Digital marketing and social media marketing may sound easy to professionals and new business owners, and some people may convince you to jump in and attempt to handle your digital marketing on your own.
Let me make one thing very clear: If you are not experienced in marketing and the digital world, you are in for a world of trouble. You do not want to venture into this arena on your own.
The most important first step is to find help to coordinate and manage your marketing efforts. This typically means hiring someone to manage your digital/social media marketing, either an experienced individual or a digital marketing agency.
And be careful about thinking you can divvy up a social media manager’s tasks among current employees. There is still a learning curve and you could be wasting time and money and misusing skills and talents.
Having said that, on the other side, I’ll give it to you that there are certain companies who have brought in the social media managing efforts in-house. This approach works just fine, too.
There are multiple aspects to digital marketing.
Beginning with email, which began the digital marketing trend, and is still part of a digital marketing mix. Email is the least understood (yet equally powerful) of the marketing mediums.
Blogging came next and continues to be valuable. But it hasn’t stopped there.
With an explosive growth and sophistication of mobile devices and other networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, LinkedIn… video blogging is, by far, exceeding any form of the traditional marketing methods.
Search engine optimization (SEO) has been around for a while and employing the right strategies (e.g. fresh content, backlinks, authority sites presence, on-site vs off-site optimization to name a few) can give you much needed boost.
Press releases is yet another aspect which can give much needed publicity and press coverage in professional manner.
So, exactly what services should you expect from a social media marketing manager, be it a single individual or an agency with a staff?
Use the following questions as the check-list to help you ask the appropriate questions as you conduct your search for a social-media marketing manager.
- Can you develop magnetic content?
Brand awareness and brand loyalty do not happen magically.
Engaging text and high-impact visuals draw customers in and speak to their needs — or create them. For example, with things like creating thought leadership blogs and articles, eye-catching infographics, your business can become magnet.
Social media managers develop value-added content to accomplish these tasks.
- How can you help me with delivering unified branding experience?
Social media platforms are constantly evolving, and new ones appear all the time. To be effective, you need to be where your target marketplace is.
Branding content must be custom to each platform, while maintaining consistency of message and design. Make sure your website is direct-responsive. Ensure that your logos, images, branding messages are consistent across your social media ecosystem and value chain.
Social media manager helps you create direct responsive website and helps you deliver consistent branding experience across social media ecosystem.
- Can you help me attract online community?
A business with a social media presence can attract an online community. People who like or follow a product are likely candidates for brand loyalty.
Social media manager’s targeted communications and campaigns can reach out to the right people in cost-economical way. They can help you grab the very attention you need in today’s information-abundance world so that you can achieve business success and ROI.
- Do you have enough expertise with Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?
Successful SEO ensures that a company’s content is visible and easy to find in search engines. SEO is vital component of social media for companies.
Understand that SEO doesn’t happen overnight and takes time. Employ ethical and white-hat techniques that will legitimately build strong Google footprint.
Social media managers, with right experience, understand SEO methods and the relevant best practices.
- Which social platforms should I be on?
This is an important question especially when there are so many channels you can be on, for example, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, Google Plus, Instagram and Snapchat.
Before you know it, you could be scrambling for money and resources.
While it can be tempting to “be everywhere”, understand that that doesn’t have to be the case. The answer is closely tied to where or on which channels your customers or target market operates on.
Social media manager understands this and will help you develop audience persona first. From there onwards, appropriate strategy can be designed to build your online presence, which may mean just one channel (like LinkedIn or Facebook) or couple of them (like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram).
- What about performance metrics?
Metrics and reporting constitute towards social media’s success.
Social media managers can generate detailed reports highlighting important aspects such as lead generation, traffic, time spent on the site, cost-per-click, cost-per-impressions and pinpoint many of the customer characteristics, such as where they shop, what they buy, where they eat and who their friends are.
- Can you help me stay on top of the everchanging social media landscape?
Social media is an ever-developing landscape. A social media platform can be hot one day and gone the next. You need someone who is adept at observing the industry trends and educating you to take right approach and not someone who is there to make money off of you.
A social media manager who understands both the history and the future of social media can anticipate flashes in the social media pan and forecast new trends.
Summary:
- The expertise of individuals and agencies vary and there will be a wide range of price points for services. First and foremost, understand your budget appetite and move forward from there rather than getting sucked into social pressure.
- When interviewing for a social-media marketing manager, ask for the credibility, social proof or success rates.
- Look for social media manager who is willing to grow with your business needs and your future goals and objectives.
- Running social media management on your own is perfectly a legit choice. However, many small businesses do not have time, skills and energy. If you want to put the pedal to the metal fast and get the ground running fast, outsource your social media management activities.
Shop around until you find the right fit for your business. Reach out to me if you need further help or guidance.
All the best!
–Makarand
About Me:
Attention spans are on the decline and if you are not getting found, discovered or noticed on social media, you do not exist. I can help you maximize your online presence saving you tons of time, agony, frustrations, dollars and resources.
My done-for-you services include website design, Google SEO, social media Ads, book publishing, growing your YouTube channel and more.
Book a no pressure call today Yes, I’d love to Double My Sales.
I am a digital marketing consultant and helps businesses implement effective strategies to gain traction with branding, Google and social media. You can connect with me on social media or reach out to me at www.makarandutpat.com
Call 888-360-4535 or reach out to me at [email protected]
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