Why do you need a social media team? It’s easy to assume social media management is as simple as finding something interesting to share and hitting “post.” But social media shouldn’t be an afterthought or a secondary task for another marketing team member. With Pew Research indicating that 70% of Americans are on at least one social media site, your organization’s social platforms are one of the most effective ways to build brand awareness, drive traffic to your website, and reach your customers and other stakeholders.
When you understand the power of social media platforms, you begin to understand how important it is to have a social strategy — and more importantly, the people driving it. With this in mind, why wouldn’t you want a team of social gurus strategically planning everything from content to paid ads to reporting, and so much more? Let’s dive into that exact question: why a dedicated social media team is crucial to the success of any social strategy.
Each social media platform has its own best practices.
Employee or people-focused content performs well on Facebook. Corporate culture-related content performs best on Instagram. Thought leadership content, blogs, and other industry-specific resources produce the most engagement on LinkedIn. Breaking news and witty conversations thrive on Twitter. Oh, and don’t forget about the ideal time to post each of these types of content.
Does this sound like a lot? That’s because it is. And it can’t be done successfully as a side job for your corporate communications specialist, public relations coordinator, or marketing generalist.
The examples above are just a few focuses for various social media teams. Without a dedicated team managing your organization’s social media, it’s going to be an uphill battle trying to reap the full benefits of having a presence on those sites in the first place.
Social media management has many touch points.
Following, connecting, liking, sharing, retweeting, and direct messaging are all examples of the many touchpoints on social media. Engagement with your target audience depends on these interactions and conversations. It’s a way for your organization to build trust, establish and build brand awareness, and stay top-of-mind for customers, partners, influencers, and others that are crucial to the success of your business.
Social media isn’t a “set it and forget it” strategy — at least, not if you want to generate a return or achieve your brand goals. That’s why it is so important to dedicate several people to manage the creation and implementation of the posts, but also to manage the customer service aspect of social media that includes replying to direct messages, customer questions, and yes, even those “troll” comments to maintain your reputation.
When deciding whether you need a social media person or a team, consider how important these touchpoints are, how much time they require to manage, and the role they play in building relationships with key stakeholders.
Social media analytics tell a story.
You can’t manage what you can’t measure. Measuring social media performance is key to understanding what works, what doesn’t, and concluding what makes an effective social media strategy. And it’s not enough to save this reporting for those monthly or quarterly business reviews.
Social media moves quickly and is critical for staying on top of trends and breaking news that affect your audience, business, and industry. Closely monitoring engagements, impressions, shares, likes, and more gives valuable insight into whether your strategy is working or if you need to pivot content, timing, or more.
Reporting on social media metrics requires a different brain than that of social media creatives. This person must be well-versed in reporting platforms such as Google Data Studio, industry benchmarks, and optimization strategies for key performance indicators (KPIs) such as engagement rate, click-through rate, and conversion rates.
It takes a village — build out your social media team accordingly.
According to Sprout Social, “The majority of small companies (one to 50 employees) only have one or two social marketers on their team. The number of team members increases as the size of the organization also increases, so mid-sized companies are more likely to have social teams of three to five people, and enterprise companies often have 11 or more people dedicated to social.”
As mentioned, social media management isn’t as simple as finding something interesting to share and hitting “post.”
- A content curator writes or finds compelling content that is going to interest-specific audiences on specific platforms.
- A content creator is going to ensure that content is effectively designed, formatted for specific platforms, and is intriguing to the viewer or reader.
- A community manager is going to manage those engagements and touchpoints and respond to comments, messages, and mentions.
- An influence manager is going to build relationships with industry influencers who will promote your brand through their channels, exponentially increasing your organization’s reach.
- A paid digital marketer is going to create and manage the budget and content for paid social media ads, ensuring they reach your target audience and drive traffic to your website.
- An analyst is going to consistently measure what matters and share insightful conclusions with the rest of them.
Do you see why having a single person — especially one that manages other marketing initiatives — handle social media isn’t the best idea? The bottom line is that social media strategy, from planning to execution to measuring, takes a village. Few organizations understand the RoI a strong social media strategy can have on a business. But here at Agency 102, we understand how it works and why it’s important.
Contact us if you’d like to learn more about our marketing and social media services, and how our team of experts can supplement your current social media marketing efforts or become your social media department.
