Should marketing agencies learn the ways of managing social media for small businesses?
Definitely.
Social media is everywhere.
It’s been ingrained in everyone’s lifestyle. A typical, digitally-savvy individual cannot entirely last a day without checking their Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter accounts.
The need to engage in social media is expected in businesses whose lifeblood include promotional campaigns and public relations, such as marketing agencies and PR firms. It’s the modern-day equivalent to advertising through flyers and newspaper announcements.
Unless you’re a company with a long-established reputation, surviving the unpredictable market demands is hardly possible without the help of one or more social networking sites.
Anything you post on the internet becomes immortal. That said, if being “eternalized” is what it takes to gain progress and tangible success in the marketing industry, then it is all the more reason for you to have a well-structured social media management strategy by your side.
“Do you have a Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram page?”
Admit it, you’ve probably been asked this question several times by leads and even new clients.
We’re not gonna lie—when people learn you’re on Facebook or Instagram, they waste no time stalking your brand and fleshing out a clearer image of your business. That’s not to say that people use your social media pages to pick on you. Rather, it is quite the opposite.
Clients and prospects check your page to get to know you better.
It’s scary to think how quickly buyer preferences and market standards can change.
In every industry, trends come and go. Brands rise and fall. Followers come and leave. But one thing that remains is a universal platform—a common ground where businesses and customers come together and meet halfway, and that is none other than social media.
It should therefore be apparent by now that your presence on social networking platforms is a direct reflection of your identity as a marketing or PR agency. It is a self-explanatory preview of who you are and what you can bring to the table.
The Virtual Counterpart of Crowd Control
A marketing agency that knows the dos and don’ts of social media like the back of their hand is more likely to convince potential clients to partner with them. Besides, who would want to entrust their advertising plans to a PR firm or agency that struggles to tidy up their public profile?
How can clients trust that you have the capability to preserve their credibility while putting their promotional visions in full effect?
Taking the reins of customer responses, audience interactions, and follower activities on your pages is a sign of professionalism.
It sends the message that you are well-versed at dealing with both positive and negative client feedback. It portrays your keen attention to detail, the depth at which you truly understand who your clientele is and what their goals are, as well as your commitment to executing advertising methods that are practicable, timely, and fail-safe.
At the end of the day, smart, creative campaigns are useless with erratic social media targeting and content creation that hardly piques the interest of a client’s intended spectators.
Getting Started with a Decent Social Media Management Process
Marketing is quite a competitive field to be in. Innovation, flexibility, and transparency are essential ingredients to surviving such a cutthroat and demanding industry. Some business owners often fail to realize that being online doesn’t equate to half-heartedly posting content every now and then, or sharing memes just for the heck of it.
This is where social media management tips enter the picture.
To keep your pages organized means understanding why you need it as an extension of your business relations in the first place.
It means controlling what you want your audience to see, in a manner that summarizes your services’ key attributes and highlights your expertise.
Before you launch your brand to any social media platform out there, take a moment to retrace your roots and figure out your identity as a marketing agency.
- What are your strengths?
- What are your services’ key features and solutions?
- What are some of the biggest testaments that past clients have to share about your work ethic and advertising formula?
- Are you a traditional marketing agency, a digital marketing agency, or a fair combination of both?
Have you ever noticed how some of the most renowned brands of today have such vibrant and interesting social media pages?
Reebok, for instance, has mastered the art of building customer relations. Their consistent posts and updates consist of blogs, exclusive videos, and fitness tips that accommodate the specific needs of their target buyers.
Next, you need to identify who you are targeting. Are your services targeted locally or internationally? Will you set your prices to compete in the marketplace or focus on helping clients get value for their money? All these combined help you plan what to post and where to share it.
- Want a platform to introduce your agency and imprint your brand to the online community? Try Instagram.
- Are you planning to help clients build connections with fellow professionals in the industry? Linkedin is where you should take them.
- Do you want to show off a “personal” side to your brand while amassing more followers to engage and establish a digital community that’s uniquely your own? Twitter is your best choice.
- Is your objective to propose a game plan that hits two birds with one stone? As in, enabling clients to garner engagements while also making sales in one go? Facebook is quite famous for achieving exactly that.
Your online presence affects your reputation in more ways than one. If you can pinpoint exactly which platforms you need and how you can take advantage of it for your agency and client’s brand identity, then instances of misrepresentation on social media are reduced.
Everything Made Better with Outsourcing
If you’ve managed to make it through to this part, that’s awesome!
But, if you are also concerned about your limited workforce and how it makes venturing into social media physically impossible, then you can always redistribute this aspect to available and experienced resources.
In other words, outsource!
Creating and applying ad strategies take a hefty amount of effort and focus. Managing the social media pages of both your agency and clients tend to be just as demanding, too.
The internet is rife with experienced social media gurus who can take charge of keeping your social media pages in place. You can form a social media management team to
ensure your marketing solutions are aptly put into action and your clients are well-protected from online trolls and misleading information.
Find an outsourcing company whose expertise includes social media management. It would be more ideal if they specialize in tailor-made social media marketing services. This way, you both have easier access to more advanced skills and suitable solutions to support your agency.
When you have an elaborate blueprint of how you want to navigate the world of online social networking, it allows you to project your agency’s and your clientele’s image with a sense of finality.
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