The benefits of social media for small and medium-sized businesses are endless, not least for increasing brand exposure, generating new business leads and improving customer-business relation. However, if you run a small business single-handedly, or you’re part of a small team, the chances are that you don’t have time to get through the simplest of everyday business tasks – never mind think about what you need to post on your Twitter and Facebook channels to stay relevant! That’s where outsourcing social media management makes sense.
What does outsourcing social media management involve?
If you’re wondering what the process of outsourcing social media management involves, you’ve come to the right place. Simply put, outsourcing social media management means handing over the metaphorical keys to your social media accounts (like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn) to a third party social media management company, who’ll spend time researching your industry and posting relevant content that speaks to your audience. Outsourcing social media management can be expensive, so it’s important you find a high-quality social media management company you can trust at a price that you can afford.
Below, we’ve put together eight reasons why you should outsource your social media management in 2017.
You can focus on the good stuff
Instead of spending an hour or two a week coming up with topics for social media posts and researching your industry and competition, you should instead be focusing on the most important aspects of your business – namely finances, customer service and employee satisfaction. Instead of wasting time trying to master a new skill that you know little about, you should leave your social media to the experts and spend more time doing the stuff you’re good at.
You’ll get expert assistance
We all know how to send a tweet and update our Facebook status, but do you really know how to target your campaigns to maximise success and generate the business leads you desire? If not, you have two options – spend months researching into social media trends and improving your knowledge or outsource your social media to somebody who knows exactly what they’re doing.
Your staff won’t be distracted
We’ve all done it… hand over access to our company’s social media platforms to our new, millennial employee. “Oh, they’ll understand what to do, they’re young,” we say. Chances are, they’ll use their time to chat with friends and surf the internet – not push targeted, well-researched content to your customers and potential business leads.
You’ll save money
Hiring a marketing manager or social media expert for your brand can be costly – especially if you don’t have the budget to blow on something that doesn’t guarantee results. Outsourcing your management makes the company accountable for your success and removes the risks which would be associated with hiring a new member of staff. Outsourcing guarantees a professional service.
You’ll get the right marketing mix
As a business owner, you want to maximise your sales. However, when it comes to social media, you should find a careful mix of sales-based tweets and tweets that offer value to your audience. Blog articles, statistics, images and videos are all as equally important as your sales messages, so outsourcing your social media to a team that can balance your sales messages with fun, engaging content is one of the best ways to avoid a timeline full of ‘buy now’ posts.
You can beat your competitors
If your competitors are posting cat videos or, heaven forbid, using their social media platforms to talk to their friends and family, then you’ve got an opportunity to get ahead of the competition. Working with a reputable social media management company can give you an edge if you want to beat your competitors, as they will be able to find ways to target your audience and promote your products or services in a way that works best.
You won’t miss out on posting content
Let’s face it. Running a business can be challenging – particularly when you’re responsible for managing staff members, rotas, marketing and finances. With a social media manager, you know that your social media streams will be readily updated every day, so you’ll never miss out on an opportunity to put your name in front of potential customers.
You don’t have to research into competitors and industry trends
While you might be aware of what your competitors are doing, the chances are that you don’t have time to sit down and analyse their digital marketing strategies in order to benefit your own. With a social media management company, in-depth competitor research will be carried out in order to maximise your chances of engagement success. It’s a task any business owner would find boring – for a social media manager, it’s part of the job and allows them to deliver a high-quality service.
Summary
While there’s certainly no exact art to getting your social media profiles where they need to be, relying on a professional company to market your products and services is one of the best ways to take your small or medium-sized business in the right direction. Although it’s possible to manage your own social media as well as your business, the chances are that it will end up costing you more money and time than it’s worth – which is why outsourcing makes sense.