So you try it out. You dive into this new, unexplored world of social media, where the opportunities are fruitful and endless. You figure: I know my business and the target audience better than anyone else. So of course you are going to make social media posts as the business.
You tell yourself: I have a Facebook or I’ve seen my kids post on Facebook, how hard can this be? All these sites are just like other Facebooks.
But the harsh reality is- you don’t have the slightest idea of what you’re doing. And that’s OK. As long as you realize it sooner than later.
What you DO know is how to run your business. You understand the intricate parts of what makes your business successful, what makes your customers want to buy from you repeatedly and how to use innovation to make your business more efficient. You are an expert at your industry…and you should hire people who are experts at social media marketing.
In case you don’t want to take my word for it, here are 5 reasons that delve into why.
1. It’s cost-effective
You may have considered hiring a young family member or advertising for an intern to perform your company’s social media work pro bono or for minimum wage. But, keep in mind that you will most definitely get what you pay for. Using social media for personal reasons is much, much more different than using social media as a B2C or B2B business.
Another option would be to hire a marketing specialist to work in-house for your business. And although that sounds like a great idea, why pay someone $30-$60k to do social media, when you can pay an agency a fraction of that cost and retain the agency longer? A new employee also means taking the time to advertise the position, read through response emails, interview applicants, conduct background checks, as well as the time spent introducing the new employee to your company, ensuring the employee is supervised, paying additional money for the employee’s benefits - the list can go on and on.
Hiring an agency is less expensive (and more convenient) than hiring a professional in-house marketer and it gives you more bang for your buck.
2. Agencies have the knowledge and experience
Rather than maneuvering through a steep learning curve, the professionals who work at agencies already know what they’re doing. Our expertise goes deeper than personal experience using the different social media sites. We follow the industry leaders’ blogs, we are tuned into upcoming platform changes and we know what promotional tactics work for which sites.
A good social media marketing agency doesn’t just hire people who love to post on Facebook or skim through Twitter. We watch webinars, we go to conferences, we read studies and polls - there is an enormous amount of education that is necessary to effectively understand and be able to utilize social media to increase engagement, business awareness and visitors to a web site.
3. We know what, when, where and why to post
Given the above-mentioned explanation of our expertise, we know what types of content should be posted on which social media platform, the ideal times for the posts, which social media sites should be used for your business and the reasons behind the posts. In addition, there is a large amount of trial and error testing necessary, which involves planning, recording results and analysis.
We also make sure that your business’s tone and language is congruent with the professional personality you want to display. Your business’s posts and entire online presence has to be consistent, and agencies excel at that.
Agencies simply understand how to deliver content, media and promotional messages effectively. And understanding this takes years of education and experience that most people don’t have.
4. Agencies have the right tools
Software and programs that need to be purchased in order to perform social media is often unknown to business owners. Agencies need to use creative design software in order to construct memes, infographics or even to enhance a picture. We have the right social media scheduling software with built-in analytics features to competently schedule posts and analyze the engagement results. You will have to purchase these programs for your business if you have an intern or hire someone in-house to conduct social media work (and then you must make sure your social media employee knows how to use the programs.) When you hire an agency, you don’t have to worry about that.
5.You can count on agencies
Agencies are here to help business owners like you. We understand that you’re proficient at what you do, and we want you to keep your focus on your business and not on its social media. As an agency, we have to EARN your continued business. If you don’t like how an agency performs, all you have to do is not renew the contract.
Agencies thrive off of excellent service, creative approaches and customer referrals. We can only succeed if our clients are satisfied, and clients are satisfied if we are able to meet their goals. Therefore, we work in unison with business owners as an extension of their team - all of us with the same goals in mind.
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