In 2020, social media has been baked into almost everything we do. Over 80% of Americans own smartphones, and nearly all of them have social media applications at their fingertips. While this isn’t necessarily new news, it does make one thing perfectly clear: creating and maintaining a strong social media presence is crucial for any type of marketing strategy. While social media strategy can have many different layers, today we are going to cover how to launch and manage a standard social media presence.

 

Assign the Responsibility

Before you begin this process, you must assign all social media related responsibilities to a designated individual. While everyone may be on board with launching social channels, most people will be too busy to give them the time and attention they deserve. As a business owner, your default reaction may be to add this to your already overcrowded plate. While that might work at first, you will eventually need to transition this over to someone with the time and proper experience.

 

The right Virtual Assistant can step straight in and take over your organic social media strategy. This will include launching your profiles, making regular posts, and responding to customer comments. Your new VA will be responsible for setting up a system where all customer messages and comments are answered in a timely manner. They will also ensure your pages are always populated with company updates, details on products or services, and valuable information that positions you as the expert in your target audience's eyes.

 

Selecting Your Platforms

One of the most common mistakes new brands make is thinking they need to be live on every possible social channel. Basic logic would state that the more channels you are on, the more customers you will reach. However, the last thing you want is to launch a channel and realize you have no content for it. If a customer is searching for your company and finds an abandoned page, that may damage the way they view your brand.

 

Anyone selling a product or service should start by creating a Facebook page. This is because more and more consumers are using the social giant as a search engine when researching brands and products. After that, it depends on where your audience is and the content you plan on posting. For example, Instagram is very popular amongst younger consumers. However, will you be able to produce enough pictures to keep up? Twitter can be valuable when it comes to answering customer questions, but it only works if you designate someone like a VA to monitor all tweets directed at your account.

 

Defining Your Brand Voice

When a consumer visits your social pages, they expect to be engaged and entertained. The last thing they are looking for is someone to recite facts, make a hard sale, or speak in a bland tone. Simply making announcements about new products or upcoming events will bore them away to someone else’s page. It’s key to decide what your brand voice will be when posting on social channels.

 

Your brand voice needs to be based on the products you are selling and the audience you are speaking to. For example, if your company sells healthcare products, then you want to speak in a compassionate and informative voice. The reader is clearly going through some sort of issue and wants to find a brand that understands their pain and provides the information they are seeking. On the flip side, if you are selling clothing, you can be funny and upbeat. Feel free to make jokes and post images that will make your audience laugh and come back to your page.

 

Selecting Your Target Audience

In the same way that they want to be entertained, your social visitors want to feel like your content was created just for them. Therefore, it will not be enough to make blanket statements about your products or services. You must determine who you are trying to target and what you think they want to hear about. For some brands, this may mean prioritizing one segment of your audience over another based on the platform.

 

You should already have a pretty good idea about who your target audience is. Think about why they are visiting your pages and how they want to be spoken too. Teenagers want to laugh and be stimulated. Seniors are looking for information and don’t want to spend a lot of time on these channels. Busy parents are using their precious few free minutes trying to learn something about your brand before something else draws their attention away. Put yourself in your audience’s shoes and figure out how to best get your message to them.

 

Launching Your Platforms

Once you have identified what platforms you are starting with, your brand voice, and who you are speaking to, it’s time to launch each platform. While this is not a complicated process, it is not something to be taken lightly. You want to make sure everything you need is in place before you hit publish. An unprofessional looking page will result in losing visitors that may never return.

 

First, be sure to use a high-resolution version of your logo to ensure it is crisp and clear on every device. Second, most social channels have room for a banner, but each channel will require a different size. In this case, it is worth spending some money on a graphic designer. They will be able to create a professional-looking banner and deliver the various sizes you need. Next, you need to craft a short but thoughtful “About Us” paragraph that tells new customers what you are all about. Lastly, you will add in all of your contact information, including website, e-mail, and phone number.

 

Manage and Monitor

Just because your channels are launched does not mean your job is done. In fact, it is only just beginning. It is up to you to consistently manage and monitor your social channels. This includes making regular updates, posting at least 4-5 times a week, and responding to all customer comments, questions, messages, and reviews. This is where the right Virtual Assistant can be an invaluable addition to the team.

 

To start, you may want to create a list of FAQs and their corresponding answers for your VA. This way, they will be able to answer the majority of questions that come in. You also may want to create a process regarding customer complaints or poor reviews to ensure that they are handled appropriately. Lastly, be sure your VA knows who to reach out to when they need more information about things like sales, billing, and shipping. Eventually, your VA will be able to run your social presence with little supervision or help.

 

Conclusion

When it comes to social media, every brand has to begin somewhere. When first starting out, it’s important to get down the fundamentals. Then, you must assign a point person to carry out your strategy. If done correctly, your social channels will enhance your brand, attract more customers, and increase your overall bottom line.

 

Let’s Talk

Are you interested in finding a Virtual Assistant to take over your social media and other administrative tasks?

We would love to get to know more about you and your brand via a FREE introductory call. Please send us an e-mail at contact@thehragentadmin.com to get started!

 

#Social Media, #Productivity, #VirtualAssistant