Social media can be overwhelming. Popular platforms seem to evolve every year, making it tough to keep up with the changing trends. It feels like if you’re not on social media, you’re missing the conversation. And the same can be said for your business: If you’re not on social media, you’re missing potential customers. But managing social media takes time and effort, and you’re already putting in 40+ hours a week just to keep your business running. This is where a Social Media Manager can step in and help build your brand’s online presence, which in this day and age is essential to success. According to Social Media Examiner’s 2017 Social Media Report, 92% of marketers said that social media is important to their businesses. People are constantly logging on to engage with the latest news, trends, products and services. A strong social media presence can increase your brand’s visibility, which can lead to more traffic and more customers. Here are five signs it’s time to hire a social media manager.

1. Social Media is an Afterthought

There’s no doubt social media is king. According to eMarketer, nearly a third of the world uses social media regularly. If you’re spending the majority of your time focused on business operations with little left over to update your social feeds or share that informative blog post, you’re missing out on engaging with a pool of potential customers. Although almost anyone can create a social media account, not everyone has the time or skills to dedicate to building an online presence.

A Social Media Manager (SMM) can provide consistency to your presence online. And consistency is key to retaining an active audience. Just think about the backlog of messages in your Facebook inbox, or the mentions you missed on Twitter. Social media is all about immediate engagement, and those missed messages equal missed opportunities. A SMM can provide consistency to your online presence by regularly updating your feeds, engaging with your visitors and tracking successes.

2. You Don’t Understand the Different Social Media Platforms

In order to optimize your brand’s reach and awareness, it’s important to meet your audience where they are. What platforms are your potential customers using? Even though they may seem similar, each platform has a specific function and is used in different ways. A person may share a recent buying experience on Facebook, link to an interesting news article on Twitter, post a picture of their pup on Instagram, and download an industry-specific e-book on LinkedIn — all in the same day. Figuring out the best platform to reach potential customers is key, and a SMM can identify which platforms will have the biggest impact for your business through testing and research.

3. You Don’t Have a Social Media Plan

It’s been said that if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. A SMM can create a Social Media Content Plan to clearly communicate your company’s brand, deliver content that adds value, and provide relevant content for each platform. A social media plan allows you to target your audience more effectively, develop an overall voice, and increase your website traffic which in turn bumps your search ranking and generates leads.

4. You Want to Invest in Marketing and Advertising

Social media is one of the most cost-efficient ways to advertise your business. According to Social Media Examiner’s 2017 report, 88% of marketers indicated their social media efforts increased exposure for their businesses. Businesses have the opportunity to attract a whole new group of customers through their digital efforts, but if your social media campaign isn’t strategically targeting that new audience, you could be wasting time and money. A SMM can implement the tools that will provide the best return on investment (ROI).

5. You Don’t Use Analytics

If you’ve invested time into your social media, but don’t feel as though you’re getting much of a return on that investment, it could be because you’re not effectively tracking your results. What posts are performing well? How many followers did you gain in the last quarter? How are visitors finding your website? Information pulled from analytics is crucial to determining what works and doesn’t work, allowing you to tweak your social media plan based on tangible results.

The purpose of social media is to be seen and be shared, and when done correctly, social media has the capability to generate leads for your business. A Social Media Manager helps to provide a strong digital presence to build the visibility of your brand, which will help you become a strong voice in the online conversation.

To find out if you need to update your site’s social media strategy, schedule a free 30-minute, no-strings-attached marketing consultation with our team.