Social Media Management for Businesses
Social media is becoming an increasingly popular avenue of communication. Millions of individuals from around the world are utilizing these platforms to stay in touch with old friends and develop new relationships. Yet, these sites are not only about casual conversation and discussion. On the contrary, they can spread messages of cultural despair and hope, share stories that impact the world, and provide windows into the realistic world of individuals from around the world with firsthand accounts. A single story, framed in the right light, can garner massive amounts of attention in just a matter of hours. It is no wonder, then, that more and more businesses and organizations are capitalizing on the viral nature of social media and venturing into this world more readily.
Of course, with so many different social media sites available, a business or organization faces the inevitable task of managing each account for which they sign up. This can be overwhelming and often time stops them from even starting pages. With so much outreach and marketing potential, not capitalizing on social media can be just as problematic as battling the management of it all. Rather than focus on the difficulties, though, there are solutions available.
Social media management is a great way to control these pages without actually having to control the day to day analytics. This is a service provided to individual businesses, companies, and sometimes, people that can take one more item off of their ever growing plate of responsibilities. To understand how valuable this service—or conglomeration of services—can be, it is important to start at the beginning. The following discusses the different types of management services that are available, the different ways in which businesses are enhanced by this oversight, and the relation between this and chances for profitability. First, though, we start with understanding just what social media is in this modern day world.
What Is Social Media?
Social media, as mentioned prior, is an online or internet-based platform for communication in a community setting. It involves the collective sharing of information from many individuals in a centralized location. This can be done in several different ways. First, there is the website or networking site where dialogue and conversation is the basis of interaction. Other social media occurs via blogs or microblogs which encourage discussion with a topical or engaging piece of writing or group of photographs. There is also wiki sharing as well. In this last example, content is created and managed by the general public in an almost encyclopedia like feel that can be changed, edited, and updated with some oversight.
What Are The Different Sites?
Some of the most popular of sites on the internet today are those that fall into the social media realm. Each of these can bring value to a business or cause in its own way. With new pages popping up all of the time, though, the following is a quick discussion of the pages that have developed and demonstrated longevity.
Chances are that you have heard of the internet based social site known as Facebook. Facebook is a site that is free for those that want a basic profile. It allows users—which number in the millions—to post their stories, pictures, videos, links, and thoughts on a page that is dedicated to them and them alone. This dedicated zone of posting is known as a profile. The reason for the popularity in this site is the fact that it has evolved with the times, has a great financial backing, and that it continues to embrace older generations as well as younger. More and more users continue to sign up each day, with demographic ages increasing.
Businesses can use these pages in a multitude of ways. Owners, for example, can promote their site on their personal profile that allows them to reach out to their network of friends and coworkers. This, however, for a business is not the best option—arguably—as it narrows the scope of influence. Rather, it is the dedicated business page that is growing in popularity. This is essentially a profile page for the business. It focuses on allowing the business to post images, videos, stories, etc. to those that choose to like that particular page. Those that make the effort to like the page can share it with their network of friends who can like and share and so on and so on. Because of the immense amount of individuals using this platform, it provides those businesses that are looking to increase their client share an immense opportunity to do just that.
Another way that businesses can use Facebook is through paid advertising. The site, though free for basic, does have the opportunity to promote pages and advertise for a cost. These can be great options for those businesses with the budget to do it. The advertisements can be regionally based and targeted to a certain area or region. Finally, there are opportunities on Facebook for client engagement. This includes the opportunity for customers to ask questions and comment on pictures and shared content, creating the chance for dialogue between consumer and business. There is also the opportunity for consumers to share reviews—which can be a double edged sword but nonetheless valuable.
Twitter is what is known as a microblogging site. Here, users can create pages and share quick snippets of information with their followers. Though a bit less involved than Facebook, this site has a great deal of value. The quick sharing opportunity and use of hashtags can take a topical item and turn it into a hugely popular and trending sensation. With millions of users sharing thoughts, ideas, pictures, and videos on this platform, it is another location that businesses may not be able to avoid or at least, not for long.
Twitter can promote a business by the aforementioned viral possibilities. A business which connects itself to a topical trend can quickly become part of that trend. As more and more individuals become engaged, the possibility to attract new clientele can be very real. This results in a chance to recruit new clients and customers as well as increase profitability. Another free site—with paid advertising opportunities—with a still younger demographic, this is another social media site that should be looked at as part of a proper and comprehensive social media management plan.
Pinterest is a popular site that allows users to create boards of expression. These boards can cover a wide range of topics—from future weddings to recipes—and allow for users to quickly spread a picture or saying very rapidly. Because boards can be essentially accessed from users from across the world, one picture can go quickly around the world. The users and clientele of this particular social media option is tending female, making it a great place to engage this customer base.
Pinterest can greatly impact a business and lead to profit because of the way in which the pictures are shared. Wedding retailers, for instance, are seeing images spread all over the world without the user necessarily knowing where it originated. The individual that sees this image, then, becomes engaged in asking questions. If it is a product that is from a particular business or an image touting a specific cause, then, a business can benefit greatly from this discussion.
YouTube
No discussion on social media would be complete without a discussion of YouTube. YouTube is a social media site that allows for content sharing of videos. From the short and homemade contributions, to music videos with elaborate productions, to individual pages known as channels that are dedicated to a single individual or business, this video sharing platform is increasingly engaging and becoming a vital part of the social media world.
YouTube is so popular because it is very good at what it does. There are numerous ways in which businesses can capitalize on this trend as well. Businesses can post their commercial, product spotlights, call for action snippets, and more all in easily digestible formats that benefit the individual consumer by sending a message quickly. Because visuals and especially videos engage more readily, the consumer reach can increase and thus, popularity and profitability. Not only that, but these videos can then be shared through other social media platform as well.
What Does A Social Media Management Team Do?
Though not an exhaustive list, the before mentioned are likely to be part of your initial social media campaign. If new to this area or if looking to expand, though, the benefits for a business can seem outweighed by the overall investment of time. With a qualified social media management team, though, these fears can be eased as they handle the in-depth and more technical aspects so that your most valuable resource can be utilized elsewhere.
The Goal
When it comes to social media management, one of the most important things to consider is just what company or organizational goals are. These can range from business to business and can also evolve and change. The right team will know how to engage the business and define the needs, even if they have never been considered before. This will serve as a blueprint for the next step in the phase and help to ensure that the business gets the most from their different platforms.
Cohesiveness
Cohesiveness can be an adjective that escapes many organizations and enterprises when it comes to their business presence on social media. This is because the platforms seem to be immense in their own right so trying to establish them on the same footing can be very difficult. A social media management team knows and understands this. That is why they can come in and really manage the functioning of these pages in a cohesive and interesting manner that will engage the consumer and increase presence in the social media world—and thus, profitability. Knowing how to manage and simultaneously engage the potential population of interest or target audience for the business under one umbrella provides a sense of connectedness that helps the consumer feel at ease. Further, a team will know how to manage different pages on the same platform for different locations, providing reports and analytics to see where the business is succeeding and where it is failing. As a result, this helps the consumer to feel like they are getting a quality relationship while simultaneously protecting the business from a disaster on one front that undermines the success on the other.
Experience
A quality social media management team will have experience in the field. That means that they will know and understand the wants and the desires of the business and have benchmarks in place to measure success. Experience means that KPIs are established and that these key performance indicators have been tested and tried. As a result, they will more quickly be able to assess needs and begin enhancing performance results. As such, a business does not have to wad into the complicated world of understanding social media success and failure before actually getting to work.
Affordability
Another fear that many have when it comes to finding an experience social media management group is the cost. The truth is, though, that no business can afford to miss out on the opportunity for success in this realm. Whether it is a new business, a nonprofit organization with years of experience, or a large corporation that has some social media experts in place, a management team can bring value that is immense. Standing back and looking at the pages in an objective way without an attachment to anything but success can bring fresh eyes to a project. Further, the condensed reporting and regular updates means that the business is being watched in this arena at all times. That, then, brings peace of mind and a sense of comfort while keeping an eye on profit growth that is worth the investment. Further, many social media management teams are affordable and work well within the budgets that increased profit share will bring. In essence, then, it is a necessity whose value in success far outweighs failure without it.
About The Author
