I get it. You want to hire a social media manager. You Google “best social media manager near me” and start reading the top pages and see “social media marketing consultant”.
Why? What is the difference?
You can’t really tell the difference. They all look the same: social media marketing.
You then follow their social channels and all looks the same. All the candidates have a good social media presence to you.
You check their social media services but you still can’t tell exactly if a social media manager will remove your current pains about social media.
✔️Will they create your social media strategy or that is something separate?
✔️How about nurturing your audience and guide you to build a lead generation system?
✔️Will they craft blog posts for your website? Will they help you rank in Google?
✔️Can they take all your ideas and turn them into beautiful pieces of marketing?
✔️What about graphic design? Will they make your brand look like you?
✔️What kind of work do they expect from you? Will they manage your tasks or will they take over the entire role?
✔️How about payment terms? Do you pay hourly or fixed? How many posts are included on their fee?
This isn’t exactly the kind of job you enjoy as an entrepreneur. I’m sure that you rather be at the beach right now, than comparing the different social media marketing jobs, descriptions, social media marketing or social media strategist.
The struggle is real.
Let me simplify this for you.
Hierarchystructure.com added this infographic that covers the different roles within social media marketing.
Perhaps you see the infographic and think “that’s for big companies with big budgets”. You are totally right. However, I will argue with you with your outsourcing strategy.
If you are into growing your business, on a limited budget, you will be better outsourcing other things, but social media management.
I know this will sound like the opposite of what I should tell you since I run a social media marketing agency in Austin, but let me clarify my 7 reasons why!
Reason Number 1: A social media manager is not equipped to develop your overall branding, messaging, and communication strategy.
If you’re looking to get paid clients from your social media marketing efforts, having a social media manager that posts 7-15 times on your behalf won’t be effective. You want to have access to an expert who can lead your marketing strategy and find ways to position your brand on top of your competitor, not limited to social media marketing.
Reason Number 2: Social media managers know very little about social media optimization
Most marketers are familiar with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) on some level. Using the reach of search engines like Google or Bing to fuel your marketing campaign has been a successful strategy for years. But as social media grows as one of the top platforms to reach consumers, new approaches to digital marketing have emerged. One of the top strategies used by businesses looking to maximize their reach online is Social Media Optimization (SMO).
Sprout Social defines very well this concept.
Social Media Optimization is essentially using social media as a catalyst to grow your company’s online presence. Where some companies tend to just set up a profile on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter to be where their customers are, SMO is about strategically creating, building and maximizing your social media plan to connect with your target audience. SMO allows you to:
Strengthen your brand
Generate leads
Get more visibility online
Connect with your audience
The typical scope of a social media manager includes ideas of copy, information about the target market, and guidance for visuals. Conversions will be defined as more likes and followers, but you won’t be able to use social media as a catalyst to grow your company because they don’t have the skills required to grow a brand and monetize it.
If you want to grow your business, you need social media optimization services.
Reason Number 3: You need to get visible in front of your targeted community. You need a community manager more than a social media manager.
A community manager helps build, grow and manage a company’s or brand’s online communities. Using analytics tools to monitor social media outlets, online forums and blogs, a community manager finds out what people are saying about a company or brand. A community manager also engages with customers and fans, and uses social media and live events to help increase brand loyalty.
Grab My Ultimate Guide: 27 Best Social Media Marketing Tools
Reason Number 4: You need to leverage all forms of online marketing. Not only social media marketing.
If you like Shark Tank, let me remind you of the episode of The Cut Buddy. The entrepreneur, Joshua Esnard, invented the first beard and haircut template to be patented and the only one with multiple curves. With no formal entrepreneurship experience, using Youtube influencers, sold over 100,000 units. He had 1 video going viral with over 11 million views. The sharks asked him but why you need us? He said, “I am an inventor, not an entrepreneur and I need light.”
No matter how successful we think we are, part of the success formula is to have a growth mindset. You want to be challenged.
Reason Number 5: You better hire a ninja if they will play on Facebook and Instagram ads with your money
Advertising on social media is not PPC. It’s not even traditional advertising. If you followed any of my Facebook ads training, I explain the 9 step process to master Facebook Ads. It is not something you want to delegate to someone who has no experience. Trust me here. One mistake can cost you a fortune.
I have seen a fair amount of ad accounts with a 5 x in ad spent, simply because they selected the wrong campaign objective.
Social media managers might know the basics of promoting a post. But they don’t do advertising full time as social media advertiser does.
Reason Number 6: A social media manager is not your brand ambassador
If you’re not familiar with the idea, a brand ambassador is a person who’s tried your product or service and loves it — loves it enough to say amazing things about it. Not a paid endorser. While those can be helpful as well, they usually lack the authenticity of a brand ambassador, who is not paid and has either expertise in your marketplace or an “every person” appeal. Or both.
When you start your business, all you need is visibility. Three main things will take you there:
- ✔️Paid media
- ✔️Social media
- ✔️Public relations (outreach marketing).
A great brand ambassador can cut through the clutter and say things about your company and brand with more credibility than you can because they won’t make money as a result. That credibility is important for both direct outreach such as advertising and indirect such as pitching stories to reporters. Having a good band ambassador, or several of them, is a powerful and versatile tool to raise your company or product awareness.
We kind of left the best for the end!
Reason Number 7: You need a marketing professional that specializes in the full cycle of inbound marketing
Inbound marketing, in simple terms, is a comprehensive strategy that uses as many channels as possible to attract ideal clients and nurture them via funnels.
It has been increasing, consistently, for over a decade now.
Every expert in inbound marketing is an expert in social media marketing, but not every social media marketing expert is an inbound marketing ninja.
You probably need:
- ✔️A full B2B marketing strategy
- ✔️SEO services
- ✔️Event marketing
- ✔️Influencer marketing
- ✔️Facebook marketing
- ✔️Instagram marketing
- ✔️Linkedin marketing
- ✔️Video marketing
- ✔️Content marketing
- ✔️ Advertising
… and a director to lead all of those projects and turn them into revenue.
So, do you see now why I said you don’t need a social media manager?
More than 50% of small business owners won’t make their dreams come true. My mission is to fight that number. I started Marketing For Greatness, a social media marketing company in Austin. Discover what makes us unique!
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