Social media may be one of the most important (and underused!) marketing tools at your disposal. If you want to drive people to your website, people have to be able to find you. Posting on social media is the best way to make that happen. Not only does it allow your business to build clout, but also helps out your SEO efforts.
“I’m not on SnapFace…I’m not really too worried about what they put on InstantChat, or whatever it is.” – Bill Belichick
Not everyone is social media savvy, and that’s okay. Like Bill Belichick, you’re more concerned about your team (business) winning (succeeding) than Twitter best practices. Regardless, social media should play an important part in your digital marketing strategy. Do you need an extra set of hands? Consider reaching out to a social media agency.
What do social media agencies do?
Social media agencies tend to measure success in followers. They want to drive traffic to your website, and they know that the best way to do that is to have more people looking at your posts on various platforms. If you ask them, gaining any type of follower is a win.
Why do I need a social media strategy?
Before you decide to hire an agency, you first need to understand why you need social media. Believe it or not, it’s not all about how many followers you have. Social media provides a unique opportunity to track what people are talking about. Are they sharing problems they have that you may be able to help with? Are they reaching out to let you know what you did well – or are they complaining? Social media is all about building a community, not shouting your sales message for the world to see. Any agency you look toward for help should also understand this. If the only thing they care about is more views, they are not using social media to its full potential.
Do I need someone to do this for me?
As always, the answer is going to depend on you and your business. If you need help managing your social media to reach potential customers, this is a good avenue to explore. Be wary of agencies who are more invested in number of followers than in targeting the experience to the people you want to do business with. Take the time to ensure that your social media approach will be appropriate for your audience.
If you think you’d be better off managing your social media by yourself, there are other options out there. Remember, it’s not enough to post every now and again. You need to be able to give out information that is of interest to your consumers on a regular basis. You also need to measure what is or isn’t working. Shouting into the void with no way to measure success is not a great way to help your business.
Hootsuite can be a helpful tool for the do-it-yourself social media manager. It provides you with a dashboard of all your social media sites. You can see what is driving visitors to your site, respond to comments, and track activity across platforms. Buffer is another great option. It’s a scheduling tool that optimizes the times you post and helps make content curation easier. HubSpot also has a social media tool where you get a calendar view of all scheduled posts. The social media tool is just one of the components of the platform. It is a great option for businesses looking to get more out of their marketing. These tools free up your time so you can concentrate on your core business.
Now what?
It’s time to think about your social media strategy. Do you currently have one? What is or isn’t working? If you think that the best way for you to increase your social effectiveness is through an agency, do your research first. Remember, an agency that only wants to get you followers is not in your best interest. If you think that you’d be better off doing this yourself, look into management tools so that you’re not operating in the dark.
Okay, but what if neither option seems like the right one for you? The good news is that there are many different kinds of agencies out there that are ready to help you grow your business. Download our free guide on the different kinds of agencies and which ones can help you.
