You may think, “It’s just Facebook. It’s just Twitter. Anyone can do social media marketing,” but no. Not everyone can do it well. When it comes to marketing your business, you wouldn’t let just anyone do your mailings. You wouldn’t let just anyone do your newspaper ads or radio spots. You wouldn’t let just anyone create your billboards. You would hire professionals. So why would you let just anyone do the most difficult, most visible marketing task of all – managing your social media? Here’s why you need a professional social media marketing firm.
1. Effectiveness
We spoke with a company this week who had hired a 20-something to maintain their accounts because he had a degree in writing and was clever. He knew how to use social media. The problem? They weren’t seeing much return from his posts. He did a good job of keeping the accounts updated, took lots of pictures, wrote decent posts, but still the accounts weren’t getting as much action as the business would like. Why not?
Because he isn’t in marketing. Good social media marketing requires exceptional knowledge of the social media tools AND the marketing know-how that goes into creating effective posts to activate your fan base. It’s not enough to post just any-old-thing. You need an insightful, targeted strategy that considers how to reach your customer base and motivate them into action. You need a marketing plan. Don’t settle for “good enough,” because you won’t see results. You can have 10,000 followers, but if only 500 of them are seeing any given post, you’re not reaching your potential customers. It can be done better.
2. Insightful Data
Maybe you have no idea how many people are seeing your posts. Or maybe you can see that not many people are viewing your posts but you don’t know why. That information is available. If you would want to know the return on investment when you print a coupon in the newspaper, why would you ignore the return on investment for your social media marketing?
All the major platforms offer plenty of data to help you understand where your accounts are performing well – and where they are not. Wondering why your posts aren’t reaching your targeted audience? Do you even know who your target audience is? Your analytics can tell you exactly who is following your account and how many are responding to your posts (minus their names). They can help you understand if you’re reaching the kind of customers you’re looking for. You have to look beyond one week of Insights, though. You have to read the trends. Can you do that? More importantly, can you turn that data into a living, breathing, adaptable marketing plan?
For the average user, the format and terminology of analytics can be daunting if you’re not well versed in it. Reach? Engagement? 28-Day Organic Impressions? What do these terms mean and how can they help you assess the success of your social media marketing? A social media marketer will tell you. Any social media marketer worth his or her salt will sit down with you, explain your data to you in easy-to-understand terms, and help you create a more successful strategy based on that data.
3. Brand Management
I’ve noted before that you probably wouldn’t let your 16-year-old design your company logo just because she knows how to draw. The same holds true here. You probably shouldn’t leave the branding of your business in the hands of a 16-year-old with no marketing experience, or an intern who’s been with your company for a month, or the part-time employee who answers the phones. Social media is the most powerful marketing tool available, but what you put out on the Internet stays out there forever. One false move can haunt your company for years. Marketing experience is key. Whoever is maintaining your social media accounts needs to not only understand how to make posts, but needs to know how to craft posts that are consistent with your brand’s message, voice, and tone. He or she needs to truly understand your target customers and how to reach them. He or she needs to have the accountability that drives them to only do their best, most professional work all of the time.
4. Consistency
It’s one thing to make a post and call it a day, but are you watching the response your posts get? Social media is social. People will respond. They will respond to your updates, they will send you messages, they will leave reviews. Who is minding your social media shop in between those posts? If you are ignoring the social elements of social media marketing, not only are you missing a huge opportunity to develop loyalty, you’re leaving yourself open to online abuse. Your company’s reputation is at stake. If you’re not paying attention to what happens in between your updates, you’re losing out and asking for trouble.
Professional social media marketers like D. Cohn Communications don’t just make posts. They watch – all day, all night, every weekend, every holiday. The Internet doesn’t close at 5, and neither do we. Professional social media marketers will interact with all those social responses on your behalf so you don’t have to worry about them. You will have the peace of mind of knowing that no social response will go unnoticed or ignored. Professional social media marketers are watching your accounts 24-7. Don’t settle for “okay” social marketing. It truly is the most powerful marketing tool you have. Give it the same respect you’d give to any other marketing tool you use. Reach out to D. Cohn Communications and let us show you how truly exceptional social media marketing is done by the professionals.