As we have written in the past, the sheer amount of work involved in Internet marketing – and especially social media – makes it nearly impossible for business owners and marketing managers to handle on their own. But, since so much of social networking involves personal communication, we are often asked which parts of your social media strategy you can safely outsource to others.

The quick answer is “anything you don’t have time to manage yourself.” Typically, that involves things like writing posts and updates, researching keywords and links, and responding to routine inquiries from clients and colleagues. In truth, you can probably outsource as much or as little of your social media marketing campaign as you would like, so long as you keep these three rules in
mind:

It’s still about your voice and brand. Although another person may be writing your posts or looking after your updates, they should be familiar enough with you and your organization to stick to a theme and voice that is similar to the one you would use. In other words, they should be working under your direction, not simply generating content.

You should still be involved. In addition to helping your social media consultant or community manager to come up with topics and ideas, you may want to step in and personally post updates and tweets from time to time. That will help your social media marketing be more authentic, and also keep you in closer touch with your customers.

Make it clear that you’re getting help. There’s no reason to shy away from the fact that you have others involved in your social media marketing accounts. That’s especially true in this day and age, where your customers and colleagues are going to expect that you have a team working for you. Be upfront about these relationships. In our organization, we designate our tweets with initials, for example, so it’s easy to tell who is posting a particular comment or responding to a question.

Social media marketing can be easy or difficult, highly effective or a waste of time, depending on what sort of professional help you have on your side. Keep these tips in mind and outsource the parts of your social networking plan that you would rather not handle or don’t have time for.

Do you need a professional online marketing and social media team on your side? Contact us today for a free meeting.

In keeping up on the local Calgary online marketing community, we’ve noticed an interesting trend: Roughly once every three days, a new job listing is posted by a major Alberta employer for a professional who can help them to manage their social media marketing.

What do they know that you might not? What can a social media consultant do for you?

Also referred to as a “community manager,” a full- or part-time social media consultant can help you grow your business online in a number of ways. Here are just a few of the most important ones:

Social media marketing content creation. Most managers and business owners don’t enjoy writing things like posts. Having someone else handle it for you can save a lot of time and take a great deal of stress out of the process.

Respond to inquiries and requests. From colleagues wanting to link with you to customers tweeting questions about your products, a social media marketing consultant can ensure that inquiries are answered quickly and completely.

Issue press releases and other statements. Are your customers getting the good news about your products, awards, and testimonials? If not, then it might be time to make sure that someone else is staying on top of these activities.

Looking after your online reputation. Internet reputation management is a quickly growing field, and there’s a great reason for it: What your customers are saying about you on sites like Facebook and Twitter – whether it’s good or bad – can have an enormous impact on your ability to increase your sales online. A community manager can keep an eye out for feedback to see what kinds of impressions are being shared, and make sure they’re accurate.

New positions for social media marketing are popping up all the time, because social networking sites have turned into big business. Who’s looking out for you and your company?

If you’re looking for a social media consultant you can trust, or a speaker who can explain the process of finding customers over Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to your audience, then don’t hesitate to contact us today.

And how much do you really need to? When I speak to audiences about the growth of the Internet and online marketing, I can virtually guarantee that this question is going to come up at some point or another. It doesn’t matter whether I’m speaking to a group like Alberta Rural Development, a conference of entrepreneurs, or even a meeting of Think Local Market; people seem to intuitively grasp that there’s too much to do online, and not enough time to do it.

And so, it’s not surprising that one of the things they want to know is how often I’m actually on the Internet. My usual answer is: “Always.” I say it with a bit of a smirk, of course, and I’m obviously exaggerating… but probably not as much as you might think.

Why am I connected to the Internet on a nearly round-the-clock basis? Obviously, part of the reason is that web design, online marketing, and social media management are a big part of my career. I have to be connected to keep up with my work. Even if I were in a different industry, however, there would still be plenty for me to do just to keep up with a “normal” online marketing plan – from search engine optimization content to tweets, Facebook updates, and more.

Really, that’s what the audience members who ask these questions want to know: How can they even attempt to keep up with at all?

The realistic answer is that they can’t. There’s just too much out there. The benefits of a well-designed, continuously updated online marketing plan are too huge to ignore, and yet the to do list is more than any otherwise-busy professional can handle. That’s why outsourcing some of your online work isn’t just preferable, but practically a necessity.

Having another person or team who can look after your accounts, generate content from your direction, and otherwise keep your website and social profiles moving step-in-step with your business goals keeps the machine running. It certainly doesn’t exclude you from having any participation and input, but it takes a process that would be otherwise unfeasible and unrealistic and puts you back in control.

If you are looking for the magic formula that’s going to let you grow your business or organization over the Internet in just half an hour a day with no outside expenses, then there isn’t one. But if what you want to find is a realistic way to meet your online and off-line business goals, then the answer is to call in outside help for the activities that matter most.

To get help putting your Internet marketing plan into action, or to find out about David’s availability for a speaking event, contact us by phone or e-mail today.