You need to spread the word to prospective customers about your business. You've had a new website designed, leaflet and brochures made, and snazzy business cards printed that you're handing out to everybody on the street. You've even had a press release in the local paper, so you've done as much initial outreach as possible.
So what's next?
Time To Socialise…
Well now it's time to tackle the vital online marketing tool that is social media. Social media marketing, or digital marketing, is one of the most effective ways to interact with your customers, whilst at the same time promoting and branding your business. With Search Engine algorithms moving towards Social outreach and how you connect with others it's never been more important to have a strategy for Social Media.
Not only are you improving your site in Search engines, you'll reach more interested customers than ever before. With millions only a click away, you and your products can be visible to many more than just traditional media and marketing.
Outsource Your Social Media to Professionals
Whether you've begun to make use of social media to promote your business and communicate with your customers, or are just thinking about it, it makes a great deal of business sense to outsource social media initiatives rather than to do it yourself or have someone else in your organization do it. Keeping your digital marketing in-house is not necessarily the cheaper option.
Reasons Why Outsourcing Makes Sense:
Saving Money
Setting up and managing an ongoing, multi-layered social media campaign using Facebook and Twitter is a specialised and time consuming job, so it makes economic sense to use a social media marketing company.
They will ensure that your digital marketing initiatives are properly formulated and carefully put in place. Outsourcing can be surprisingly inexpensive, and is definitely worth the cost in terms of the amount of time that has to be spent on Facebook and Twitter.
Hiring a specialized person for the job may not be something that you can afford, and with many companies using social media as part of a wider online marketing strategy, your money may stretch further than just hiring one person for your company. Having employees look after your Social Media may also not be cost effective, due to time being taken away from other responsibilities.
Saving Time
Keeping up with all the social media marketing interactions necessary for an ongoing social media campaign takes a lot more time than you think. It's important to monitor feedback and respond to good or bad comments about your company's service or products. All-in-all, it's a very time consuming job, so consider handing it over to a full-time online marketing professional.
Researching the best ways to promote your products to potential consumers also takes time that would be taken away from you and your colleagues. Working out what potential hashtags to use, whether it's worth starting a campaign and how to best utilize it is something that is worthwhile doing, but the time consumed may not be ‘worth' the time that someone else has missed elsewhere. Using a company means that you won't lose this time, and gain all the benefits from a Social Media campaign.
Social Media Expertise
Ask yourself some of these questions about social media. How should I be responding to negative reviews? Do I know what the best time is to tweet for the highest click-through rate? Am I equipped with the knowledge, skills, and expertise to produce a successful social media and online marketing campaign?
If you think you'd be relying on guesswork and taking a stab in the dark, then it's definitely a wise decision to hire a professional to do the work for you. Once you've made that call you can sit back and get on with the job of running your business, knowing your social media is in good hands.
Adam Marsh is a consultant for BlueSky, a Digital Marketing Agency in Manchester.
