Jessica Perkins
Most small businesses, entrepreneurs, and startups are in short supply of human resources and funds. As a result, one person will have to deal with a range of tasks, from various departments, while also looking for creative solutions that fit a tight budget.
However, regardless of your budget size, there are a few vital business aspects you can’t ignore. Online marketing is one of these aspects as most customers today won’t buy from a brand without a solid online presence.
Still, online marketing with all its branches (content creation, link building, social media posting, and so on) is time-consuming and requires a lot of dedication. After all, big brands have huge marketing budgets in order to make sure their name is always first in SERPs and on all social media channels.
So, how can the small guy, with a tiny budget, compete with the mammoths of their respective industry?
Luckily, it’s not all about big budgets. Your ideal customers will be happy to hear from a fresh brand with a different perspective and unique offers. So, if you feel you have what it takes and want to tell the world about it, why not get yourself a freelance social media manager?
Note: If you’re looking to hire social media managers with years of experience, you can find them right here on Twine.
What Is the Job of a Freelance Social Media Manager?
Love it or hate it, social media provides the perfect channels for small businesses to find customers. With over 4 billion people across various platforms, it’s a traffic resource that can’t be ignored. Moreover, it’s a lot easier to get more eyes on your brand via high-quality posts and engaging content than it is with traditional online marketing campaigns.
Sadly, many entrepreneurs don’t see the potential hidden in these platforms and avoid getting specialized help. After all, it’s just about posting from time to time – what’s the big deal with that?
If this is your vision, you’ve already failed at building your brand via social media. On the other hand, if you understand you’ll need the help of a specialist who not only understands your business but also knows how to make the most out of trends and best practices, you have a solid chance.
A social media manager knows how to measure the progress of each post and how to improve by setting up goals and building engagement. They will create posting schedules, follow the trends of the niche, and integrate your brand image with the customer persona you’ve built. They will also offer guidance for ad campaigns and interact with followers to humanize the brand and keep the discussion going.
Now, as you’ve probably guessed, this activity requires time and mental effort from someone who already understands how various social media work. This is why it makes a lot of sense to find a reliable and experienced freelance social media manager who will be 100% focused on growing your brand.
If you’re still not convinced of the profitability of this move, here are a few other signs that tell you it’s time to outsource your social media brand-building efforts:
#1: Your Schedule is Full
Being an entrepreneur is not an easy feat! There are so many things that require your attention that it’s difficult to find time for anything new. However, if your schedule is already full to the brim and your rest time gets to suffer, it’s time to consider delegating some of your tasks.
For instance, if you are the one taking care of social media accounts, you can shave a few hours off of your schedule by hiring an experienced freelance social media manager without putting too much strain on your budget. To ensure hiring the best-suited employees, use only the best recruitment methods.
#2: You Don’t Have the Right Tools
A smartphone with a good camera and a computer with maybe some basic photo editing software – what more could you need to post on social media?
Well, if you think like this, it’s high time you hire yourself a freelance social media manager!
A social media campaign doesn’t begin and end with posting stuff on your wall. This is only the utmost basic requirement for having some sort of presence on these platforms. But, if you want to get followers and engage them into interacting with the brand and then upgrade them to customers, you need so much more than that!
A social media manager usually has a kit of social media monitoring software tools to help them understand the content’s success and to find ways to improve. These handy little helpers gather metrics and tell you why people are engaging with a specific type of content. Moreover, each platform has different metrics, which require different tools and insight.
#3: Low Engagement with Users
One of the main reasons people love to interact with their favorite brands on social media is communication. They get to chat (via DMs or comments) with people who represent the brand and learn about the human side of the company.
So, if you’re so busy you don’t have the time to reply to comments users leave on your posts or you are late to reply to messages, you need someone who can be present and engaging. A social media management tool can be used to peak interest, but to keep customers, you’re going to want to engage with the experts.
#4: Social Media is Foreign Territory
Age or the lack of interaction with the multitude of platforms may have you scratching your head when browsing through the available features.
So, if you think it’s enough to post an update now and then, you are in serious need of help! Moreover, a freelance social media manager will be savvy in working with several different platforms, which allows your company to get more coverage and engage more people.
#5: There is No Progress
Every marketing campaign is designed around a set of goals. For instance, a brand awareness campaign could have two main goals:
- getting 20% more followers
- increasing engagement by 5%
The same is valid for social media campaigns. You invest time and money in creating engaging content and, in exchange, you want to attract more followers and have some of them engage with your brand on the main site.
As a result, it’s rather easy to notice when you are not hitting these goals and it’s time to call for help from a specialist.
#6: It Has Become a Burden
Communication with customers is a fine art that requires constant improvement and refinement. Therefore, if you’re posting on social media (one of the channels you use for communication) as a task that’s on your To-Do list, it shows. The posts lack interest and don’t focus on entertaining and attracting customers – they are just there to fill a daily quota.
So, if you find it difficult to find ideas for new posts or content, why not delegate the task to someone who actually enjoys it? Someone who is passionate about communication via social media channels can turn the tide for your brand by bringing their fresh perspective to the game.
#7: Do You Keep Up with Trends?
Platforms show up seemingly overnight and die down just as fast (Tik Tok’s overwhelming success is proof of that). Also, trends that could carry your brand can blow up in days, when you’re busy running the business and you arrive too late to the show.
Social media requires constant supervision and a flexible strategy that can be adapted to fit the trends. That’s why, if you want to reach your goals and attract customers via these platforms, it’s important to have someone focused on this task alone (aka, a social media manager).
#8: You’re Neglecting Other Sources of Revenue
If social media management takes up all your time, this means you can’t focus on identifying new sources of revenue. Moreover, you may not be doing all that well on social media if this task is new to you.
So, why not leave the posting and engagement-raising activities in the hands of a specialist? This way, you’ll be free to do what you do best (run the business) as well.
#9: No Real-Time Updates
Nowadays there are many tools that let you schedule social media posts for at least a week in advance (if not more). While these tools are great and do save you a ton of time once you get the hang of it, you won’t get very far with this kind of practice.
A successful channel also needs real-time posts and direct engagement with the followers. This shows people who follow your brands that you are present and open to communication. Otherwise, followers can tell your posting is on auto-pilot, which means the time you’ve invested to make the schedule will be lost.
#10: You’re Not Exactly a Writer
You don’t have to be a novelist to make social media work, but it’s also not something anyone can do. In order to reach the users and capture their interest (which is extremely difficult on social media), you need to speak their language and make them understand with a glance that you have something to offer.
Here is where the true talent of a social media manager shines through! They are used with these fast-paced communication mediums and should be talented enough to catch the target audience’s eye.
Wrap Up
As you can see, social media is not something just the kids these days use to waste time. There is a solid reason why so many big corporations pour huge amounts of money into creating content and keeping followers entertained. But what’s even more interesting, these platforms are amazing for startups and small companies – as long as you know how to handle the features.
In summary, unless you are some sort of social media guru, you will need help from someone who does this for a living. This is why a freelance social media manager is a perfect choice!
And, once you’ve found your ideal freelance social media manager, you should also think about how to integrate them into your company. To this aspect, we have a great guide on how to onboard a freelancer and why it’s important to do so.
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Stuart Logan
Wondershare
