In today’s digital age, it is important that organizations and corporations maintain a strong and effective social media presence. Not only are social media channels integral to efficacious marketing, but they are also an extraordinary tool in order to connect with your customers and build lasting relationships with them.
However, being relatively new to the online environment, social media can be a little bit overwhelming. With so many social media applications being launched every now and then, it becomes an extremely challenging task for marketers to keep up with them. As a result, marketers, brand managers and business owners, whether of larger corporations or small companies, at some point face a serious dilemma – should we or should we not outsource social media management?
While it is true to some extent that nobody knows your company, or cares about it the way you do, professional social media management companies make it their job to get to know your company. Also, caring about your company does not mean that you are qualified to effectively manage your social media presence. Thus, it is imperative to outsource your social media campaign to the experts in the field.
Here are some reasons as to why businesses should consider outsourcing their social media management.
Saves Your and Your Employees Valuable Time
Time is money!
Thanks to the plethora of social media channels, your customers are spread and scattered all around. To connect and get in touch with all of them, you would need to have a social media presence across a range of social media sites. This is immensely time consuming and requires for you to put an excessive number of hours for each day. Managing and updating half a dozen social media accounts, as well as keeping tabs and following up on your posts will take up a large chunk of your time, which otherwise could be spent on other more pressing business matters.
For such an instance, outsourcing your social media campaign can be a very optimal solution. Having an outside social media agency taking care of your social media means that you save your time, as well as your employees’ time. Since the agency will be taking over your social media, it will be their responsibility to update the accounts and run follow-ups. Thus, limiting your involvement and leaving little to no work for you or your employees to oversee or invest your time in.
More Targeted and Focused towards Customers
Social media engagement or marketing is not as easy as it might appear. One needs thoughtful and focused strategies that target the right audience, at the right time. You need to be well versed with social media and the type of audience it is frequented by in order to come up with a focused strategy. However, not everyone can accomplish this goal.
Furthermore, thanks to social media, your audience and customers expect an instant reply to their queries and complaints, irrespective of the time and place. If you continue to manage your social media by yourself, then it is not possible for you to respond to customer queries quickly. As a result, your company may be susceptible to backlash from your customers and wider community.
Outsourcing social media management, in such a case, is the best decision you can make. Because these social media agencies are highly proficient with the type of customers they are dealing with, they can take measures to prevent customer backlash. They can do constant and up close monitoring of your social media channels and are better skilled to avert any potential crisis, thereby more focused on customers.
Offers Unparalleled Expertise
One of the most important benefits of having an extended digital marketing agency to take care of, and manage your social media campaign, is the extraordinary expertise they have to offer. They can be a #1 New York SEO company that can incorporate your social media strategies into the larger picture. Following are some of the areas where the extraordinary expertise of social media agencies can help you out:
i) They have an in-depth understanding of the social media platforms which allows them to make the best use of it.
ii) Because of the professional experience, they are aware of the tone and words they should use when responding to customer queries or just generally, when updating a status. This is called social media etiquette.
iii) In situations of crisis and mayhem, say because of a bad publicity from an unhappy customer, social media agencies and the people working there remain calm. Since they are managing social media accounts for quite a few companies, they are used to dealing with such situations in a manner that eliminates, or at least minimizes the potential damage.
iv) Also, since this is their area of expertise, social media agencies are able to create valuable content to attract and entice your audience. On the other hand, if you keep managing social media from within your firm, you are bound to make mistakes that can leave your brand vulnerable. But if you decide to outsource, you are minimizing the potential mistakes. This is because these agencies take measures (eg. hiring professionals, proofreading etc.) to avoid these blunders that might prove to be costly in the long run.
v) Outsourcing means that you get to benefit from the expertise of the entire social media agency. Unlike how you would be limited to the expertise of one or two employees when managing social media within the company, your consultant from the social media agency is supported by a team of professionals. Since one person cannot possibly master all the social media platforms, each member of the team is assigned to manage a particular area of the entire social media campaign according to their forte. Thus, the vast experience ensures that you get the best of the efforts of each member assigned to your social media management team.
Formulates Strategies that Can Be Integrated With Wider Business Strategies
Your social media campaigning is not separate from the rest of your business strategies. Like any other strategy, it needs to be a part of the larger business strategy. Thus every piece of content you post, and marketing ad you run on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram or LinkedIn – it needs to be connected to your brand and integrated with the strategies from rest of the divisions, be it sales promotion, brand awareness, new product development etc.
Working with an extended digital marketing agency can help you determine how to integrate your social media strategy with the wider business strategies effectively. They work with you closely to comprehend your business MO and then come up with a social media strategy that can be easily combined and blended with the broader picture.
Extremely Cost Effective
Outsourcing social media management is widely associated with having to invest exorbitant rates. Small businesses, especially, tend to believe that social media agencies are a ridiculous expense. If you believe so, it is a severe misconception and misunderstanding on your part. Outsourcing social media management is not at all expensive. If anything, it is extremely cost effective. You can get a quote here.
While it is true that you need to pay a certain fee to an outside social media agency, in the long-run the benefits far outweigh the costs. Here are some reasons as to why social media agency is cheaper than having an in-house social media management team:
i) If you wish to run your social media accounts smoothly and effectively and refuse to outsource, you have no choice other than to employ an in-house social media management team. This is because you need professionals who are adept at social media and its related divisions. However, having an in-house management team is much more costly than a social media agency. For the former, not only will you need to hire specialized people in the field but also invest in equipment and hardware required.
ii) Social media accounts need to be monitored and managed around the clock. Whether it is late hours, weekends or holiday season, your brand page is expected to remain active and responding to customer queries. Thus, putting in extra hours is the norm for whoever manages your social media accounts. While your in-house social media team will demand to be compensated for the overtime; social media agencies are paid a fixed amount, irrespective of the extra hours and nights they log in. Thus, again, it is considerably cheaper to outsource social media management.
Keeps You Abreast With Social Media Policies and Important Metrics
To survive and thrive in such a competitive business landscape, it is extremely crucial for companies to know the ins and outs of the industry, as well as any new developments and changes to the technology. Similarly, social media environment is highly intense and competitive. In order to stand out from the rest of the competition, your strategy should be unique and exclusive.
Social media agencies have access to the necessary systems and applications that they use to ensure that your social media strategy is unique. Since social media is their domain, they have a thorough knowledge of the social media tools and policies. Your consultants from the social media agency would keep you updated of any potential changes in the rules of the game.
Furthermore, to determine if your social media strategies are successful, you need to monitor and measure the right components. Since these agencies have been handling social media and instruments related to it for quite a few years, they are better aware of which metrics matter the most to determine success. As a result, these extended agencies can guide you on the components that are likely to give the most reliable results to measure success.
They Are Reliable and Dependable
Another reason that you should consider outsourcing is the reliability and dependency that outside agencies offer. As mentioned earlier, social media agencies will be monitoring your accounts all the time, whether it is a holiday or not. In case one of the consultants is sick, there are various other consultants that are ready to step up. Also, you can be assured of the quality of their work. As long as you do your research and seek the services of a reputable agency, they are guaranteed to add value to your social media campaign.
Ensures Continued Growth and Development
The central idea behind pursuing social media campaign is to fuel engagement with customers and in retrospect set the path to continued growth and development. Agencies offering social media management services have connections to a wider network. Thus, if you avail their services, you will benefit from their connections which ensures growth and development for your business.
To maintain a strong social media presence you need to hire and seek the services of seasoned professionals. Managing your company’s social media account is not the same as organizing your personal Pinterest board or Twitter account.
Thus, whether you are a large corporation or a small-scale business, you need to ultimately outsource your social media management to an extended digital marketing agency. Concerns regarding losing authenticity and personal touch are unfounded. If you have done a comprehensive research before deciding on the agency to outsource, and have chosen an agency known for its credibility, you don’t need to worry about lack of authentic social media marketing and engagement as they have everything covered.
So get in touch with us today and discuss your requirements. You can give us a call at 1.888.566.2577.
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