Social media marketing services aren’t just running templated ads or posting random content. Instead they’re a collaboration between social marketers and their clients. If you’re a business owner working with a dedicated social marketer, it’s important to understand how you or your team can enable more effective results that deliver against your business goals.
Modern day social marketers are experts in creating content, strategising campaigns and optimising ads to reach the right audience. The more information, updates and resources you can provide, the better the results will be.
Regular Updates on Products, Company News, Services and Promotions
We recommend your social marketer is updated as soon as possible about any new products, time-limited discounts, work anniversaries, charity events or other happenings related to your business. Social marketing is most effective with fresh and timely content - being in the loop allows your social marketer to keep the content relevant and up to date. Data shows engagement increases when profiles feature the people behind the business and their stories - customers appreciate a more human and relatable approach, especially when they are browsing social platforms.
How you can help: Send updates about new products, services, key events, promotions or any changes to your business with as much notice as possible. Providing context and any visual assets (e.g. photos, videos, logos) will help bring the post or campaign to life.
A Steady Stream of High-Quality Visual Content
Imagery and video are essential for social media marketing. Visual content often performs better than just text alone, attracting more engagement from your audience and causing your content to stand out to users scrolling the feed. Social marketers create and schedule posts using text, graphics and links, but they also really benefit when businesses provide quality photos or videos to accompany them. The marketer will be able to turn static images into a carousel or motion piece through the use of creative tools.
How you can help: If you operate a home improvement type business, sharing 'before and after' works really well for generating engagement. Additionally, sharing high-quality 'on the job' content, also known as behind-the-scenes material - both in landscape and portrait orientation - can greatly support your social media marketing results too.
If your business doesn’t have in-house photography (which is often the case, understandably), most mobile phones take incredibly clear photos too! Digital marketing agencies (like Adtrak!) have their own photographers and videographers too who are available to do this for you. The more visually appealing content there is, the more effective your social media campaigns can be.
Clear Communication on Brand Voice and Messaging
Your brand’s tone of voice should remain consistent online. Whether your tone is formal, friendly or something different, your social marketer will look to get a clear understanding early on during discovery meetings with you. It’s worthwhile spending time upfront to identify your business voice so everything that follows hits the mark.
How you can help: Answer the discovery document questions as fully as possible - sometimes it helps to look at the questions in advance of replying so the response is considered rather than rushed. If you’re unsure on any questions, your social marketer will happily work with you to help define your brand. From this, they will then be able to craft posts that align with your wider marketing goals.
Feedback, and Plenty of It
Once the first set of drafts are ready, your social media marketer will want to confirm you understand what’s scheduled to be published online. This is the best time to provide constructive feedback. The more transparent you are with your feedback, the quicker your social marketer can adjust their strategy to improve results.
Once the content has launched, they will then review the results and begin optimising the approach as to what’s working (and what’s not!) to shape more successful content in the weeks and months ahead.
How you can help: Take time to provide feedback on your content and campaigns. You as an experienced industry expert will naturally have a clear understanding of the target audience, so helpful, constructive feedback is ideal here. By investing in feedback in the early days, you’ll very quickly find feedback reduces or isn’t needed at all.
Timely Updates
Social media algorithms reward regular posting, and audiences expect new content from your business over time. Whether it’s weekly update posts or monthly editorial campaigns, consistency is key. Your social marketer will curate the majority of the content independently, however any ad-hoc topics you’d like to include can easily be incorporated so long as time is given to schedule the post(s) properly!
How you can help: Have a clear idea of what’s coming up in your business calendar and provide your social marketer with enough notice so that they’re able to get the content prepared. There are always urgent exceptions but industry event updates, blog posts for the website, freshly captured photos and more can all be forecasted. Being proactive in this area ensures that your social marketer isn’t scrambling to post content at the last minute and undermining the creative or strategic aspects of your overall social marketing.
Open Dialogue and Strong Collaboration
Social marketers value the communication they have with their clients and working together is super helpful for crafting campaigns that truly resonate with your audience. If you’ve seen a new post format or you’d like to take inspiration from other content you’ve spotted, your social marketer needs to know. In turn, they will keep you informed about any ideas, opportunities or adjustments to your content they would love to apply.
How you can help: Engage in regular communication with your social marketer. They will often schedule monthly or quarterly review meetings to discuss strategy, performance and future goals - your participation in these areas are definitely encouraged!
Basically What We’re Saying Is…
Social media marketing is a team effort and the results can be remarkable when social marketers and clients work together effectively. By sharing regular and informative updates, quality visuals and helpful feedback, a collaborative relationship is proven to produce better results as well as truly representing your company online.
