“They promised us likes and followers. They said social media would be easy!”

For many reasons you may find yourself in a situation where you’re disappointed by the results (or lack thereof) that came via outsourced social media management. I can’t count the conversations I’ve had with business owners who have hired experts to help them and they’ve been disappointed. The fault isn’t always the consultant; there have been conversations where it was evident that the client didn’t understand the terms of the contract, didn’t clearly communicate their expectations and didn’t understand the deliverables.

Choosing a marketing professional to work with can be overwhelming (we’re a dime-a-dozen.) But a key here is to understand that though someone may be proficient at using social media, they may not have the ability to generate meaningful business outcomes (which comes with experience in marketing.) As with any outsourcing, it is important to know exactly what you expect from the relationship and come to the conversation prepared to ask tough questions.  It is your job to clearly articulate your expectations and deliverables and if you are unclear on what is included in your program, ask!

Your ‘social media expert’ may lack necessary experience if they mention any of the following:

• we’re going to get you to ‘x’ amount of likes, follows etc. (enter any random, meaningless amount) Optics are important – who doesn’t want to look popular? But this should not be your #1 goal!
• we’re going to make your blog posts totally viral
• we can get you to page one on google in less than three weeks because of Facebook
• we don’t provide reports
• we don’t look at insights
• we don’t believe in plans

A good social media manager will ask: 

• what are your overall business goals?
• how do you your clients & prospects like to engage with your business?
• how could social media compliment your existing communications?
• how can we drive online business, while still respecting relationships?
• metrics, KPIs & pivot indicators
• reporting

Last we checked, you can’t pay bills with likes, shares or RTs. If you’ve engaged someone to work on your social media and digital marketing, it costs both time and money. Make sure that they understand your business, your goals, and have a plan in place to help you! {Keep in mind that as the saying goes, “you get what you pay for” so even if you hire that neighbours kid for cheap, you may still be wasting your money. Learn how much social media management costs.}

Related Blogs:
How to write a social media guideline that your employees will understand
Social Media Training For Employees
Human Resources: addressing negative social media posts online
How To Use Social Media During Real Crisis Situations

Not sure where to start? Get in touch! 🙂