Businesses needing support with their social media isn’t going away any time soon.

There are currently 576 open Social Media jobs on People Per Hour, and countless others across other freelance job boards, not to mention full time permanent roles.

With so many social channels to consider, the task to manage all of them, know all the ins and outs and understand how they fit into the bigger picture can feel quite daunting, which is why it makes sense to outsource.

Before you hire someone to help you with your social channels, I’d encourage you to consider the role, voice and support Social needs within your business.

If you’re a CEO with a large following, be sure to think how closely linked your brand needs to be with your own personal views and voice.

How do you leverage your team and advocates to share your message?

How do the platform’s continual updates affect your potential customer base?

Before you get started, take a step back and consider the below:

Think about who you’re targeting.
Divide your potential customers into groups and think about which channels these groups are most likely to use.
What is it you want out of social? Is volume of followers the right metric? And does it matter by social channel? If you’re a B2B business, is going for volume of followers on Instagram right for you? Do you want people to stay on social or drive them to sign up to a newsletter?
What space does your business occupy other than what you’re selling - what facets of your brand make people want to interact with you? Make these the cornerstones of your social content.
What news articles are relevant and of interest to your audience? How can you elevate yourself to be the brand with the finger on the pulse of the latest developments?
Is there anything you want to avoid talking about or have a particular stance on?
- If you’re in an industry that is experiencing some change, do you want to present a balanced story? Or a purely positive one? What angles do you want to tackle or avoid?
- Any content around your competitors? I don’t mean “they’re rubbish use us instead” but consider what they say and what makes you different.
- Do you have someone in your business that’s qualified to talk in depth about a subject? Can they become your Spokesperson?

What next?

Understand how Social fits into your overall channel mix.

Social Media can handily serve a multi-faceted number of purposes, from brand building to acqusition, to retention for existing customers (and of course, referral).

A worthwhile exercise is breaking down all of the other activity and thinking about this in the context of social. Do you have a comms and PR strategy? How does this impact your social ‘Story’?

A channel-by-channel approach.

Understand how each channel is applicable to your business is important.

Furthermore, understanding the quirks of each channel, the lifespan of posts and then what makes for a great creative brief or messaging strategy is the next piece of the puzzle.

For help understanding your business in the context of your channels, and audience, send me an email.