Are you ready to hire a marketing agency or bring on an in-house social media manager? As a business owner, we know this is a big decision but it will definitely be a good one since you are likely wearing too many hats as it is. It’s also a relief to bring in a professional that you can ask questions and bounce ideas off of.
However, when it comes to social media and digital marketing, some businesses hire an agency or an internal candidate with the expectation that they will bring in their expertise without having to be part of the process at all. There are a few things you can do as a business owner to help ensure you are hiring the right agency (we hope you are considering TargetMarket of course ;) ) or person and to make sure you are working seamlessly with your digital marketing or social media manager.
5 Tips for Working with a Social Media Manager
1. Educate Yourself
First things first, make sure you understand why your business needs social media, understand your short-term and long-term business goals, and how social media can help you get there. If you can’t come to this conclusion on your own, ask your potential agency or direct hire to help walk you through this process. A social media strategy is an essential first step to learning where you need to be online and how social media can help you reach your goals.
2. Define Your Goals
If an agency or social media manager is willing to start on your account without putting direct goals and KPI’s in place, beware. These are things that absolutely need to be put in place by you before a social media strategy is started. You should be sitting down with your agency or manager to discuss your immediate and long-term business goals to help your social media manager know where to begin.
3. Define Your Voice
Work with your social media manager to define your voice before they get started building out your content. Are you a business that is very formal or are you able to bring in a bit of humor? What will your audience expect from you online? These are things that a Manager or agency should be able to help you build out but they will definitely want your input on how you want your business to be perceived by your audience online.
4. Communicate
A social media manager or agency should be a partner and an extension of your business. We can never relay this point enough. Make sure you communicate all-important business updates to them so they can share that information with your online audience. This will help to ensure that your social media is up-to-date with what is going on inside your business or brick-and-mortar location. Make sure to alert them to any sales or specials and especially any customer issues that may pop up.
5. Stay Involved
We know! You hired someone so you wouldn’t have to be involved. But hear us out. While you certainly don’t have to be involved in the everyday aspect of your agency’s or social media manager’s work, make sure you are keeping an eye out for interesting content within your business. You shouldn’t just hand over your accounts to a social media manager and forget about them. We want you to be social media aware. For example, if you get an interesting customer in your store and you want to take a picture with them, do it! Send it to your manager (with the customer’s name and permission of course) so they can post it to the appropriate platforms. This is the best way to showcase exactly what is going on in the now and the best way to establish your brand as authentic.
Talk to a Pro
Are you ready to take the next step and get help with your social media presence? Let’s start with step 1, education. We start with a consultation to educate you on our process and why social media is so important for your business. Ready to get started? Contact us today at (888) 632-4499 or fill out our form for a free consultation.
