You've been hearing for the last few years that social media is no longer 'just another option' for online marketing. That's fine. You've ventured into this brave new world but, as with so many other small business owners, you are hard-pressed to find the time-let alone the words and images-you need to post and tweet regularly and effectively.
To make things even more confusing, social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest etc. are always adding and removing features and changing the rules. It’s hard to keep up. So the question is: should you keep trying to do it yourself or outsource it to someone else?
For the small businesses that handle social media marketing in-house sometimes it works out, other times it does not. Those who choose to outsource are more likely to wind up with positive results as long as they use a vendor with proven experience. You should consider outsourcing your social media if your business new to the platform or your current efforts are not achieving the results you were expecting.
Here are the five best reasons to consider outsourcing your social media:
1. The Time Commitment
Managing social media accounts does not necessarily have to be a time-consuming endeavor. However, the more channels you are on, the more time will be spent managing each one. Additional time is necessary to make sure all of your channels are cohesive. Properly managing a single social media account takes about 32 hours per month for a mid-size company. This is enough time to keep you or one of your employees from doing other necessary work, yet not enough to hire someone to handle social media full-time. Outsourcing frees up those hours. The big question isn’t can I afford an experienced marketing studio but rather how much am I costing myself in time, money and lost opportunity by trying to do this in-house.
2. Experience Matters
Many people consider themselves social media experts due to the sheer amount of time they spend managing their own personal accounts. Yet time spent does not make one an expert. For example, how much time have you spent behind the wheel of a car since you first got your license? Does that time qualify you as a championship racecar driver? No.
Social media, as a marketing platform, is more than just posting your comments. It is a platform focused mainly on building your brand and engaging your customers, two tasks that require a fair amount of knowledge and practical branding experience. Yes, branding experience in social media marketing does matter.
3. Continuity in Branding
Discussions on social media marketing often focus on customer engagement and conversation. What does not get a lot of attention is the idea of branding. However, branding is every bit as important to a social media strategy as customer engagement. In addition, it takes a social media expert to develop continuity in branding across multiple social media channels.
Your social media pages are seen as extensions of your business. So, you need to look and sound the same way on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter (among others) as you do on your website or you will get lost in the crowd and confuse your target market. Without continuity in branding multiple social media accounts seem disjointed and incohesive. They also do not work well together to drive website traffic and increase conversion rates.
4. Trends Change Rapidly
The word “trending” has become a mainstay of digital communications, especially where mobile technologies are concerned. Everyone wants to know what is trending so that they can stay on the cutting edge. This applies to both individuals and social media channels. Moreover, because trends change so rapidly, social media managers must maintain an ongoing connection in order to keep up. The advantage of outsourcing is that social media management professionals are always connected to what's trending. They are always on the leading edge.
5. Reputation Management
Your company's online reputation plays a very important part in how well your website is ranked by the major search engines. One of the ways to effectively manage your online reputation is through social media interaction. Nevertheless, it must be done correctly. Outsourcing your social media puts reputation management in the hands of experts who are well versed in all the subtleties and nuances of projecting a positive image. For example, just a word here or a phrase there can make a big difference. Social media experts know how to use these words and phrases while your in-house staff may not.
Social media is an excellent marketing tool that should be part of every business’s online strategy. So if you are thinking of outsourcing social media, and you should be, “consider yourself BRANDED” is ready to get your brand out there— really working for you!
“consider yourself BRANDED” offers a variety of marketing and branding services, including social media strategy development and management. Visit cybranded.com today!