The Ultimate Guide to Getting Social Media Management Services: What You Need to Know

Businesses today know the importance of nurturing a strong online presence.

We obviously know people go online to look for the products and services they need but what's not so obvious is that social platforms use behavioral targeting to know what your audience wants so they can bypass the search altogether and still deliver content they're interested in, so businesses need to become more visible on the web not only in search, but also on social platforms where people people depend on algorythms to know what content interests them.

So while building a website and starting an email newsletter campaign are great, and certain, ways to reach out to potential clients, social media management remains the most effective (especially to small businesses).

However, given the complexity of social media management, a lot of business owners and marketing directors reach out to agencies to help them plan, execute, and monitor the performance of their social media marketing campaigns.

In this guide, we will talk about how social media management services can help your business grow its reach and generate traffic from platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

The Basics of Social Media Management

On the surface, social media management involves creating and publishing a wide range of content on social networking sites, but it goes beyond content production.

A lot of social media management is identifying trends and gaining insights into customer behaviors.

It also deals with creating strategic messaging for accomplishing specific goals.

Whether it's spreading brand awareness or generating high-quality leads, social media management plays an important role in helping your business grow.

What are the Benefits of Social Media Management?

According to HubSpot, there are about 4.55 billion active users on social media!

At least 54% use social media platforms to research products.

With this in mind, businesses will need to consider how to make the most of social media.

Today's business landscape is fast-paced as consumers are exposed to a barrage of information.

Remember, you won't be the only one looking to build a strong online presence so in order to rise above the noise, you need to spend time and resources to get your message across and engage your target audience.

You will also need to respond to comments and track the effectiveness of your campaign across different metrics.

To make sure your social media marketing efforts are producing the best results, effective social media management can help you narrow down your efforts and focus on the things that really matter.

The Difficulties of Social Media Management

People who handle social media marketing campaigns are known as a social media strategists. Their job is to make sure the business / client is represented properly on social platforms (i.e., Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.).

While their work looks simple on the surface, social media strategists very often handle multiple tasks, including:

Researching client-specific audience preferences
Learning how individual competitors are handling their social media campaigns
Researching trends for trending content and ideas
Preparing content calendars for scheduled posts
Setting up campaign monitoring tools to measure performance
Initiating paid advertisements and "boosts" on Facebook and LinkedIn
Responding to customers through comments and chat messages
Creating or completing your social media profiles
Letting your followers know the latest news about your brand
Reaching out to and forming strong relationships with potential brand advocates

If you're a small business owner or manage a small marketing team, you'll have to handle these on your own... and it can get taxing and there's a good chance that you'll end up applying the wrong approaches.

If you have other priorities but but still don't want to settle for a lackluster social media campaign, you might choose to hire an agency that handles the social media management services for you.

Is Hiring an Agency to do Manage Social Media Right for You?

Successful business owners and managers know the importance of getting help with business processes and tasks.

They understand that social media management is one of those areas that's highly, and increasingly, neccessary but that eats up a bulk of time and resources... and then there's the learning curve.

It's also one of those areas where most end up throwing their hands up and hiring someone who has done it before and can therefore do it better, faster, and reach profitability much quicker than doing it on your own.

bottom line, hiring an agency that provides social media management services can help you access a wide range of benefits:

More time for your goals: Managing your social media presence requires careful attention to detail. You need to spend a great deal of time crafting a social media strategy that generates the best returns. By having an agency help you out, you save time and open yourself to still focus on other important business goals.
Get access to expertise: Social media marketing doesn't just involve creating posts on topics that matter to your market. You also need to conduct market research and gather insights to make sure your campaign is getting maximum results and doing all it can for you. Delegating your social media management to a capable agency provides you access to expert skills, knowledge, and experience that would be near impossible get otherwise.
Returns on your spending: Owners and marketing managers are expected to increase their social media budget as more consumers rely on platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn to make informed decisions. If you are planning to allocate budget for your social media campaign, you might as well leave the work to an experienced digital marketing agency. With expert help, you will be able to generate massive gains from your social media campaign(s).
Improve your brand awareness: Probably the greatest benefit you can get from hiring an agency is the amount of brand recall you will be able to generate. Investing in your social media presence not only helps you engage your audience but also builds brand awareness. With an agency by your side, you will be able to bring your business front and center.
Get valuable advice on digital marketing: Apart from handling your social media presence, a great agency will also boost other aspects of your digital marketing campaign. With omnichannel marketing now a standard among businesses, you will need relevant advice on how you can maximize the use of videos, podcasts, and other media across multiple audience touchpoints including web3 / Web 3.0.

If you think getting someone else to manage your social media marketing campaign makes sense to your business, then you are on the right track because it's just a matter of picking the right social media management services provider.

The following is a quick guide to help you select the best social media marketing agency to hire.

Tips for Finding the Right Social Media Marketing Agency

Know your goals.

What are the reasons you need help with your social media marketing in the first place? Is it because you lack the time to do the hands-on work yourself? Maybe you need an expert who's done it before and can help bring the best out of your social media presence... It's important to set specific goals so you will be able to get the most out of your investment. Oftentimes, it's having the wrong goals that result in unsuccessful campaigns. Before you look for the right agency to hire, make sure you have a list of achievable goals and a clear understanding of why you're bringing someone in to do it for you.

Determine your budget range.

Social media management services come in different pricing structures. Depending on the agency you reached out, the minimum you're going to spend is $500 a month. Less than that, you get what you pay for (and you're wasting your money plus invaluable time). This amount will also depend on what's included in the service package. Larger enterprises, for instance, can pay thousands of dollars for posting content and running paid ads on Facebook and LinkedIn. Consider how much you will be willing to spend on social media management services because this will make it easier for you to narrow down your list to a few agencies that match your criteria and budget.

Identify the areas you need help with.

Along with setting budgets, you also need to find out which social media tasks are critical to your business. Go back to your goals and specify the activities that support them. For example, if you want to convert more customers through Facebook, you can set up shop on Facebook Marketplace. If brand awareness is your top priority, then you will need the agency to focus on researching and creating content your target audience will love!

Find agencies within your industry.

When it comes down to finding a marketing agency, you wouldn't want to settle for one that lacks experience in your industry. There's a difference between a generalist and someone who knows the challenges you face in reaching out to a specific market. You have deeper insights into consumer behaviors and trends that can support your efforts. For this, consider reaching out to your network and asking for recommendations. You can also do a quick Google search using the phrase ""social media management services" and industry keywords.

Request for a consultation.

If you think you have found the right agency for your social media marketing campaign, you still need to check if they can handle the list of tasks you need help with (and if they even want to take you on as a client). It's also important to ask for a quote and check if you can afford the services they provide. If you're representing a larger enterprise then asking for a phone consultation should give you information that can't be found on the agency's website but for smaller outfits, your best is going with a service that provides upfront flat-fee pricing so there's no billing surprises when things don't go exactly to plan (and this will happen because its the nature of the business). Even if the website displays pricing info, it's advisable to reach out and ask any specific questions you might have including asking them if they have done similar work in the past, case studies or similar materials that can give you a closer look at what they're capable of doing, as well as contract lengths, cancellation policy, etc.

THE TAKEAWAY

If you want your business to succeed, you need to focus on building your social presence... and if you're like a lot of business owners, solo marketers, and small-team marketing managers, you just need to look for an agency that can and will provide everything you need to get serious with your social media marketing.

If you're looking to hit the ground running, we'd be happy to learn more about your goals here at SMARTER CLICKS MEDIA to see if there's a fit and how we can make social media marketing work for you!

Picture of a social media strategist's phone screen