Social media managers almost always fail to get results for their clients. There, we said it…
Typically when a small or midsize business decides that it is time to get serious online the first thing that they set out to do is hire a social media manager to create and post content on their social media profiles. They look for someone with creative skills such as photography, video creation, and graphic design. They ask them to do things such as produce 1 post per day and “build” their online community. The social media manager does all of these things, and yet are very often let go when they fail to generate for the business owner an R.O.I. “Sorry, it just isn’t working out,” they say. “We thought that social media advertising would bring in more sales”.
Have you experienced this story before? Maybe you are currently living it. If you are then the truth is this, you probably SHOULD let your social media manager go, because they ARE NOT going to be able to generate a return on your investment in them by simply creating content and posting it.
Here is why:
Business social media profiles are part of the NURTURE step in a long-term warming strategy.
They are just one touchpoint in the communication steps of your marketing.
Daily content posting, YES – even of the highest quality most amazingly engaging and interactive content, rarely drives sales from new customers because NEW potential customers are not being exposed to it. Due to low organic reach on most business profiles, you simply cannot get enough fresh and relevant traffic from daily posting and “manual social media community management” to make a difference. A human working all day it with a targetted approach may only generate 10-25 hits to the website per day. This is not nearly enough to gain momentum, and that minimum wage, social media manager of yours will also probably be burning themselves out in the process. Fire them, they’re tired of surfing hashtags and random and following random people on Instagram all day anyway.
If you have great storytelling content about your business already then the replacement for this person is likely going to be an ad. One post promoted for a few dollars a day to the correct target audience can generate to your website more potentially interested eyeballs than the hired help has probably achieved for you in their entire career. ( Not sorry ).
If you like their work and want to keep them creating content for you, have them focus on that and pay them for it. Don’t expect that your social media manager is going to be the miracle worker who blows up your business simply by posting for you.
Okay so if a social media manager cannot do it, who can?
The person who is going to more likely be able to help you grow your business using social media platforms is going to be a paid advertising strategist. This is someone who KNOWS how to do 3 primary things.
1. Create the systems that will host traffic, capture leads, and convert the most engaged visitors
2. Build target audiences that suit your product to put the highest quality traffic ( at the lowest cost ) onto your website
3. Optimize campaigns for various objectives and disperse the budget that you give them appropriately to pace your growth
An okay strategist should know this principle concept and be able to apply it to your business and make suggestions on how to both improve your website and your social media strategy so that what you are doing can have the highest potential chance of returns. A FANTASTIC strategist should also be able to provide you with some innovative creative guidance so that your nurture and conversion strategy is cohesive and feels engrossing to new customers. Basically, develop what is called your “customer journey”, the sequence of communication from the first introduction to happy customers and even repeat buyers.
Obviously, if you are a small/mid-size business owner working on a budget the opportunity to hire a cheap VA or an intern and have them try to figure out your social media for cheap is going to appeal. However, after you do this – it won’t take long for you to realize that what you pay them to manage your online profiles could be better invested elsewhere and let them go. We suggest when you reach this realization that you invest it in paid social media advertising that includes budgeting for a knowledgeable digital marketing strategist. This person will help you redesign your website so that it can function for capturing leads, optimize your messaging so that your presentation is coherent, AND properly install a series of layered ad campaigns so that you can actually garner an ROI.