Why Hire a Social Media Manager?

She has just completed sixteen glorious years on planet Earth. She calls herself Princess Plagiarism and has 17,826 likes on her Face Book page. She has a hugely popular blog where she routinely writes about pink dresses, Barbie accessories, Justin Bieber and her series of crushes and catastrophes, which is followed by an equally obscene number of people around the world. She has shared via Instagram 32,000 (and counting)  photos of her smiling face’s reflection on bathroom mirrors with “cutie pie” tags and is waiting anxiously to breeze into adulthood, when she can have the coveted dragon tattoo on her left bum.  A social media junkie, her tweets on an average, exceeds a hundred a day. Is she your next Social Media Manager?

No way. Contrary to popular belief, Social Media is not about kids with expensive phones who spend insane amount of time in the net. Yes, they are the early embracers, the prime movers on the net. Yes, they are far more internet friendly and gadget savvy than you and me, but still, understanding the finer nuances of social media engagement and marketing will be far beyond their collective grasp. Its serious business we are talking here.

It is all about being there, identifying your target audience, engaging them in meaningful conversations, establishing and refurbishing the salience of your brand, winning the loyalty of your customers – winning friends and influencing people. It is easier said than done, for one has to understand the psychology of the audience, their likes, dislikes and frame conversations accordingly. To engage a potential customer and communicate in a manner that he or she becomes a committed follower of your brand is no kid’s play. It is one to post a profile that attracts followers, it is a completely different thing to ensure that a potential customer is converted and then retained as a follower.

“But why hire a Social Media Manager in the first place? It seems so simple, I can do it myself” say many people who are still not conversant with the true impact of social media. And since internet writing these days is all about the top five reasons, here’s my argument in favour:

01.   A manager will help hone your focus. Put the strategy in place and continue hammering the nail squarely on its head relentlessly. Such efforts will soon bear fruit and you will see that the amount you invest in the social space is beginning to give you increased returns.

02.   Contrary to what you think, you really do not have the time to do it all by yourself. Besides, after the initial effort, your shootings will become less prolific and more desultory, resulting in the loss of valuable opportunities.

03.   It’s the in thing to do. The soap sellers are doing it. The Coal traders are doing it. The law firms are doing it. It is the fad of the season and whatever the skeptics may say, this fad is here to stay for a long time to come.

04.   Hiring an expert, any expert for that matter, has obvious benefits. Your social media efforts will be in safe hands and the person in charge will know what exactly to say, to whom, when, why and how. Naturally, the results will be much better than leaving it in the hands of a novice or with someone doing it half-heartedly.

05.   A social media expert will know how to engage all your stakeholders so that not only are they kept in the loop, but also use them to expand your network in geometric progression. Such a move will, apart from engaging all in a collective effort, spread cheer as by connecting you will be assuaging the egos of the people involved.

Exciting things are happening out there in the Social Media space. If you haven’t linked in already then waste no time. Sign in its not always that one gets a ringside view of history being written and profit from it.