Should You Hire a Social Media Strategist?

Looking to use social media to your business’s advantage? Did you know there are 1.9 billion monthly active users on Facebook alone? That’s only one of the popular social media platforms! Developing and implementing a social media strategy can be daunting. You might ask yourself: “Should I do it all myself or hire a professional?” To help […]

Looking to use social media to your business’s advantage?

Did you know there are 1.9 billion monthly active users on Facebook alone? That’s only one of the popular social media platforms!

Developing and implementing a social media strategy can be daunting. You might ask yourself: “Should I do it all myself or hire a professional?”

To help take out the guesswork, here’s a quick guide to help you decide whether or not your business should hire a social media strategist!

What Does a Social Media Strategist Do?

A social media strategist can be an invaluable asset to your business. Depending on the status of your current digital strategy, they can help connect the dots to make social media work for your business.

A strategist can help research your market and determine where your target audience spends time online. Then, they can help create a content strategy that will be engaging to your potential customers or clients.

They will also help you set realistic goals and set processes in motion to achieve those goals.

Finally, if you bring on a social media strategist to manage your social media, they will post content, grow your following, and monitor and optimize it over time so that it continues to benefit your business.

How Does Each Social Media Platform Work?

As you consider whether you should hire a social media strategist, you should evaluate your knowledge of how the various platforms work and their purposes.

Here’s a rundown of some of the most popular social media platforms and some background information on how users interact with each other on them:

Facebook

Facebook was initially built as a platform for connecting with friends. Users share a variety of content types on Facebook and business profiles are very active on it.

Twitter

Short, 140 character tweets are the centerpiece for the conversational type of content users share on Twitter.

Instagram

Engaging images and videos are the backbone of Instagram, with social currency being shared in the form of likes, comments, and follows.

LinkedIn

This platform is primarily a place for professional networking and performs well for B2B outreach

Pinterest

Pinterest is another image-based social media platform. It can be thought of as a digital bulletin board. Users can organize their interests into boards and share pins that link to websites, images, and videos.

A dedicated social media strategist will have a strong working knowledge of how each platform works and how to create unique content that will perform well on each.

Which Platforms Will Benefit Your Business?

As a social media strategist researches your audience, they’ll be able to help you choose the social media platforms that will work best for your business.

Contrary to what many business owners think, you do not need to be present on all social media platforms.

Whether you are managing your social profiles yourself or hiring help, it’s important to think of social media from a practical standpoint. After reviewing how each platform works, evaluate which ones will help you reach your goals.

Along with deciding the platforms that will work for your business, a social media strategist will find tools to systematize the social media processes and tasks.

How Does Social Media Impact Your Website?

Think about how the social media puzzle piece fits into your digital strategy. Done properly, social media can have a huge impact on your website’s traffic.

If you have a blog, you can create digital marketing campaigns that work to drive traffic to your blog via social media.

Increased traffic from social media can help your website’s SEO and help you qualify new customers as you grow your following on all platforms.

Can Paid Social Media Advertising Help Your Company?

Digital advertising is not new, but paid social media advertising is making waves for businesses as they work to reach new audiences and see an ROI from marketing efforts.

For example, Facebook advertising allows you to laser target your audiences, segment by demographics and interests, and split test virtually everything.

A skilled social media expert will know how to leverage the paid ad platforms on each social network to your advantage.

For example, you could market offers to your ideal customers, set up campaigns to build an email list, or retarget your website traffic to see an increase in repeat business.

Can You Afford to Hire In-House?

There are many benefits of hiring a social media consultant. However, the costs can be daunting for a business.

What is your marketing budget currently? Your budget may vary depending on your business.

Are you a startup? Do you have investors or see comfortable month-to-month revenue?

Hiring an in-house strategist will provide you with a resourceful team member. This route often involves teaching and paying for benefits and other employee costs.

Hiring an outside strategist can be more or less expensive than hiring in-house. The price depends on the scope of your project and the experience of the consultant or agency.

Talk with your team about what makes the most sense for your budget. Research local consultants and agencies to find a partnership that will be a good fit. Ask your colleagues and other professionals for recommendations.

Weigh the Pros and Cons

Now that you have a background in what a social media strategist does and how they implement social media for a business, bring this knowledge to your team as you discuss your options.

Social media marketing is an important part of any marketing strategy in 2017. Don’t rush your decisions.

Do you have questions about how social media works for your business? Let us know in the comments!

Looking for a social media strategist to take your digital marketing to the next level? Contact us and we’ll be happy to give you advice on finding the right one!

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