If you have decided to start swimming in the social media and digital marketing waters because you have realized that you need to have an online presence, congratulations; you're on the right track. Where many businesses, associations and non profits get into trouble is failing to understand how this sword cuts both ways.
Sure, you can easily start up business pages and profiles on as many social media platforms as you like but managing them strategically is an entirely different and sometimes taxing proposition. An abandoned or sporadically managed online presence hurts your company in several important ways.
When socially active potential customers, donors, supporters and followers encounter an abandoned or poorly managed page littered with a jumble of unorganized posts they get a first impression that's nearly impossible to recover from. In many cases, those prospects and opportunities are going away and not coming back. This is especially true with millennials, who just recently surpassed baby boomers as the most populous generation on the planet and soon will become the most dominant in terms of spending power.
Issues typically arise when managers in companies turn social media responsibilities over to internal employees, many times as a part-time endeavor. This leads to a lack of coherent, focused branding, advertising, posting strategies and account/profile management. Business pages launched through employee personal accounts are at risk as passwords go away when employees leave. Additionally, your company's marketing focus and strategy will continue to be watered down as your employee's part-time foray into social media impacts both their primary job responsibilities and your overall marketing efforts. The list goes on.
You have a business to run. An easy way to solve this issue is to hire a professional social media management company that can:
- Guide your marketing strategy
- Control your social media accounts, passwords and security settings
- Establish and manage a stronger, more secure, more customer centric and positive online experience
You'd be surprised how affordable working with a social media management firm can be. They're generally far less expensive than a full-time employee, especially when the total benefits package is included. Social Media Management companies will help you define and drive your marketing strategy, recommend social media channels to use, post and manage your messages and videos to those accounts, alert you to negative feedback on your page and report regularly on your advertising campaigns and monthly efforts.
If you make working with a trusted social media management partner a priority your company's brand will enjoy a persistent, consistent, creative and timely marketing message sent out on a guaranteed schedule, which over time is what customers, both existing and potential, will appreciate.
Other Resources:
Social Media Factoids:
Six Annoying Social Media Mistakes That Can Damage Your Business