At first, many business owners didn't see the use for social media other than as a personal entertainment tool. However, social media has progressed in an incredibly rapid pace and by 2019, 91% of businesses were on social media for marketing reasons. While social media continues to serve its primary purpose of connecting people around the world, it also plays a major role in connecting companies with potential and current customers.
Accepting that your business needs social media presence is one thing, but knowing how to manage it is another. Whether you're too busy handling the logistics of your business or you're simply not tech savvy, managing a social media account can be time consuming and stressful. That's where social media managers come in.
Hiring someone to handle your company's social platform will lessen your workload and potentially bring you more business. Social media management involves a lot of marketing strategies only the right social media marketing team will know. So how can you tell if you're hiring the right team?
Let's examine the criteria below.
1. Branding
You want to hire a social media marketing team that understands your brand. If someone who doesn't understand your brand's voice is running your social accounts, this can cause confusion amongst the audience. Although a social media manager may bring exciting and innovative ideas, it still has to make sense with your business and they must be able to adapt to your brand. Sarcastic, witty humor may work for one company but that doesn't mean it'll work with yours too. If the team you're hiring can't seem to align with your brand's voice then it won't be a good fit for your business.
2. Ability to Multitask
If you want a strong social media presence then chances are you will want to be on more than one social channel. The right social media marketing team will have no issues with running multiple social media accounts for you. They should also be familiar with the tools and programs needed in order to effectively manage multiple accounts. There are programs like Later , Hootsuite, and Buffer which your social media management team should know about in order to prove they are knowledgeable in the field.
3. Effective Communication
Most social media managing companies work remotely so they won't be coming in to check up with you in person as often. When hiring a team, make sure to establish the importance of effective and immediate communication. They must be up-to-date with what's going on within your business in order to put the right information out there in your social platforms. There are specific communication tools like Slack and Trello which help members of an organization or team stay in touch and share information. The right social media manager typically knows about these tools.
4. Writing Skills
Social media management is not only about posting attention-grabbing pictures. The right captions have to go along with those posts in order to convert. Your social media marketing team must be knowledgable when it comes to writing the right copy in order to persuade your audience to buy or at least call their attention enough to make them engage with your post.
5. Interpret Data
There is a science of numbers behind running a social media account. The right social media marketing team must know the meaning behind the analytical data that apps supply in order to measure the growth of your account. They must also figure out areas of improvement and obtain methods and strategies they can utilize in order to grow your presence within the platform. Being familiar with tools which can provide insights on what type of content works best, preferred posting times according to your audience, and engagement levels, is a sign that your team knows what they're doing.
Remember that your business doesn't have a social media profile simply for looks. If it's properly managed, your social media profile can generate an incredible amount of revenue. Take advantage of these tips when hiring a social media marketing team and see how your online presence starts to grow and your sales rise.