3 Reasons You Need to Hire a Social Media Strategist

Picture this: It's a brand new year and you’ve decided to delegate a few piles off your desk – a huge step for any business owner. You're ready to delegate and streamline so you can get back to doing what you do best. That's why you started your brand in the first place!

But first things first, you have to start deciding what someone to come and take off your plate. If you're reading this post, we assume social media is a big one for you!

To add to the stressful decision, you now have to find "The One" social media strategist who is right for you and your brand. This alone can feel daunting and overwhelming. What qualifications do you look for?? What questions do you ask?? It's important to understand what you’re looking at when countless job titles contain some iteration of ‘social media’ – but be warned that not all social media managers and strategists are created equal.

It’s likely that for your purposes, you need a Social Media Strategist, one who will enable your organization to maintain a successful social media presence that will allow you to build your brand and ultimately attract and retain new clients. These are people who live and breathe social media. People for whom every ping, ding, and red-badge notification give them anticipatory butterflies as they eagerly engage with people online.

The 3 Signs You Need A Social Media Strategist

A social media strategist can help you manage all of your unique social media needs and build a strong online presence to get you back to what you love most: running and growing your business. Do any of these ring true?

1. You're missing messages

Whether it’s a Facebook message about one of your products or a Twitter mention you missed from a week ago, you know it should have been addressed sooner – as in ‘within-five-minutes’ sooner to earn the new ‘very responsive to messages’ Facebook badge.

2. Social media is an afterthought.

As with most things on your to-do list, those you don’t enjoy or understand are often relegated to the way bottom. However, it’s virtually impossible to gain traction in your social presence without the proactive execution of a well-thought-out strategy.

3. You already work 40+ hours.

We know – if you’re a business owner, 40 hours probably seems like a light week. Being an owner is time-consuming – and there just aren’t an extra 30 hours a week left to manage social media.

Pros & Cons of Hiring a Social Media Strategist

If you’re a small-to-medium business, you might be thinking that it’s impossible to hire someone to manage your social presence.

But while you may worry that you can’t afford to have someone dedicated solely to social media, you really can’t afford not to.

Why?

Because when you think about how social media has – at least in part – leveled the exposure playing field, its opportunities are endless for SMBs to increase brand awareness and new customer gains, and all without paying-to-play like in the traditional advertising and marketing media days of yore.

But, sure. We’ll play along – and give you some pros and cons to hiring help.

Pro: Larger Following

Social media experts can help you build a larger following, and when users follow or like your page or channel, they’ll see your posts and have a better chance of engaging with you. And your social media strategist can focus on interacting with your audience, writing posts, and scrutinizing analytics.

Con: Costs

Hiring help isn’t free, as much as we all wish it were. But when you think about the possible returns on having someone dedicated to engaging your ideal audience, the cost could easily be offset by the revenue your social media generates in the hands of an expert.

Pro: Analytics

It takes a special kind of beautiful mind to make sense of social media analytics, and chances are that’s not your forte. Experienced social media strategists can help you understand your Google Analytics so you can make smarter decisions with your social media budget.

Con: Reputation

Put simply: You will have to entrust your brand’s reputation to someone other than yourself. But, just as with any other person you hire, you have to fill gaps with trust – and a social media strategist is no different.

Pro: Strategy

Granted, you’re entirely capable of posting a nice photo of your product or sharing a rave review. But then what? A social media strategist can put some experience, muscle & brains behind each and every post to make sure you maximize your exposure and engagement each and every time.

Con: Location

Your social media strategist may not share your area, zip or – heck – even country code. But thankfully, social media traverses all time zones and runs 24/7. So as long as you and your social media expert are on the same page, not having the same office matters not.

Make The Most Of Your Social Media Presence With Your Very Own Social Media Team From NOAH: Social Media Marketing

Need a plan to reach your ideal audience? The team at NOAH can help.

Want monthly analysis and a continual feedback loop to help reach your social channel goals? We've got you!

Those menacing red-number notifications as prospects and customers alike all engage with your social media? You guessed it, NOAH to the rescue!