We are social beings. We learn from each other, connect with people similar to us and feel the need to belong somewhere. Social media marketing is a platform that allows you to make use of this human urge for your business.
Lately, social media marketing has become a booming part of many business strategies to market their products and services. It may be challenging to determine the best methods of social media marketing for your company. However, suppose you can utilize social media effectively. In that case, it can lead to more online traffic, increased sales, and more loyal customers who are eager to tell others about their experiences with your company.
Social media marketing is a branch of digital marketing that involves promoting products and services through social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and more. It helps businesses to create brand awareness and reach the targeted audience, contributing to their success in marketing especially in the us market. The primary purpose of this type of marketing is to gain product or service visibility in front of large numbers of viewers.
Simply put, it allows you to increase awareness of your brand, drive traffic to your blog or website, enhance search engine rankings, encourage customer loyalty, showcase new products or services, engage customers on a more personal level, and stay on top of the competition.
Too much to do, isn’t it? While social media marketing is a small aspect of digital marketing, it makes a significant impact today, from branding to customer service. And acing a social media strategy that strikes a chord with your audience is a challenge in itself. So that’s the social media manager that comes into play.
Who Is A Social Media Manager?
From understanding your audience to getting along with the algorithms, a social media manager ensures that you reach and engage with the right audience. In a broader sense, a social media manager oversees all brand interactions on social media platforms and is responsible for implementing content strategies, analyzing engagement data, identifying trends, and planning campaigns to build a community online.
Still unsure if your brand needs a social media manager? Then, check out our top 5 reasons to consider hiring one!
Top 5 reasons every business should have a social media manager
Did you know that over 53% of the world’s population is on social media? Isn’t it critical that your business has an effective social media strategy and a dedicated manager that helps you reach your intended audience?
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1. Social media is changing at lightning speed
You know that feeling when you are dancing and just caught up with a step and the entire chorus changes? So bad, isn’t it? It feels like you’ll never be able to catch up. Well, Social media can feel like that too.
Have you ever wondered if LinkedIn or Twitter can help your business? Or if just Instagram posts are still relevant in this era of reels? Social media is changing at lightning speed. Be it live streaming, video, blogging, or any other form of social media marketing. It’s time to get up to speed with the latest trends.
Even a year ago, the way we managed social media wasn’t enough to keep up with the new changes. Not only the user behavior changed but also the algorithm of favored networks. Understanding how things work today and anticipating what’s coming will be the key to success in 2020 and beyond.
The speed at which businesses are using it to communicate with customers is also constantly growing, leading to maintaining a consistent social media presence that is challenging. The fact that the rules are continually changing makes social media management even more complicated. Businesses need to be smarter with how they schedule their content, what they share, and when.
While social media management alone might get overwhelming if you consider all the aspects, let alone the other departments. But, a social media manager is specially trained in this and not only keeps up with the latest trends but uses them to your brands’ advantage.
2. Demands two-way communication
Social media has changed the way we communicate and engage with each other. However, no matter how many followers and likes you get, you can never win if your engagement rate (the ratio of followers and wants to comments and shares) is 0%.
Social media engagement is what you need to build a strong presence for your brand. But setting up multi-channel social media management can be tricky.
All in all, engagement is the key to high social media results. Engagement leads to leads and leads, which leads to conversions and cash that finds its way into your wallet.
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So, how far do you have to go for this engagement? Replying in DM’s, staying connected over the comments, being active in groups, not only posting but also curating content – these are just a few of the many steps setting aside social listening, staying up-to-date with trends, and many more.
Now, doesn’t that sound like a two-person job? But, unfortunately, that’s precisely why you need at least one dedicated social media manager.
3. The manager will have a fresh take on your content
While your content strategy may be strong, it has to be tweaked for the social media – Blogs and vlogs need to be converted into carousals and reels. Above all, your audience’s attention span on social media might be comparatively low. At the same time, engagement could be high, and to get the best of it all, you need a social media manager.
Social media demands being innovative, informative, and entertaining at the same time today. A social media manager is skilled in strategizing content that is fresh and experimenting around it. Carousals on LinkedIn, breakdown of movies into Psychology /Finance/Marketing theories, Reels on Instagram, and various cross-overs are a part of it. While all of this might seem very taxing single-handedly, it is such content that gets you the result.
Above all, the quality of your content is of utmost importance. Quality content works for you and makes it easier for the right audience to reach you organically.
Moreover, the organic reach, good content positions your company as an authority in the Industry. The content you post influences conversions ultimately!
4. Brings the right opportunities to the table
How often do you come across two of your favorite creators in the same video or your famous brand and creator together? Pretty often, correct?
One of the most important things to succeed with your social media strategy is collaborating with the right people and brands.
Social profile takeovers, co-branding, co-creating, giveaway, shoutouts, and the list will go one. But these are the various types of collaborations that take your account reach and engagement sky high.
But it isn’t as easy as it sounds. As your brand has a voice, finding creators/ brands that match it, add value to your content, and entertain at the same time can be challenging. Also, there are multiple guidelines that everyone needs to meet, adhere to a budget at the same time. Being in the social media industry, a social media manager is aware and well-versed in this task.
Most of the time, they know the up-and-coming influencers, the right brands, their managers, content style, and everything else required to collaborate. The most important part here is to get the right people, to tap a wider audience, and a manager with a forte in this field will do it right.
5. Save your time
Do what you are good at. Outsource the rest!
Don’t we come across this pretty often? For all the reasons we just discussed above, social media management can take up your entire day, if not more. And while you want to focus on your core business, hiring a social media manager is the best thing to do!
It’s a challenging world online, and without a well-maintained social media presence, it is impossible to survive and grow your business. The thing is – who will do all the extra work? Of course, you could sit at your desk for hours and try to do everything – answer comments, implement new strategies – but this would be inefficient because many small tasks can eat away your time that would be better spent elsewhere.
So what’s the solution? Hire a social media manager.
Are you still not sure that if you need a social media manager? Here’s a checklist to help you determine.
- You are not social media savvy
- The number of platforms overwhelms you
- You don’t have the right tools at your disposal
- Writing isn’t your thing
- You have low engagement
- There is never enough time
If this sounds like you, then my friend, you need a social media manager. Well, but there’s more to it than that. First, it would help if you had the right manager. Imagine getting a social media manager focused on the food industry for finance.
It is going to hurt your brand a lot. While both Industries are different, both of them will have another type of skill set. In addition, both of them serve a separate audience and purpose.
Finding a social media manager is a critical task. However, it’s not always easy to find the right person in this vast world of the internet. So what do you look for in a social media manager? How do you define your expectations from an ideal candidate?
Don’t worry. We have got you covered.
How To Find The Right Social Media Manager?
1. Identify your business needs
Every business is unique and has a different target audience, no matter what type of business you have, from a hotel to a dog kennel. So to succeed, you need to identify your business needs. That’s the only way to make sure your resources will work for you.
Right from your Industry to your goals, budgets, the platform you want to hand over, whether you want an agency, in-house resource, or an individual/ freelancer to manage it? There are a few of the many questions to start with.
Before you move ahead, don’t forget to define the skills you’ll need the manager to be equipped with. Skills like writing, designing, understanding analytics, and serving customers the right way are a few basic skills required. They can further be edited as per your business requirement.
2. Posting the requirement on the right platforms
Now that you have all your requirements listed, all you need to do is spread the word. You can start by sharing it over social media, posting on third-party websites, and asking for referrals.
It is essential to take your time and spread the word and get enough applications to have a great pool to pick from. Please don’t shy away from researching your favorite brands and checking out their manager too.
3. Research and meet prospective social media managers
Keep an open mind and schedule meets with various managers. Every manager will have a very distinct style and something different that they bring to you. The most important thing here is there will be no right or wrong. The only thing you need to decide is which one fits your determined goals/ budget the best.
Also, don’t forget to check out their past work about their mistakes, not just achievements, and understand the Industry they have been working with. Furthermore, you can also go a step ahead, check their current/ past clients, get a review from the clients.
You’d want to be thorough with your research as a social media manager representing your brand. They would be the bridge between you and your prospective customers.
4. Set expectations
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While you might have already decided on the budget and responsibilities, it is crucial to be flexible on social media. Although there is a ton of data available, it takes time to measure the success of your strategy; keeping that in mind, communicate your expectations.
And last but not least, do not fret about trying new things, and not every new thing you try will be a success, but it will be a great learning experience.
So, are you set to hire a social media manager? On that note, which aspect of social media marketing is the most overwhelming for you?
