Are you running a business and struggling to promote it online? You know social media is a great tool to market your business, but you just can’t seem to make it work for you? Fear not; there are people who can help you with this conundrum.
Before we get into the ways you can improve your social media efforts; you should answer the following questions.
- How comfortable are you with posting to your social media accounts?
- How much time can you allocate to social media?
- What is your budget for assistance?
- Do you want to run paid advertising campaigns?
- Are you a quick learner?
- How hands-on do you want to be?
Below we take a look at six ways you can get help with your business social media accounts.
Hire a social media manager
You can hire a social media manager who will help you manage and grow your business’s presence on all the major social media platforms. A social media manager is an expert, and they’ve got the experience to understand how and why social media works.
In this arrangement, you pay for their services on a monthly basis or pay a per project-based fee (depending upon what your needs are). They do not work exclusively with just one company-rather there is usually an agreement in place where clients can choose from different levels of management each month for a fee.
Benefits
- They are experts.
- They require minimal input from you.
- The most hands-off approach.
- They’ll use analytics to improve month-on-month.
Costs
- Will be more expensive than you. managing these channels yourself.
Get some social media training
You might also want to either get some training for yourself or a staff member. This way you can learn the basics and rules of engagement associated with well-managed social media accounts.
You could hire an outside consultant or ask your favourite marketing company if someone on their team specialises in these skills and can deliver some training. Alternatively, there are some online courses designed for beginners which could save you some money as many people attend at once. The online courses will be less personal and may not have the scope to ask too many questions over one-to-one training.
Benefits
- You will learn skills for life.
- you will always be able to run your own social media accounts.
Costs
- You will need to invest some time.
- You will need to invest some money.
Hire someone to run your social media accounts
You could hire someone specifically for the role. If you hire someone with experience and a background in social media, then they should know what needs to be done to achieve success on your social media accounts. They can work closely with you to grow the channels in the way you desire and increase engagements. You could set them some goals and KPI’s.
Benefits
- They can work closely with you at the business premises.
- They should wish the business to succeed for job security and work hard.
- You will have more control over their output while saving yourself time.
Costs
- You will need to pay their wages.
- You may need to contribute to their pension.
- You will need to be PAYE registered for their tax and NI contributions.
- You will need to invest some time in training on the company.
Get a social media mentor
It might be worth getting a social media mentor to help you. They could guide and advise on what is working for other brands and help with some of the day-to-day management tasks that are often time-consuming – such as setting up ad campaigns within Facebook advertising etc. They can guide you along the process and answer questions over a set period of time to help you build your skills and confidence.
Benefits
- You will learn skills for life.
- you will be able to run your own social media accounts.
Costs
- You will need to invest some time.
- You will need to invest some money.
Hire a virtual assistant
One option is to hire a virtual assistant (VA) or freelancer, which might be the best choice for those who don’t want any upfront costs but are willing to accept some of them over time in order not have their own personal workload increased by managing all aspects themselves. The virtual assistant can help with the scheduling of posts etc., and may even be able to create posts. They probably won’t be an expert in the growth and marketing of these channels, though, unlike a social media manager.
Benefits
- Saves you time.
- Can pay by the hour or set monthly fee.
Costs
- You will need to invest some time training and liaising.
- You will need to pay them for their time.
Do the research and learn how to manage social media yourself.
For those who are happy to manage their own social media, it’s worth doing your research and learning about how you can do this. It might be a good idea for new or expanding businesses which have limited budgets but still want the benefits of engaging with customers on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc. Of course, this is a time-consuming option and won’t suit everyone, but most of the information is readily available for you to learn for free.
Benefits
- You will learn skills for life.
- you will always be able to run your own social media accounts.
Costs
- You will need to invest considerable time.
As you can see, there is a range of options available to you. Which one will work for you depends on your available time, budget and goals. We would always recommend having some form of interaction yourself with your social media channels, whether you send photos and ideas to a social media manager or post yourself. You know your business best after all, and there should always be a little bit of you in your posts, whether it’s through captions or photos.
There are a number of way to up your social media game, with help from others or alone. We hope this list has helped you discover the solutions and weigh up your options.
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