There is no doubt social media is an important marketing channel for your business these days. Social media platforms help your company reach millions of customers easily, conveniently, and affordably. But as a company executive with a busy schedule and heavy workload, you may not have the time to manage and update the accounts as much as would be ideal. The only solution is to outsource the management of social media to a third party.
Why you need to outsource your social media
If you don’t have enough time or the technical know-how for effective social media management, consider bringing in an expert who will do a splendid job. Here are the reasons why it is best to outsource your social media management:
Benefit from expert help
The right social media specialist knows who to target and how to do it. Outsourcing social media to an expert helps you leverage their in-depth marketing and public relations skills to reach a bigger audience effectively. The experts know several tricks to utilize on social media to improve your business reach and sales.
Platform-specific knowledge
There are several social media platforms, and a social media specialist knows which one is ideal for your brand. Social media platforms focus on different users, and if you use the wrong one, you may fail to reach your target market as much as you wish. However, when you outsource the management to an expert, you can rest assured your brand will be represented on a platform that best suits your digital marketing needs.
Use of right tools
Social media specialists are familiar with the ideal social media marketing tools to use to increase your brand’s online presence. They also know how to optimize SEO in blogging to improve your rankings on Google. The experts are quite adept with the latest platform algorithms, which helps maximize your company’s social media marketing impact.
Creation of topnotch content
Social media specialists are excellent content creators. It is their business to make and post content that is up to date, captivating, and engaging. They also know exactly what needs to be posted on the right platform and the ideal hashtags to use on Twitter to attract a broad base of followers.
Round the clock coverage
Social media management needs round the clock commitment. The clock does not limit social media activities. Neither does it sleep or respect regular office hours. That is why you need a social media specialist who will monitor your accounts around the clock. Such a person ensures a constant and well-timed social media activity that helps your brand be visible and relevant. Besides, when you outsource social media management, you free your time to focus on the core running of your business.
Top responsibilities for your social media manager or assistant
- Developing, executing, and overseeing the social media strategy for the brand
- Researching and defining the most crucial social media Key Performance Indexes (KPIs)
- Managing social media content
- Evaluating the success of all social media campaigns
- Working with designers and copywriters to ensure content is appealing and informative
- monitoring SEO and user engagement for ideal content optimization strategy
- Hiring and training members of the team
- Using social media marketing tools like Buffer to enhance a wider reach
- Providing constructive feedback
How to give them secure access to your accounts
Social media management tools can be the best alternative to providing your assistant access to your social media accounts. Instead of giving them the logins to your account, give them a login to your social media management tool instead. With an ideal social media management tool, third parties won’t be able to make any changes to your account. However, they can post messages, chat with users, and monitor analytical data. Some of the popular social media management tools for teams include Buffer, HootSuite, Sprout, AgoraPulse, and Sendible. Each platform also has an Admin Option that allows you to give third parties secure ultimate control of your profiles and pages.
How to keep your manager or assistant on brand
Social media marketing is highly productive if done right. But if your social media manager gets carried away, it can quickly turn into a nightmare. Use the following tips to protect your brand and keep your assistant inline:
- Develop a social media policy- a social media policy prevents unnecessary posting that can endanger your brand’s reputation and expose you to expensive lawsuits.
- Secure control of the brand name– you need to control your brand name on all available platforms to prevent other entities from using your brand and risking reputation.
- Keep passwords safe- ensure the team implements ideal security measures that protect social media accounts. Consider using password managers like LastPass.
- Monitor social media mentions– use social media listening tools such as Brand24 that alerts you whenever the brand or product name is mentioned on social media networks. This helps you monitor the social media activities of your team. It also allows you to stop controversial information from spreading.
How to measure performance and keep your new hire accountable
The following are the key metrics to help you measure the performance of your social media specialist:
Customer satisfaction
One of the main tasks of social media manager is to ensure customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction, therefore, is one of the crucial metrics to focus on. You should decide to what extent the customers are satisfied with the services after their interactions with the social media team. The best way to test this metric is to allow customers to rate their interactions with the team. Use a 5-star scoring system that makes result analysis easy.
Come back rate
The customer come back rate will give you a hint of your social media team’s effectiveness. Determine the total number of followers, the number of customers who revisit your platforms, the comments they leave, and their level of engagements. When customers love the services they get, they will keep visiting your accounts.
Self-sufficiency
Analyze the number of issues the assistants can solve independently without referring to a higher level of authority. The more issues they can handle satisfactorily, the more effective the social media team is.
Analyze conversations
Analyze the flow of conversations with customers to determine the success metric of the social media team. If the customer has to repeat the same query several times, their satisfaction level with the assistant is wanting.
Set goals
You cannot build a social media team and fail to give them something to achieve. Ensure you set traffic and lead goals to give your assistants something to focus on as they plan their posts and tweets.
Key Takeaway
If you value your brand’s online identity, it is advisable that you build a robust social media presence. A social media specialist can help you with the endeavor, ensuring your prospects receive the right messages about your brand. If you are considering onboarding the right talent to manage your social media activities, leverage hiring solutions offered by Zirtual. At Zirtual, we will help you find a talented social media specialist who will help you widen your social media reach and close in on more prospects.