Save money with a social media assistant

Have you ever wondered why your competitor’s social media presence is thriving while yours is struggling? It’s not because you want it less and they want it more. It’s not because you aren’t putting in your best effort to keep up.

It’s because business leaders lack the time needed to drive results from their social media management. You’ve got too many unnecessary tasks on your plate. We see it time and time again with our clients dealing with the demands of customers, staff, and operations. It’s no wonder that the task of staying on top of social media often gets pushed to the back burner. That’s why a social media assistant is such a great asset to business leaders like you.

In this article, we’ll explore the benefits of having a social media assistant as part of your team and how they can help you unlock the potential of social media. We’ll look at the roles a social media assistant can fill, the skills they can bring to the table, and how having a social media assistant can help you maximize the return on your investment.

So, if you’re looking for ways to increase your social media conversions, increase brand awareness, and make the most of your social media presence, read on to find out how a social media assistant can help.

After reading this article, you’ll learn:

• What can a social media assistant do for me?
• What are the benefits of having a social media assistant?
• How to find the right social media assistant for you.
• Strategies for optimizing a social media assistant

What can a social media assistant do for me?

Social media assistants do more than just create graphics for your social channels. If you want to maximize your social media presence to increase your organic reach, you’ll need a social media assistant who can handle the full spectrum of social media management.

Every business has unique needs, so it’s helpful that there are many roles a social media assistant commonly fills – no matter the size of your business or the industry you operate in. Below are some common tasks that business leaders often require of a social media assistant:

1. Developing and managing social media content: creating engaging content, writing posts, creating graphic visuals, and scheduling posts.

2. Growing and engaging with followers: responding to messages, commenting on posts, researching new followers, and developing relationships.

3. Monitoring user sentiment: tracking comments, responding to questions, and addressing negative sentiment.

4. Analyzing social media data: evaluating campaign performance, measuring engagement, and providing insights.

5. Developing social media campaigns: creating strategies, setting goals, and developing advertising plans.

6. Collaborating with team members: managing workflow, setting deadlines, and staying current on the latest trends.

7. Identifying influencers: researching and targeting influencers, building relationships, and negotiating partnerships.

8. Creating reports: collecting data, creating graphs, and writing summaries.

If you’re looking to get started with any or all of these initiatives, or have begun them but need more time and resources to really accomplish them, then hiring a social media assistant will be incredibly beneficial for you.

What are the benefits of having a social media assistant?

Save time and money

A social media assistant will free up your time in a significant way. Firstly, the core task of content creation (and scheduling content to be published) requires you to devote a lot of time, which impacts your schedule. Especially if you want it done right to generate results! By having dedicated support, you can delegate content creation to your social media assistant to ensure that your social media accounts stay active and engaging.

Additionally, a social media assistant can help with monitoring the accounts and responding to comments, messages, and inquiries in a timely manner. Particularly for businesses that use social media as a customer support channel, this function is important as ill-timed or delayed responses can impact customer loyalty and retention.

Social media assistants can free up your time by taking over the creation of your monthly reports to help you measure progress and understand the impact of your active campaigns. By having your social media assistant help with regular reporting, business leaders have the support they need to analyze the data and gain insights into their target audience, which in turn, helps generate more effective content for the future.

 Finally, they can help with identifying trends and opportunities to help business owners better optimize their campaigns. All of these tasks contribute to helping business owners save time and work more efficiently – so they can not only focus on other aspects of their business but make better decisions.

“Virtual Gurus and my Virtual Executive Assistant, Stacey Syme, have drastically impacted my ability to manage my business. I had no idea how much could be done through a virtual assistant. Stacey has taken over daily tasks that were taking significant amounts of my time and holding me back with business growth. I am so grateful!”

– Megan Stock, Tamaca Therapy Services

Increase your reach

A social media assistant can help you increase the reach of your business on social media platforms. By creating engaging content and actively managing your accounts, a social media assistant can help you attract new followers and expand your online audience. This can help you reach new potential customers, build brand awareness, and increase website traffic from social media. Additionally, a social media assistant can help you identify and target specific demographics, such as age groups, locations, and interests, which can help you reach more relevant audiences.

Improve your engagement

Another benefit of a social media assistant is their ability to cultivate improved interaction with your audience. A social media assistant can help you create and curate content that resonates with your audience and encourages engagement. By actively monitoring your accounts and responding to comments, questions, and direct messages, a social media assistant can help you build stronger relationships with your followers and create a more positive brand image.

What’s more, a social media assistant can help you identify and address any negative comments or feedback, which will greatly improve your overall online reputation. Overall, having a social media assistant is vital for consistency, which is rule #1 for creating an interactive and engaging social media presence, which in turn leads to increased engagement and customer loyalty.

Finding the right social media assistant 

Selecting the right fit for your business is crucial to unlocking the full benefits of social media management. Your brand is a living, breathing entity that requires a social media assistant who understands the core of your culture and goals. When you choose the right fit, your social media efforts convert because the strategy you’ve worked hard to create becomes streamlined, you’re posting engaging content, and you’re tracking the progress and performance. However, finding the right fit is essential.

Understanding your needs

Before you start your search, take some time to think about your specific needs when it comes to social media management. Do an audit of your current social media strategy and efforts and be brutal about it. If you truly want to understand your social media needs then you’ve got to identify your gaps.

This might include things like the types of social media platforms you use, the number of accounts you have, the type of content you want to create, and any specific goals or metrics you want to track. Understanding your needs will help you identify the most important qualifications and skills that you should be looking for in a candidate.

Identifying qualified candidates

Once you know what you’re looking for, you can begin searching for candidates who fit the bill. It can be overwhelming to create a job description and post the listing on various platforms like LinkedIn, Indeed, or Upwork.

That’s only part of the battle. Once your listing is living now begins the job of reviewing resumes and portfolios, trying to understand the candidate’s experience with social media management, their skills in areas like content creation, engagement, and analytics, and their overall understanding of the social media landscape.

How much understanding do you have of social media management to ensure you’re choosing the right candidate for the job? Some business owners recognize they aren’t the best person to choose a social media assistant suited to their needs so they seek out a social media agency.  It doesn’t take long to learn that social media agency fees are far more than many small business owners can afford to pay but they still need support.

Virtual Gurus

Entrepreneur Package: starting at $350/mo

Social media agencies

Average cost: $1,000/mo

Thankfully, the Virtual Gurus Talentplace makes it easy to select the tasks and skills you need the most and our matching technology suggests the best matches based on your criteria. Talentplace-assisted matches will reflect your choices on the hourly amount of support you need each month, timezone and location, and our tailored social media assistant’s bios highlight the key abilities and experience most important to you.

If you want more in-depth support, our Solutions Consultant and Onboarding Specialist are specially trained to offer you guidance in selecting the right fit and getting set up for success.

Setting expectations

Before you bring a social media assistant on board, it’s essential to set clear expectations for what the role will entail and what kind of results you’re expecting. Since you completed an audit of your social media strategy and efforts, you’ll know exactly what you’re missing and hope to achieve.

This might include things like the number of posts or updates you want to see per day or week, what metrics you’ll be using to track progress, and any specific goals you have for your social media accounts. Setting clear expectations will help ensure that you and your new hire are on the same page from the start to avoid misunderstandings and confusion down the road.

Strategies for optimizing a social media assistant

Once you’ve found a qualified social media assistant and established clear expectations, it’s important to begin your new working relationship by discussing the strategy you’re going to implement to optimize your social media assistant’s time. Doing this will help you get the most out of your hourly package and your social media management efforts.

Establishing clear goals

Establishing clear, measurable goals for your social media accounts is an essential part of optimizing your social media assistant’s performance. Arbitrary goals won’t provide the results you hope to achieve, you need to set SMART goals. As a starting point, you’ll want to evaluate areas such as increasing your followers, boosting engagement, or reaching a certain level of website traffic from social media. Take the time to plan and communicate these goals to your assistant to help them understand what you’re looking for and how to measure progress in a way that’s meaningful to you.

Monitoring performance

Monitoring your social media assistant’s performance is crucial to optimize their work. This might involve tracking metrics like engagement rates, click-through rates, and website traffic from social media. It can also involve monitoring your social media accounts for mentions, comments, and direct messages, which is often referred to as Social Listening.

By keeping an eye on these performance metrics, you’ll quickly identify any issues or areas that need improvement. Social media algorithms and what an audience responds to, are constantly changing, and therefore you need to constantly monitor and shift your efforts to keep your accounts growing. It’s a lot of work to watch for emerging trends! A social media assistant takes that effort off your plate and brings you the most important information and suggestions so you can make the crucial decisions required, without the time strain.

Leveraging technology

Using the right technology is an effective way to optimize your social media assistant’s performance. This might include using tools for scheduling posts, analyzing metrics, or managing multiple social media accounts. Virtual Gurus has a wide range of social media assistants with experience in numerous social media platforms and tools. You’re sure to find candidates who use your favourite social media tools or can make suggestions on better tools suited to your needs.

By providing your assistant with the right tools and resources, you can help them work more productively. As well, by staying up-to-date on the latest technological advancements in social media management you’ll ensure that you’re getting the most out of your social media efforts.

Conclusion

Social media management is an essential part of running a successful business in today’s digital age. By hiring a social media assistant, you can take advantage of the many benefits that come with having a dedicated professional managing your social media accounts.

Summary of benefits

These benefits include having a consistent and professional online presence, increasing engagement and website traffic from social media, and having access to valuable insights and metrics. Additionally, hiring a social media assistant can free up your time to focus on other important aspects of your business.

“We’ve been working with Nikki with The Virtual Gurus for quite some time and we are constantly blown away by the quality of her work. We’ve effectively handed off social media completely to her and she is hitting it out of the park. We couldn’t be happier with Nikki and Virtual Gurus!”

–Michael Montgomery, Rev Real Estate School

Final thoughts

Finding the right social media assistant for your business is an important step in unlocking the full benefits of social media management. It’s essential to take the time to understand your needs, identify qualified candidates, and set clear expectations.

Don’t forget to implement strategies for optimizing your assistant’s performance, such as establishing clear and SMART goals, monitoring performance, and leveraging technology to get the most out of your social media efforts. Ultimately, having a social media assistant is a valuable asset for any business looking to make the most of its social media presence.

Get a social media assistant because you want to save money which will allow you to invest in your business and increase revenue.