Social selling has altered the way that businesses acquire new customers and clients. Social media has also become an essential part of the marketing, granting businesses the ability to tell their stories and build relationships with the market. Yet finding your way within social media can be a trial, particularly for business owners who already have a significant amount of work. A social media consultant can be a valuable asset. Here is a closer look at what business owners need to think about when hiring social media professional.
Putting Social Media Consultants in Context
Many business owners delay hiring social media professionals because it entails an initial cost. In the long-term, hiring a social media consultant can generate a positive ROI when weighed up against customer acquisition costs, socially driven sales and time savings. In spite of this, smart business owners are quickly realising that they need to do a cost-benefit analysis on their social media activities. Ask yourself the following questions:
- Are you spending too much time on social media and instead losing out on revenue-generating endeavours?
- Are internal efforts capitalising on the potential of social media channels?
- Do you have a clear strategy and plan in place to measure your results?
How a Social Media Consultant Can Help You Grow
If there is room to develop your social activities, a social media consultant may be the right choice for your business. Social media consultants have a wide range of experience and expertise that can help you:
- Define Your Target Audience: How well have you divided your customers? Do you know where they are spending time online and why? Determining these basic facts helps ensure that your social media efforts are getting to the right people.
- Conduct a Social Media Channel Audit: There are lots of social platforms. It is vital to understand which ones are the right ones for your business. A consultant can perform a social media platform audit and make informed suggestions about which channels will help you most efficiently reach your potential customers. Performing an audit makes certain you are not wasting resources on social networks that do not produce results.
- Develop a Social Media Approach: Many business owners basically update their Facebook or Twitter pages and believe their social media responsibilities are completed. It is essential to stop and ask yourself what you are trying to achieve. Are you building brand awareness? Are you trying to entice new customers? Do you want to set yourself up as a thought leader within a competitive industry? Whatever your goals may be, a social media strategy can help you create an action plan that leads to specific business results.
- Set Key Performance Indicators: As the saying goes, “what gets measured gets managed”. Without KPI’s, it is hard to know if your social media efforts are a success. For example, if you are interested in developing your brand, you could look at new followers, brand comments and interaction as data that shows your plan is working. Create a plan of what you are going to measure and put the tools in place that will help you monitor your social media growth on an ongoing basis.
- Original Content Creation, Repurposing and Curation: Being active on social media necessitates a constant flow of content. From updates to imagery for Instagram and Pinterest, business owners need to have a strategy for creating the content. A social media consultant can manage original content creation, repurposing existing content and curating content from the broader market.
- Look for Ways to Grow Reach and Engagement: Actively publishing on social media is only half the battle. Accounts need to be checked. Social is the key word here, and encouraging engagement needs several activities: responding to comments, watching channels for customer service issues, distributing other people’s content and much more. This can be one of the most laborious aspects of social media. A social media consultant can manage this critical role for busy businesses.
What Is The Price and How Do I Get Started?
The rate for a social media consultant varies widely, from €20 per hour to create content for social updates to thousands of Euros monthly for fully managed and executed plan. Before appointing a social media consultant, it is important to determine your budget, objectives and timescale of how long you will invest to test the results. Social media consultants can be found via recommendations from other business owners, on social media and via websites.
It is important to note that unlike a solicitor or accountant, there are no recognition organisation or even training and credentials for a social media consultant. Take the time to look at a consultant’s background. Speak to references and look at sample campaigns they have managed. Due diligence will make sure that you are hiring the right person for your business’ social media needs.
Have you worked with a social media professional? What advice would you give to other business owners thinking about this important strategic move? Tell us in the comments below or join in the conversation on one of our social media platforms.
