‘Haven’t got time in the business’
‘Oh, it’s another technical thing I’m not good at’
‘Leave it to the kids!’
Does any of these sound familiar? Yes? No surprise to hear you’re not alone!
Whether you just want to dip your toe in the water and have an online presence because you know your competitors’ are and you want to join the conversation or: you want full engagement and interaction to find new business and let them know about your products and services, social media is becoming increasingly recognised as an important tool for businesses.
Managing your social media account however is a tricky sea to navigate and the thought of outsourcing it may raise further questions. Would an external agency understand the personality of the company and the products and services and be able to really get under the skin of your brand and ‘talk the talk’?
Whatever your reasons, I’d like to convince you why outsourcing your social media management to an external digital marketing agency is a very positive step to take. And with an estimated 1.5 billion users every single day, can you afford not to be part of the action?
Audience and Relevancy
Tens of thousands of new Social Media accounts are being opened every day. And this number isn’t going to decrease any time soon. Mobile access to Social Media is stronger than all other devices for logging on. There are many stats flying around about how many hours a day/month we all spend on Facebook/Twitter etc., and these are not to be ignored.
It’s true that different channels have different uses (business or personal) and age typical associations, but all have their place and often fluctuate in popularity, gender, age bracket and industry. It’s picking the right one for your business, that’s the trick.
And it’s all very well gathering Followers, but are they relevant to your marketing objectives? You may be producing fantastic content for your website which you can direct clients to, but 2,000 of your 2,063 Followers may have little or no relevance to you target audience. A Digital Marketing Agency will clean up your existing crowd and create targeted groups for specific marketing activities and timing posts.
Consistency
Sometimes you visit a company or friend’s page and they haven’t posted for ages, and the account is lying dormant. On a business front, this isn’t a great look. It often happens when the ‘person who does the social’ leaves a company and no one is able to pick it up. Or best intentions when you set up a business, but then you get busy and forget to shout about what you are up to and keep the momentum going. Outsourcing will ensure you have a consistent presence and voice from your business regardless of a turnover of you internal staff.
Competitors
Your crowd may not only be potential clients. This is a great opportunity to see what your competitors are doing. For a small business this may seem daunting but we all watch what our favourites are up to, be that a football team, department store, band or brand. It’s a healthy way to keep up with industry related technology, techniques and products as well as helping us improve our own services. Cariad Marketing’s Emma Perrott explains when it is appropriate to block the competition, the general consensus is that by opening a Social Media account you are consenting to join an open network which fuels engagement, debate and growth. You will need therefore to ensure that this fun yet professional channel is always hitting the tone that markets your business in the way you want. Cariad will do this at a frequency that suits you, be that weekly/monthly or quarterly touching base sessions to stay focused on the objectives, keep abreast of changes and industry challenges and ensure consistency. My fellow Team Cariad social media guru Mary Finucane has written as great article on this here.
New Recruits
Your future work colleagues are likely to be keeping an eye on you and will be ready to apply when a vacancy is posted. It’s free to post and with well thought out design and links back to the website, an eye catching job advert can be shared and posted to hundreds or thousands of people. Everyone knows someone, who knows someone, looking for a job in … and your agency will know just where to find them online.
Where are they all?
So, you’ve identified your ideal client, you work with a specific industry and have got that line of business nailed. Right, where can you find more like that? Careful analysis of search trends provide vital information on when and who will be online searching for keyword specific products and services. The analytics available to social media channels now give really detailed reporting information, allowing a professional agency to specifically target your desired audience. This is all included in the price of a social media management package at Cariad Marketing.
Summary: The 10 reasons why you should outsource:
A digital marketing agency such as Cariad Marketing will not only discuss your needs and reasons for using Social Media, it will find and engage with the groups of clients and prospects that will be searching for the products, services and advise that your business provides. It will ensure the personality of the business is firmly entrenched in the posts and comments that are shown … and the best bit, no one will ever know it’s not you.
- Engage with clients and prospects, creating ‘hot prospect’ lists
- Allow you to become a debate leader and specialist in your field of expertise
- Be another set of eyes and ears, researching your hot prospects, offering new ideas and client groups
- Create a professional online company personality and character to represent them
- An appropriately placed link to your company website, great for SEO (search engine optimisation)
- Schedule timely content for discussion forums, business hours and international clients
- Optimising customer lifetime by keeping visible in between the times they use your services
- Guidance on which social media channels for your industry sector for engagement, discussion and recruitment
- Clearly defined targets and measurable KPIs for return of investment
- Free your time to focus on day to day business priorities
For more information on outsourcing Social Media channels and for top tips on how it could help your business, get in touch with us by calling 01992 582 824 or fill out a contact form.
