Is Outsourcing Your Social Media Marketing Beneficial For Your Business?
Last update: 6 July 2023 at 10:35 am
5.00/5Social media marketing. It’s almost inevitable for a modern company to come into contact with it in one way or another. Companies that like to be up-to-date with the latest trends often opt to outsource their social media.
Outsourcing social media marketing is the solution for many companies to keep up with the latest trends in the constantly changing social media landscape.
Read more about the advantages and disadvantages of social media marketing and get to work with some concrete tips!
What Is Social Media Marketing?
Social media marketing is the promotion of your product or service through various social media channels. Just like average marketing, it is important to have your own, rock-solid strategy.
One that competitors do not have and one that connects to your target group. The implementation of social media marketing is therefore not the same for any company.
The Social Media Classics
Many companies give their followers a “look behind the scenes” or share photos of their staff. You’re probably thinking, “That’s not going to do anything for me,” but beware, don’t be too quick to say that. Linking social media marketing to your business goals can actually help your company grow.
Any business can grow with social media; after all, 80% of the world’s population is on social media. 😱
Social Media Marketing & Content Creation
The choice is endless when it comes to social media channels. And for each channel, there are countless ways of creating content. After you have chosen your channels, you have to think about what kind of content you want to create.
Content marketing became very popular a few years ago in the world of search engine optimization (SEO), but also on social media everything you see is content.
By setting up content marketing in such a way that it fits perfectly with your social media marketing strategy, your company is present at the moment that your target group and potential customers are looking for you.
A Valuable Social Media Marketing Strategy
Nowadays, we speak more and more of valuable content in the marketing land. This means that you, as a company, offer content to your followers that is literally (and sometimes directly) useful.
You are the expert in your field and you have to show it. At least that is the goal of valuable content marketing; claiming authority. This trend is not only relevant for search engine optimization, but also for social media. Of course, it depends on each social media channel what content you can and will create.
Let’s take a closer look at the social media platforms… 👀
With over 11 million users, Facebook is the largest social media platform in the Netherlands. That’s also why Facebook appears in almost every social media strategy. It is good to know that every target group is on Facebook.
9 Fun Interactive Facebook Posts Ideas to Boost Your Engagement
Is your Facebook business page feeling a little slow? Are your users ignoring your posts or failing to interact? If so, it’s time for you to expand your Facebook content strategy to include fun and engaging interactive Facebook posts. Facebook marketing has become a foundational part of every marketer’s content strategy. A business’ Facebook page […]
Is your company on Facebook?
Top, that is very easy! You can simply create a company page which you can then set up using all sorts of different templates. For example, you have different themes for shops selling products, agencies offering services, or non-profit organizations.
On Facebook, it is possible to post unpaid (organic) messages and paid messages (advertisements). There is also the option of promoting unpaid posts. In that case, it becomes a sponsored post.
On Facebook, you have many advertising opportunities for your business. You can try different ways of targeting and through different possibilities in the content you can easily draw attention to different messages.
Finally, Facebook allows you to set up Shopping. This way you can move your webshop to Facebook and start selling from Instagram.
Instagram is the platform for visual content. That is why it is a fast-growing social media channel. In the Netherlands, Instagram has over 4.5 million users.
The beauty of Instagram is that you can keep followers on your profile for a very long time if your content suits the target group. Instagram can therefore contribute to the awareness and branding of your business.
On Instagram, text is an afterthought, which is exactly the opposite of Facebook. Advertising on Instagram is the same as on Facebook. It is also possible to set up Shopping on Instagram. This way, you can move your webshop to Instagram and start selling from Instagram.
Wenn wir uns die Budgets ansehen, die tatsächlich eingesetzt wurden, so können wir den gegenteiligen Trend beobachten. Hier können wir von Mitte 2019 an einen Rückgang beobachten. Dies lässt sich natürlich zum einen durch die Pandemie erklären.
— Dana Hammoudeh, Chain Reaction Agency
“I remember when I first worked in social media in 2012, we used to write the caption first and follow it with the design. Now we do it the other way around. Visual first, and then the caption that’s going to go with it.”
Nowadays we speak more and more of valuable content in marketing land. This means that as a company you offer content to your followers that is literally (and sometimes directly) useful.
You are the expert in your field and you have to show it. At least that is the goal of valuable content marketing; claiming authority.
People can leave an interest or a reaction to your message. This interest can be compared to a like on Facebook. The more interaction, the greater the reach on this message will be. The reach can also be increased by promoting the message in the form of a sponsored message.
TikTok
TikTok is the new social media platform that really works for businesses. The platform is made to show content from many content creators to its users.
The videos on TikTok are relatively short, allowing a user to watch many videos in a short amount of time. This also ensures that the chance of going viral on TikTok is greater than on other platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. So by deploying a TikTok strategy, you and your business can get a lot out of TikTok. 🚀
Content is fire. Social media is gasoline.
Benefits of Social Media Marketing
You might be thinking: ”Great, but what’s in it for me?
That’s why we give you 9 benefits of social media marketing below!
Targeting
When you start with social media marketing, you want results right from the start. With advertising on social media, this is super easy.
You can literally approach every person on social media, including people in your target group. The only thing you have to do is clearly define your target group. This way you advertise as efficiently as possible.
Social media marketing = extra sales channel
In principle, social media is nothing but an extra (and large) sales channel for your company. Especially after the arrival of Facebook & Instagram Shopping, you can really generate next-level sales through social media. It is important, however, that you clearly describe your product range.
Measurable results
Social media takes place online. That’s why all kinds of things are measured that you hadn’t even thought about. Yet these so-called “statistics” are very important for your next steps.
Translating your brand online
As you may know, it is important that your company’s brand is recognisable. On social media, you can align your brand with the rest of your marketing communications. Maybe even better, because you can constantly change and adapt.
In addition, by using social media, you show that you belong. And with the right tools, you can bring your website into the picture. For example, you can simplify your social media browsing using a social media aggregator to collate posts from different social media feeds. Your website visitors can use your website to check for updates on and off your social media platforms.
Marketing via social media is relatively cheap
Social media marketing is relatively cheap. Especially when you compare it to TV ads, for example. You get results much faster and you can also measure what your company does when you use social media marketing. You can also reach your target group more specifically, which means you can save a lot of money on the people you don’t want to reach.
Social Media Marketing Price: What to Expect When Working With an Agency
Social media marketing has become indispensable for certain businesses to generate leads, reach new audiences, and increase overall visibility. But what does this latest kind of marketing mean in terms of cost? How much should your company expect to pay for an external service? Is it possible to have a social media marketing plan on […]
Testing what works and what doesn’t
The great thing about social media is that it is easy to test. Do long texts work, or should I use short ones? Is video better than a photo, or should I do both? It is also easy to use A/B testing with advertising, which enables you to advertise better and more efficiently because you know what triggers your target group.
Simple to use
Everyone can do social media. At least the basics. Yet many people still think that social media is not for them. Where it only starts to get harder is in tools like Google Ads and WordPress. Compared to these tools, social media is a piece of cake!
Speed of social media
When you have thought of something fun, and you post it on social media, there is a good chance that it will reach people in your target group within the first minute. That is much faster than putting up a billboard next to a road, for example. Who says people see that at all?
Also, the interaction on social media is much quicker to see, which in turn leads to more interaction in a chain reaction.
Valuable potential customers
Because social media works so fast, it is much easier for you to be active on social media. Do you combine that consistency with content that your target audience actually wants to see? Then you actually get potential customers who want to buy something from you.
This is how it works: When you share content that is useful to your followers, they stay. If you manage to do that again and again, your followers will see you as an expert. In that case you have claimed authority and followers will be much more willing to buy your product or service.
Disadvantages of Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing is constantly changing
Because social media and its algorithms are constantly changing, you need to be busy with social media marketing on a daily basis to stay up-to-date. If you are still using an outdated strategy, this can actually work to your disadvantage. So staying up to date is the message!
Make sure you do not come across as fake
Social media do not always have a good image. This is partly due to companies that work together with influencers who are not sincere. So don’t fall for it and only use influencers who sincerely want to work with you, even if they only have 1000 followers. These influencers are smaller and more personal towards their own followers.
Social media are public and anyone can post anything
Social media are public and therefore anyone can post whatever he wants. This can also result in messages being posted that are harmful to your company’s reputation. For example, negative responses to your products or services. Users can also leave a bad review on your page. You can reasonably cover this disadvantage by responding to these reviews and messages and solving the problems.
Social media marketing takes time
Setting up your social media channels may be peanuts, but 95% of the time it takes several years to set them up and make them successful. Especially gaining valuable followers takes a lot of time.
It is important that you post regularly. Preferably every day, but three or four times a week is also fine. In addition, writing and creating posts is a time-consuming task that can easily save you 5 hours a week (and then there are the stories and the interaction).
Media spreads quickly
You might think: negative publicity is also publicity. But on social media, you don’t want that. Messages on social media spread so quickly that you can hardly apply crisis management and that is a shame.
So How Do You Create a Good Social Media Message?
In addition to an effective social media strategy and a clear implementation, you ultimately have to actually do it. It all starts with a social media message. But how do you make it successful? We list it for you.
Think of valuable content
One of the most important things when creating a social media post is to think of a relevant topic for your target group. If your followers don’t find the subject interesting, they won’t interact.
Create a good image to go with your text
One image says more than 100 words. This also applies to your social media message. An image attracts the attention of the reader/followers more quickly. You can choose between images or videos. A video allows you to explain more in a shorter time and is therefore better for your content strategy. Also think about the quality of your images. Does your video have good audio? Do you have sharp images?
Call To Action (CTA)
The ultimate goal of social media marketing is to link more people to your website or to sell your products more often. Therefore, it is important to add a link to your post or refer to your bio (on Instagram).
Be as short and concise as possible
People are busy and in a hurry these days and will usually want to scroll through as quickly as possible. So it’s important to be as brief and concise as possible. Readers are more likely to be triggered and read on.
Use hashtags
On many social media channels you can use hashtags to increase your reach. This is basically a free boost to your reach figures, so use them. Make different lists with large, medium and small (niche) hashtags.
A Few Social Media Marketing Tips to Get You Started
Social media marketing: we can recommend it to everyone. It doesn’t necessarily have to be on a large scale, but you never know what you can get out of it. The following tips apply to every company.
Focus only on social media marketing channels that are relevant to your business
Many companies think they need to be active on as many channels as possible to reach their target audience. NO WAY. It is better to focus. You need to know where your target group is active.
You can first get better at a certain channel and have you mastered that? Then choose a second or third. Not quite sure which channels are right for you or don’t know your target group well enough? Then take a look at our selection of social media agencies, who knows they might put you on the right track!
Focus on valuable followers
You want followers who actually have a buying intention. So foreign accounts are useless. Don’t start following people aimlessly in the hope that they will follow you back. That will have no effect in the long run.
Look at your competitors
Especially if you are just starting out, this is a golden tip. If you are new to social media, it can’t hurt to take a look at other similar accounts. Of course, do not copy content literally, but think up your own variation on the content of your competitors. For example, see which of your competitors’ content is doing well and what not.
Think about your branding
I assume you have a logo and corporate identity. Also include this in your social media channels. You have to make sure your online marketing landscape is coherent. For example, put your logo at the bottom corner of your photos and use a consistent writing style and tone-of-voice.
Be active
And react, react! On messages, new followers and on messages from your competitors. That way you will be seen and your new followers (and therefore potential customers) will start to engage with you. Also, always make sure you ask a question when you respond to someone. This will start a discussion and more people will respond, increasing your reach.
Advertising on social media
It is possible to advertise on every social media channel. Each channel also has its own tools for this. For instance, for Facebook and Instagram you have ”ad management” and LinkedIn has ”campaign management”. With social media advertising, you can tap into a new target group and reach more people easier and faster.
Outsource social media marketing?
So, do you want to take the step to use social media marketing for your company? Do you want more turnover, leads, reach and involvement for your company? Do you want a concrete social media marketing strategy for your company, but don’t know where to start? Definitely use these tips.
