Managing your social media marketing can be hard. work. There is truckloads of content create and curate every week, social media platforms continuously change the best approach and inspiration us always “one quiet weekend” away. It’s no wonder that time-poor business owners and marketing managers want to just hand over the reins of their social media marketing to someone else.

For some, they need to decide if they should give the task to someone who can ‘do the job’, compared to a social media marketing specialist. “How much more value can a specialist really deliver?” one might ask, when their niece, an intern or a well-meaning neighbour is on hand to help. Well, social media has a lot more to it than some might think, and it’s not just about having the technical skills to post online.

Here’s what a social media specialist will deliver that their insta-obsessed niece will not…

1. Centred around business goals

An experienced social media specialist can look at your key business or marketing goals and break it down into the content that you need to create to meet those goals.

For example, if you are wanting to increase traffic to your website, creating content which links back to your website regularly is one way to do this. If you’re wanting to build a reputation or thought-leadership, then posting testimonials or case studies is the direction to head in.

In the end, a specialist isn’t just posting cute dog photos to give your audience a laugh and “remember your name”, but will be creating content to help you reach those business goals.

(But if posting cute dog photos will help you reach those goals – you can bet I will sneak one in the content schedule!)

Related: Your Business Needs a Social Media Strategy. Here’s Why.

2. Designed for your size

Many social media marketing blogs give fairly generic advice: “post to Instagram every day!”.

If you’re a medium-sized business and your current marketing team manages the website, the newsletters, events and social media – something will need to give as there just aren’t enough hours in the day.

In the end – it comes back to your business objectives: what are you trying to do? A specialist can better advise how to use resources: for example, posting once a week and turning that post into an ad might be the best solution to meet your business objectives. Having a look at your resources from the bigger picture, reviewing your budget and goals means solutions are tailored to your business.

3. Not posting everywhere

Our default assumption is often “post everywhere, so we have more chances of being seen.”

But the reality is that different audiences spend time on different social networks.

Spending your time and energy on the platforms your audience saves time, energy and money. A specialist can help you target your social media to find your audience and design content for that platform.

4. Reporting on the right stuff

It’s easy for “likes” or “followers” to be the metric we use for success — which is often what many people turn to when trying to discern if their social media is “working”.

But if your business goals are to drive traffic to your blog, or to build engagement, using your analytics to assess which posts deliver on these fronts means you can create more content to do the thing you want in your business. Having reporting set up to measure the metrics that matter for your business is something a specialist can provide.

Related: [TEMPLATE] How to Create a Monthly Social Media Report

5. Looking good

Your social media, like your website, or your office, is a reflection of your brand. The more polished and professional your digital assets, the more likely people will trust you and buy from you. One of the simplest ways to do this is to use appropriate colours or images (ideally – a brand colour palette!).

Sharing memes found online can be fun – but can make a feel look messy, unprofessional, and, in Australia, it’s not a good look in regards to copyright law. Designing something similar using your brand assets can still give people a laugh, keep you looking professh and keep you on the right side of the law.

6. Fighting fires

An experienced social media manager will have experience in community management — and even crisis management.

Knowing how to deal with unhappy customers on the front lines can be a strong first step in preventing a social media crisis.

A specialist can advise on the next steps if an emergency occurs (and even set up planning, procedures and documentation to reduce them before they happen!).

Related: 5 Ways to Prevent Your next Social Media Crisis Before It Happens

The takeaway

A specialist social media manager is worth the investment.

They can:

• elevate your brand with well-designed assets to look more professional which can lead to more sales
• create content to meet your business goals – and can report on these to optimise over time
• protect your business in a social media incident occurs
• take into account your specific business needs based on your resources and budget.

If you’re looking for a social media specialist – and you’re not sure you want to give your niece access to your credit card anyway! – please get in touch. I love helping purpose-based businesses reach their goals.

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Want to work with Rachel?

Rachel Beaney is a writer and social media content specialist, helping businesses connect with their audiences.

She’s worked with local, national and global companies, in addition to not-for-profits and government bodies. She loves helping businesses tell their stories with creative and data-driven solutions.

She is based in Sydney, Australia.

Want to work together? Rachel would love to hear from you. Get in touch today.