for each platform.
Finally, there’s a lot more going on behind the scenes of social media than meets the eye.
Do your employees know how to analyze the results of each platform and make educated recommendations for the following months in order to meet your company's overall quarterly and annual goals? Do they understand how to put together a multi-tiered social campaign and measure your budget? Do they know how to report back to you with the most relevant data and statistics? I didn’t think so. Social media is a craft, like anything else. We stick to our strengths and know what we’re good at, so while I won’t be offering to re-wire the office or give your accounting team some tips on Excel any time soon, I will make sure that your social strategy is perfectly aligned to meet your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
Content Creation and Curation
Creating content is so much more than raving about your product or brand. Never before have those nine little squares said so much about your business than right now. Instagram is constantly evolving, and with one look at the grid you can quickly identify which brands are taking their visual content seriously, and which are posting on an ad hoc basis. This is why having high-resolution, professional branded photography is essential to a visual platform like Instagram. Yes, it’s a platform to show off the amazing services you offer, but a general rule of 60/40 should also showcase other people’s engaging, curated content that will interest your audience. I look at themes around your brand and come up with exciting content, newsworthy links and informative articles to make your brand stand out from the crowd and gather a loyal following.
Community Management
Guess what? Social media management takes a lot of time, and if you are doing it yourself, you’ll probably find out that writing a LinkedIn article or posting on your Instagram Stories twice a day is not always your first priority. Social media requires commitment, which is why a dedicated manager is essential. Managing your community is key – and you can post as many times as you'd like, on any given platform, but if you’re not engaging and responding to your community, your efforts will be in vain. I spent time each day searching news, trends and articles to benefit your brand, and at the same time be of interest to your audience. As cheesy as it may sound, your vibe attracts your tribe… but you won’t have a tribe unless you can commit to regular, timely engagement that goes beyond the 9-5.
Influencer Outreach
Welcome to 2018. We are in a glorious age in advertising history where "traditional" ads on park benches or billboards along a highway are becoming obsolete because of the power of the influencer. Yes, you can reach out to people you admire and ask them to promote your services in exchange for cash, but these types of promotions are incredibly transparent. Influencers want to work with brands who align to their brand strategy, so rather than asking them to sell your product, you need to sell your brand to them. Influencers are real people and the majority make a living from posting on Instagram, but they deeply understand social media and want to know the metrics behind your own social platforms. There’s also a lot to be said for establishing genuine connections. I like to form personal relationships with influencers, so that when I do reach out for paid promotions, they’re already aware of the brands I'm working with and the type of content they can create.
Ever-Changing Rules and Regulations
If you've logged on to Facebook and/or if you've turned on a news channel on your TV in the last month or so, you've likely heard about [Facebook founder/owner] Mark Zuckerberg's latest tribulations with the United States Congress, or the new implementation of the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (also known as the GDPR). Notably, Zuckerberg said that Facebook will voluntarily implement [very much of] the European Union's new privacy rules, which will take effect in May 2018. "We're going to make all the same controls and settings available everywhere, not just in Europe," he said in a recent statement... But what exactly does that mean, and how is it going to affect your business?
Having a seasoned social media manager on your team not only gives you the peace of mind that someone else can keep tabs on the constantly-changing rules and regulations but also the confidence that your business is on the forefront of embracing the latest app updates, algorithm shifts, and new features.
Outsourcing your social media is as essential as outsourcing your branding. I believe that the two go hand-in-hand – if you wouldn’t trust your intern to come up with your new logo design, you shouldn’t give them free reign on Instagram. When you outsource your social media tasks it can save you HOURS of time which you can then spend working on other valuable pieces of your business. From the strategy to the day-to-day community management (and the many steps in-between), social media is an art form, and I do it exceptionally well. Let's talk about how you can get some time back to actually run your business and let me handle the Social Media. Let's talk about it today.
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