As a small business owner, the idea of paying a company to take control of your Facebook and Instagram pages can seem alien, especially if you’ve been running them successfully on your own.
Indeed, you’re used to doing everything on your own and cutting costs wherever you can – because, in this game, every little penny makes a difference to your bottom line.
However, there are some reasons why you should consider paying for a professional to take control of your social media handles, and below, we round them together in a handy article…
It saves you time
Perhaps the most obvious reason for paying for social media management is to save time.
If you’re already rushed off your feet, then the last thing you’d want to do is spend an hour at the end of the day preparing tweets for the next week or scheduling images for Instagram.
The average small business owner spends more than three hours per week working on their social media channels, so if you give that responsibility to someone else for less than your hourly take-home pay, then it makes sense financially, too, and gives you some more time to spend with your loved ones, or on growing your business if you’re still in your startup phase.
Avoids distractions
It is so easy to log onto Twitter and lose an hour reading tweets and following new people.
If you’re obsessed with Instagram, then you’ll know how addictive that network can be, too.
If you’re asking your employees to handle your social media, then we can bet they’re going to milk it for all it’s worth and use it as an excuse to check out their personal feeds when working on yours.
More than a third of millennials and Gen Z (36%) say they spend two hours or more checking their smartphones during the workday, so hand over your social media to someone who knows what they’re doing and ban social networking sites in the workplace
It might sting at first, but you’ll be glad you did when your productivity jumps.
Helps you grow
It’s all well and good sharing your posts with friends and family, but there’s no point in investing in social media at all unless you’re able to reach the people who really matter – customers.
Professional social media management companies can help you grow your presence on social networking sites by crafting engaging, shareable content, and by using paid adverts on Facebook and Instagram to expose your business to more potential clients.
It’ll pay for itself
If you choose an affordable social media management company like 99social, you’ll find that your investment will soon pay for itself.
Indeed, if you’re paying £100 per month for social media but you get two new customers spending £50 each from Twitter, then you’re in profit.
Of course, social media isn’t that simple and it can often take several months to generate a return on your investment, but once users follow you, they’re probably going to stick around and read your posts, increasing the likelihood of them spending money with your brand.
Builds brand awareness
Finally, don’t underestimate the importance of brand awareness.
It’s easier it is to develop and sustain relationships with customers if they’re seeing posts from your business every day on their news feed. If you only post once a week or even less, then you’ll quickly fall out of your potential customers’ psyches.
Note that the majority of your followers won’t want to buy from you today, but if they see an attractive product or service being advertised, they’ll remember you when they’re looking for a company that offers what you specialise in.
The truth is that paying for social media isn’t for every business – some are simply too small or too niche for a professional social media campaign. However, for the majority of small businesses and brands, bringing an expert on board can only be a good thing, allowing you to grow through social networking sites and free up your time to serve your customers well. Best of luck!