Why your small business needs to outsource social media - Our Social Times - Social Media for Business

• Updated on: 2019-06-26
• Read original article here

Big brands have the luxury of delegating their social media activity to specialist agencies, leaving them free to concentrate on the important business of growing that bottom line. But outsourcing social media needn’t be exclusive to the big boys.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can enjoy the same benefits, albeit on a smaller scale. Using an external agency or freelance marketing consultant as your social media manager will free up crucial hours every week. Time you can use to focus on the operational side of growing your business.

If you’re an SME looking to increase exposure and drive traffic to your website or premises, here are a few things you need to know about working with an external social media manager.

There are literally billions of people worldwide using social media on a regular basis. Its benefits as a marketing tool are indisputable.

Businesses who take advantage of this can interact with and attract new customers if they are active and take part in social conversations.

READ MORE: A guide to social media marketing for small businesses

In general (and within reason), the more regularly you can post to your social media channels, the higher engagement and ROI you’ll see. This could mean dedicating around an hour each day to monitoring your social channels, posting relevant content, participating in conversations and growing your following in the process.

According to the 2017 Social Media Marketing Industry Report, 64 per cent of marketing teams report spending six or more hours each week on social media.

For a small business owner who is already spending most of their time on business development and operations, finding spare hours to strategise and dedicate to social media can be difficult.

That’s why outsourcing your social media management to a knowledgeable third-party is so important – it can take one key business-building task off your plate.

Social media is more than just posting a few messages to Twitter and Facebook when you happen to feel like it.

Here are a few tasks an external social media manager could take care of above and beyond simply posting messages:

A good freelancer or agency can learn (or already knows) your industry or niche and help manage your social and online marketing channels. This will help you attract the right kind of followers who could be potential customers or partners for your business.

First you need to want to grow your business. If you’ve read this far, chances are we can check this one off.

Whether you already have a few social media profiles, or are just starting out, gather a list of all your online profiles (including log-in information).

READ MORE: 5 of the most irritating brand behaviours on social media

When you find an agency or freelance social media manager you want to work with, they’ll review your social profiles and recommend a strategy to improve your following and engagement rate.

You may discuss some or all of the following:

Your social media manager will probably suggest focusing on a couple of social platforms at first. You don’t need to participate in all of them right away (that’s just impossible for many small businesses).

Once you pick a few of the most important ones for your niche, you’ll need to consult your budget and, with your social media manager, decide on the following goals for each platform:

Of course, when working with any external business consultant you’ll need to keep them apprised of your business happenings so they can respond and plan social media accordingly. This might include:

There are many places you can find social media managers. You can reach out to your personal business connections for referrals, or join local business groups to see if they recommend any freelancers or agencies.

Search social networks like LinkedIn or Twitter for people who are promoting their social media services, and Google phrases like ‘Social Media agencies [your locality]’ or ‘Online marketing consultant [your locality]’.

The 2017 Social Media Marketing Industry Report we referenced earlier found that 88 per cent of respondents saw an increased exposure from using social media, 78 per cent reported increased website traffic and 69 per cent saw an increase in customer loyalty.

They also found that 91 per cent of businesses indicated that six or more hours a week produced the greatest exposure for their business.

Your small business could see similar successes by employing a contractor or agency who specialises in online content and social media marketing. Rely on this external resource to manage your online social presence while you focus on the operational and sales side of your business.