Outsourcing Social Media Marketing: Your Essential Guide
Outsourcing Social Media Marketing: Your Essential Guide
Social media has become an important marketing channel for businesses because it allows you to reach millions of potential customers without stepping out of the office or picking up the phone. Social media networks are estimated to reach 3.96 billion users in 2022, with Facebook, YouTube, and WhatsApp having the most number of monthly active users.
Read on if you have plans of delving into the realm of social media marketing to know more about the advantages of using social media for marketing, why outsourcing it can be beneficial, and how a business can outsource its social media efforts.
This article will cover the following topics (click the link to jump to topic):
Why is Social Media Marketing Important?
It would be a mistake to think that social media marketing is simply placing ads on your Facebook page or other social media networks. In recent years, especially during the pandemic-driven lockdowns, social media made a significant impact as the go-to avenue for learning and self-development, seeking new career opportunities, and growing your brand. If you’re not refocusing your business and marketing efforts to integrate social media marketing, you’re missing out.
Why has social media become such a big thing for both businesses and consumers?
Today’s savvy marketing professionals integrate social media marketing into their overall strategy because it allows them to connect and engage with potential customers quickly and easily. Having a presence in today’s social media networks means a chance to put your brand in front of a large global audience.
Additionally, using social media marketing tools, you can ensure that you create tailored messaging and campaigns that reach your chosen audience. Crafting engaging content and a solid social media marketing strategy will help your business engage with the right audience and eventually convert them into customers.
Why Outsource Social Media Management?
The significant impact social media has made on business underlines its value and signifies that it will remain a vital part of marketing strategies in the coming years. In 2017, more than 65% of businesses already had a presence in social media in an effort to boost their lead generation efforts. As such, startups should keep abreast of social media marketing trends and new business practices to maintain a competitive edge. Businesses will always find new ways to outplay competitors—and you should, too.
If you have the know-how and the time to come up with a social media marketing strategy and implement it by yourself, then by all means save some money and do it yourself. However, there are several advantages to outsourcing social media marketing. As they say, it’s often better to “leave it to the professionals.”
Help from the Experts
While social media may seem a simple undertaking, its many aspects and the strategies involved aren’t always straightforward. Outsourcing social media marketing is recommended because this means that you’re delegating the job to social media specialists who are focused on making the campaign work.
Outsourced social media professionals have relevant experience in marketing and public relations (PR). If you’re not a marketing or PR person yourself, then they have more experience than you. What’s more, you get to choose who manages your social media campaigns. An outsourcing company can be helpful in getting the right people for the job, by providing your specific requirements and expected outcomes.
By outsourcing social media management, you can create a team that’s focused solely on crafting engaging content and campaigns that generate the leads you need.
Fresh Perspectives
As a startup founder, it can be hard to distance yourself from your own brand and see things from a customer’s perspective. Outsourcing social media services means bringing fresh eyes to the table and an opportunity to come up with creative campaigns you would’ve never thought of yourself.
Social media marketing professionals work with different types of clients and brands and, as such, bring the knowledge gained from these experiences. By getting to know your business inside and out and combining this information with their know-how, they can forecast upcoming social media trends and help you brainstorm ideas for your next campaign.
Detailed and Accurate Reports
Reporting and analysis of social media marketing campaigns can often be relegated to the backseat due to more pressing matters, especially in the case of startups. Without monitoring and measuring campaign progress and analytics, however, you might be wasting time and effort on strategies that don’t contribute to your bottomline.
When you outsource social media management, you also gain access to platform knowledge and systems that may already be in place. Using current tools leads to more accurate and real-time reporting and analysis that help identify trends that align with business goals. This, in turn, help in crafting effective strategies and campaigns.
Better Coverage
With billions of users around the globe, you could say that social media is “the marketing channel that never sleeps.” As such, one of the main questions you should answer is: How often should I post?
The answer is dependent on your target locale and audience, but you should consider that social media networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter are open 24/7. This means that if you don’t post that often, your posts may be buried under the hundreds of other posts people make each day.
Consistency is key when it comes to social media marketing if you want to maintain top-of-mind awareness for your company or brand. Fortunately, outsourcing social media services means you’ll have social media marketing professionals working for you round-the-clock or as often as your business requires. They will also know the most ideal times to post and provide insight on how you can enhance your social media profiles and overall online reputation.
Leaving the social media strategy and execution to your outsourced team means you’ll have more time to focus on more important business matters.
The Pros and Cons of Outsourcing Social Media Services
Social media mistakes can be costly, so having a social media marketing team can be beneficial for businesses, especially if you’re trying to build up your brand. Outsourcing social media marketing efforts can be daunting because your reputation is on the line, but it can be an effective strategy as long as you choose the right outsourcing partner that will help you find the right talent.
You must build an outsourced team that’s prepared to get knee-deep into your business and know it inside and out. This team should also be savvy enough to know how they can communicate your brand message to the right audience. Internal communications should also be a focus; your team should be able to answer questions immediately and make changes at a moment’s notice whenever necessary.
THE PROS
Speed and coverage
Outsourcing a social media team means you have an experienced, dedicated team that will address issues and formulate appropriate strategies for your business immediately. They will keep on top of day-to-day tasks, ensuring all bases are covered and progress is quicker. This also helps in identifying strategies that work and those that need modification or course correction.
Real-time support
Whenever you have questions about your social media strategy or want to know how your campaigns are doing, you can always go to your outsourced social media team for answers. This helps avoid costly mistakes and helps you learn more about social media marketing in the process.
Integration
An experienced social media team will be knowledgeable about social media integration so it contributes to your overall marketing and branding efforts. They will also know the tools required to make this possible and how to leverage these tools to achieve your social media marketing goals.
THE CONS
Prioritization
If goal hierarchy isn’t clear early on, your outsourced social media team might focus on aspects of the business or specific campaigns that shouldn’t be prioritized in the first place. An excellent example is customer experience (CX). CX is vital in social media marketing because it gives your audience a glimpse of how you do business and interact with customers.
Lack of authenticity
Brand voice is vital when you’re just starting out because the way you present yourself to your customers can make or break your business. Business owners worry that outsourcing social media services dilutes brand voice and depreciates its authenticity. While this is a possibility, finding the right partner that will take the time and effort to know your company will go a long way in maintaining your desired brand voice and building your online reputation.
Mistakes due to miscommunication
Working with people outside your organization requires you to be in constant communication with them. Social media outsourcing doesn’t mean simply farming out the tasks to a third party, it also involves ensuring that social media campaigns and messaging are checked by an internal representative before they see the light of day. Expectations should always be aligned and all messaging, accurate and unambiguous.
5 Ways Outsourcing Social Media Marketing Can Benefit Your Business
Social media marketing is nothing new, and businesses have been trying to use it to build an online presence for years. In order to be successful in your social media efforts, however, you must understand how it can serve you asa marketing channel and develop an effective strategy based on this understanding.
Below are a few ways social media marketing can help your business.
It’s a vast and versatile channel.
Considered one of the widest and most versatile marketing channels today, social media marketing has become a vital element of the marketing mix. Many businesses tap social media to reach out to their target audience and increase brand awareness by boosting their social media presence. As social media channels increase in number and the strategies involved grow in complexity, it can become an overwhelming endeavor. You shouldn’t limit yourself to a single social media platform, but depending on your target audience, you and your outsourced social media team should focus more on those that are best suited to the business.
It’s a two-way engagement platform.
Engaging with your audience is best done by keeping communication lines open, and social media marketing helps by providing a platform for two-way communication. Being able to interact with your audience is one of the biggest draws of social media marketing. It allows you to get a pulse on customer sentiment and current trends so you can modify your approach and tweak your campaigns when necessary. A variety of social listening tools are available that help you keep in touch with your customers. Humanizing your brand will contribute significantly to the success of your social media marketing strategy, and there’s no better way to do this than by creating and maintaining a two-way communication platform between you and your customers.
It’s an excellent customer service platform.
Aside from building trust among your customers, social media platforms help provide an overall better customer experience through “social customer service.” This allows you to provide information and support in real-time or as needed. Being on a social media platform, this also means that this commitment to your customers is visible to the public eye. Successful social customer service helps get the word out, building a positive image for your brand through excellent customer experiences.
It’s more targeted and economical.
Social media marketing campaigns can generate a great deal of publicity for a business, and they can be as targeted as you want them to be. A single share or comment on a social media post can help it reach hundreds or thousands of users at almost no cost at all. You can also select a demographic or location to target and tailor your messaging according to your selected parameters. Outsourcing social media marketing is especially beneficial for startups and small businesses as it helps promote your business without burning a hole in your pocket.
It helps boost brand loyalty.
Every business, whether they admit it or not, aims to build and maintain brand loyalty first and foremost. Aside from the obvious goal of increased sales and revenue, it helps promote meaningful customer engagement, brand advocacy, and keeps competitors at bay. Having loyal social media followers increases your chances of having brand advocates that will spread the good word about your brand. On the flip side, it also helps you improve your product or service through addressing negative feedback.
How to Successfully Outsource Social Media Management
While outsourcing social media marketing isn’t a foolproof plan, its many benefits far outweigh the risks. However, there are some considerations before you jump into it head first. Below are the main things to look for when crafting an outsourcing strategy for your social media marketing efforts.
Choose a capable and trustworthy outsourcing partner.
Your chosen outsourcing partner should be trustworthy because they will carry your brand name and “speak in your voice.” This means that the message they send will be your message, and the customers will be listening. Brand awareness is one thing, but you need to be clear on what you want your customers to be aware of about your brand. It’s always a good idea to set up regular meetings with the outsourcing company to talk about expectations and timelines to ensure everyone is on the same page throughout the engagement.
Work closely with your outsourced social media team.
Outsourcing social media marketing doesn’t mean you’ll be hands-off on the matter. While most of the dirty work is delegated to an outsourced team, you should always ensure that your outsourced team knows what want and don’t want them to do. Your brand messaging is vital, so you and your outsourced social media team should always be on the same page.
Consider a temporary outsourcing arrangement.
Depending on your business needs, you may not need to outsource social media marketing for the long term. If you just need a team to set up a campaign or create a social media calendar, you can build a temporary team for that purpose. Seeing an outsourced team work will also help you learn the ropes of social media marketing so you’ll know how to better manage campaigns in the future.
Outsource Social Media Management the Right Way
Your social media marketing strategy and needs will vary depending on what your current business needs are. As such, it’s vital that you find an outsourcing partner that will take the time to get to know your business inside and out before creating a roadmap for your social media efforts.
As a business solution, outsourcing social media marketing will help you save time and money so you can focus on the more important things. Schedule your free consultation today to see what options are available to you and start saving up on business costs while tapping a pool of world-class Filipino talent. It can be daunting to pass the mantle of social media management to an outsourced team, but ensuring that you have the right partner will show that it’s a viable option for any business looking to leverage social media and make their marketing efforts more cohesive and efficient.
