Buying Social Media Services…Today’s Craptastic Marketing

Social media should be an integral part of your overall marketing plan.  If you don’t get going on this, your competition will leave you in the dust. You’re already missing out on all those new leads you could be getting and all those power alliances you could be making.

Wedding pro’s inside voice:

“But I’m strung out and exhausted just keeping up with my day to day business activities and I’m riding on the good ship Guilt Trip over having no time for my kids. How the hell am I supposed to come up with the extra time and not completely lose my shit?”

Devil on your shoulder’s reply:

“Hire a social media expert to do all that posting, following, friending, tweeting and grow your Facebook empire!”

First of all, I am a huge proponent of outsourcing.  Show me a highly successful entrepreneur and you will almost always see outsourcing involved.

Should you hire a social media manager?

Definitely maybe?!?

I looked into this myself a couple years ago.  A marketing guy connected to the wedding industry offered a complete social media management package.   Sounds great!  So I visited his own social media accounts.

Uh oh, Houston, we have a problem!

What I found was pretty much zero to crap.  Almost non-existent interaction and zombie followers.  Maybe he needed to hire himself?

I moved on to some other companies offering social media management.  More than half of them either had next to nothing happening on Facebook or Twitter or had accounts built on purchased (bogus) friends and followers.

What’s the takeaway here?

I’m not saying there aren’t reputable companies that can help you in this area, but be prepared to PAY for quality work.  

Posting as “you” requires market research, high level communication skills and a thorough knowledge of you, your customer and your business philosophy.  All that takes a lot of time to do it right, which is expensive.

Here are the risks of hiring a social media manager:

• It’s difficult for someone outside your business to convey your personality and expertise in a way that attracts your ideal clients.

• If your posts don’t connect with brides and other wedding pros, you get zero results and may even damage your reputation.

• Social media managers may know the mechanics of running a social media account, but they may not know what it takes to engage brides and turn them into leads.

Are you just looking for stuff to tweet or post or are you looking for connection?  There is a big difference and your followers will notice.

Examine the social media accounts of any managers you’re considering before hiring them; if they don’t have a large community of followers with lots of interaction, why the hell would you hire them?

Would you hire someone who weighs 500 pounds and has to ride a scooter around the supermarket to be your diet coach?

What to Do to Rock Your Social Media Instead

If you’re feeling the time crunch, here are some ideas that let you get the job done in just minutes a day.

• Set aside 30 minutes each week to pre-write your tweets.  Then…

• Schedule your posts in advance on Facebook and use a program like Hootsuite to schedule your tweets.

• Hire an intern or assistant to schedule your posts.

• Set a timer and spend no more than 15 minutes per day commenting, retweeting and connecting strategically.

Start out by putting aside an hour a week to set up and manage your social networks.  I know you can find an hour a week.  Give up Honey Boo Boo.

How do you manage your social media?

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