There’s a lot that goes into managing business social media accounts. Many business owners find it challenging to navigate this critical area of digital marketing, and understandably so.
That’s why a growing number of businesses have started outsourcing this job to agencies like ours.
How could social media management services benefit your business? Let’s talk about it.
Creating a Social Media Marketing Plan
Every business is different as far as what its social media marketing plan should look like. Far too many companies just take a shot in the dark and hope their approach works.
When you work with a social media manager, they’ll create a targeted plan that is designed specifically for your industry and your individual business.
Choosing the Right Platforms
It’s not enough today to just be on Facebook. Don’t get us wrong; having a Facebook presence is vital, and all businesses should be there.
But that’s not where your social media marketing should end.
For example, let’s say you own a gourmet restaurant. You should also be sharing photos of your chef’s specialties on Instagram. But if you’re the owner of a commercial insurance agency, you’ll also want to market to other businesses (B2B) on LinkedIn.
Your social media manager will know what platforms you should be on, but be aware, that could change as time goes on. We’ll talk more about that in a moment.
Identifying the Target Audience
In order to advertise on social media, you have to know who your target audience is. If you don’t, any posts you put out there have a good chance of falling on deaf ears.
Your social media manager will make it a priority to determine who your posts are intended for. That will maximize your engagement and help you grow your business.
Researching Keywords and Other Details
Using keywords is not just for SEO. Any digital content you put out should include a healthy dose of your main keywords.
Remember, social posts come up all the time in search engines. So paying attention to this is key.
But not only that, there are other details that need to be fleshed out as well. Hashtags are so important, and they’ve become a useful search tool as well as a way to improve engagement.
Your social media manager has the tools to figure all of these details out so your posts are structured correctly across the board.
Ongoing Social Media Management
Once you have a plan, the next step is to implement it. That’s where ongoing social media management comes in.
Creating Posts
It’s not enough to just write some clever words and send them out to see what sticks. Creating social media posts involves graphic design and videos too.
It’s always fun to post live videos that you shoot yourself on your cell phone camera, and you can always share pics that you find interesting. But if you want originality and a professional touch, it helps to work with the pros.
Studying Analytics and Outcomes
Many businesses just post and post and post without any thought to how their content is being received by their audience. It takes time to study analytics, and time is a treasure that most business owners simply don’t have.
Social media managers know how to take a look at what’s happening on the backend and determine which types of posts people want to see more of, and which ones should be scrapped.
Improving Engagement
By studying the analytics and outcomes, it’s easy to see what works and what doesn’t work. Giving your audience more of what does work is the best way to improve engagement.
There are other ways too, like:
Always responding to comments.
Encouraging shares.
Adding in some humor.
And don’t forget the importance of out-of-the-box thinking too. There are all kinds of tricks that can be used to increase engagement, such as running contests periodically.
Implementing Trends
Much like SEO, social media trends are always changing. Business owners usually struggle to keep up with the latest because their businesses take up the majority of their time.
But a social media manager knows how to watch for changes in trends so they can quickly put those trends to work for their clients.
For example, short-form videos are all the rage right now (think TikTok and Reels). Businesses should be adding them to their content plans and continue to use them to market their products and services going forward.
Other Social Media Management Tasks
There is so much more that social media managers can do for their clients. Here are just a few additional ideas.
Facebook Group Administration
Maybe your business would do well if it was marketed in a Facebook group. A lot of direct sales companies use this approach.
For example, if you are an IBO for a company like BeautyCounter, you could have a group that talks about healthy alternatives to skin care.
But having a Facebook group - especially an active one - is often a job on its own. No worries because your social media manager can help with the group’s administrative tasks. They can come up with posts, answer questions, and handle comments.
Event Setup & Promotion
Events are a great way to quickly get the word out about something great your business is a part of.
Are you going to be launching a new product line? Hosting an open house? Setting up a booth at a community festival? Your social media manager can create an event for all of the above, and take care of all the promotion too.
Answering Comments & Private Messages
Once you’ve got all that fantastic content out there headed straight for your target audience, engagement is a given.
But you certainly don’t have time to quickly answer customers’ questions or comments, nor do you have the time to talk with them on Messenger.
Fortunately, your social media manager does have that kind of time. A good one will get to know your business as much as possible so they can give reliable and accurate answers.
Also, keep in mind that platforms like Facebook pay close attention to how long it takes for businesses to respond to messages. So, even if your social media manager needs to come to you to get an answer, it still demonstrates to the customer that helping them is vitally important to you.
Talk with Us About Your Social Media Management Needs!
At Colwell Creative Content, Inc., social media management is a new area of expertise for us. We’ve taken on a few clients so far, but we’re eager to build up this department with even more.
We’re excited to help you promote and market your business on the right social media channels. Want to talk about your options? Please contact us, and Let’s Grow Your Business Together!