Reasons to Hire a Social Media Marketing Agency

Social Media Management is a term that can sometimes scare small businesses, but there’s no need to be afraid. Giving someone outside of your business access to your social media channels takes a fair bit of trust, right? Especially as it’s your ‘baby’, and you don’t want anyone to say/post the wrong thing, in the wrong tone and ruin your business’s reputation.

We understand that, and through the many years of working for, or alongside, many many businesses (from one-man-bands to multi-nationals), we have found that explanation, understanding and communication are the pillars of successful social media management.

So how does it all work? What can you expect if you’re venturing into this realm? We will try to explain…

Firstly, let’s give you some reasons why you might consider hiring a social media agency for your business.

Saving Time – This is number one on the list. Many of our clients always say, ‘I just don’t have enough time’. They begin with the best intentions, and sometimes they last a few weeks, but then the content starts to slide and they end up with a social channels that begs the question: “is this business still running?” A social media agency can take that stress away, and the time pressure. Moreover, their skills mean they can create various graphics, videos, or bespoke imagery that you may not have the know-how or time to create.
Cost Effective – Creating job position in your business dedicated to social media management is a lovely idea, but it’s costly. Rather than employing a single person to manage your social media channels, being able to outsource to a dedicated agency means you’re going to get a lot of experience, more resources, and (if you look in the right place) value! You’re also not responsible for training, sick pay, annual leave and any other long-term commitment that comes with creating a new role.
Creativity, Resource & Know-how The best content is tailored to each platform that you have, so adapting the message and changing the imagery for each platform is essential to maximise the reach and engagement. Agencies may have greater experience and inside knowledge of what content works best on which channel, and when. All the skills are resources of an agency gives you a head start and saves you time!

Committing to social media management can be hard, as it is not something tangible. That said, social media helps generate leads and revenue for most business, when done well and consistently. So make sure you’re not one of those businesses that are missing out on revenue generated from social media!

Step 1 – Sharing access to your social media channels

When we are asked to start managing social media for a business, we have a process; as many agencies will. After you’ve agreed/signed a contract, we will ask you to share your social media channels with us. Over the past few years, Facebook has made this task very straightforward. At Blue Cheese Digital we will request an agency/partnership with your page; allowing you to grant us access. None of that “here is our email address, please add us as a friend and grant us access”; times have changed!

After you have granted us access to the page, you will still be able to post content on your social channels; so don’t worry, you are still very much in control. Shared access to your social media channels allows us to post pre-approved videos & content to your channel. We will also have the ability to view your photo covers, profile images and your business description. Our experience enables us to look over this baseline information and design, and make suggestions on improvements; should you need any.

Sometimes businesses need a social media rebrand, which is something we can also help you with. For a relatively small cost, businesses can reap the rewards of a strong, consistent, impactful design and branding.

Step 2 – Content is king, but what should you post?

Step 2 is effectively your social media strategy, and we will ask you questions to ensure we know you and what you’re about. Being on the same page is key to a collaboration, and you feeling happy about letting go off the reigns. An example of the questions we (or any agency should) ask you:

How often would you like to post across your social media channels? This can range from once or twice a week, to every day. There are factors to consider with this, such as the content that’s available, your budget and stage of your business.
Tone of voice. Every successful brand or business has a personality. This is often depicted through communication and engagement with customers, through social media. Are you providing important information and need to maintain a sense of professionalism? Or, perhaps you want to be funny, light-hearted and motivational?
What are your goals? This can be a tricky question, because the temptation is to say “everything”. However, in our experience, it is better to start with one key goal, for example: to raise awareness of my business, then evolve from there. Example of goals could be: to gain more website traffic; gain brand awareness; or, sell more products.
Who is your targeted audience? This is the holy grail of social media. Get comfortable with the fact not everyone is going to like you, and that is fine. Let’s find the people that LOVE you. If you know who the people are you are targeting, life is easier, and invariably kinder to your budget. With this information, we can conduct research into your target group, seeing where your audience are most likely to be, and what they like and share on social media.

We conduct these sessions with our clients via telephone, video-calls (Zoom or skype), or where possible, face-to-face. Whatever you’re comfortable with, we can help you.

Step 3 – Ideas, Creativity & Design

This is the fun part. When you work with us, we will give you plenty of ideas and angles for your content. Our experience, resources and impartiality to your business, will allow for fresh ideas, creativity and designs o set you apart from the crowd.

All of the content we create is based upon your strategy and goals we discuss with you in the previous steps. When it comes to the creation of your social media content, we can create you a social media calendar (allowing you to map out content a month in advance), or we can create your content on a week-by-week basis. This is where social media management can be flexible! A combination of planning, and also being able to react to news and topics of interest (where applicable) is the sweet spot.

Step 4 – Approval & Scheduling

Once we’ve finished creating your content, we will send this across to you and you can check it all (some clients decide to do this at first then they allow us to post freely); then approve or request amends.

You can do this by giving us a call or dropping us an email with ‘go ahead’. If you find that a piece of content isn’t quite what you think aligns with your business, this is fine, give us some feedback and we will go back and recreate it or make some tweaks. We will always make suggestions where we feel you can push boundaries or consider various angles.

You are in control of how much you want to be involved or not; we are happy when you are happy.

Step 5 – Review & Repeat

Once we’ve scheduled your content in your social media channels, we will continue to monitor each post; often by utilising Facebook & Instagram stories to further increase your organic reach and engagement.

If there are any messages from potential customers or any comments that need your attention, we will alert you. You will be able to jump in because you will also have shared access to all of your social media pages.

Once the week/month has completed, we will have another discussion with you via your preferred communication. We can discuss what works well, what might not have worked, and understand any events or promotions you have coming up, that we can promote.

In our experience, over time, our clients build a trustworthy relationship with us, where they feel like we are members of their business. This then reduces the approval process and frees up even more of their time!

Do you want to get Social?

If you are interested in exploring social media management for your business or brand, please feel free to send us an email at info@bluecheesedigital.com or use the contact form below!

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