Social Media Agency or DIY?
Social Media Agencies offer many different products and services so how do you choose how and who to work with? First, let's look at why Social Media is important.
Social Media changed the internet
When the internet was born most people communicated online by email, forums and chat systems like IRC (Internet Relay Chat). People quickly adopted ways of communicating without borders and without cost.
Over recent years a number of entrepreneurs have created Social Media Networks that have taken communication with friends, family, colleagues and wider networks to the next level.
As a result buinesses have been required to engage on Social Networks to avoid being left behind by businesses that have leveraged Social Media to promote their business and engage with their customers.
So why would you need Social Media for your business?
Putting aside "your competitors are there so you need to be there", Social Media allows you to engage with your prospects, leads and customers on their terms, not yours. With Inbound Marketing the entire sales process is now buyer focussed; not marketer focussed as it was for the last century.
Your interactions with customers, in the past, were restricted by time and location - you engaged in showrooms with salespeople in person, or on the phone. Customers could research your product with reviews in magazines or newspapers.
The Media used to be a one-to-many model where the publisher controlled what content was available. The internet has democratised publishing so now it's a many-to-many model, a network. Which is why Social Media is so important.
Word of mouth has always been important and can make or break a business. Social Media amplifies and speeds up the make or break.
Social Media Services Available
Every agency has it's own system, packages and pricing model. We prefer to work with you so we can get long term results. Some agencies outsource to offshore companies to get fast and cheap results however we prefer to take a sustainable approach with your Social Media. We've worked out some plans that work for our clients to get results.
Plan and Strategy so you can Do It Yourself (DIY)
As with any online project you need to start with a plan, a target market and goals so you can measure your success:
- What is the purpose of your Social Media?
- What are the outcomes you want to achieve?
- How are you going to know when you are successful?
Done With You (DWY)
Once we've got a plan, target market Personas, goals and measurement established we can work with you to ensure your Social Media is optimised and aligned with your overall Content Marketing Strategy. Using tools and techniques we can work with you to ensure all that effort you put into content gets the maximum results.
Done For You (D4Y)
We know how much effort it takes to create Social Media content, optimise it and monitor it. So, we're happy to come and work with you to create a plan and a strategy then get stuck in and create the content for you, publish the content to Social Media and monitor it. This way your creative input and expert knowledge is leveraged quickly and efficiently so you can spend time doing the things only you can do.
Do It Yourself (DIY)
Yes, despite what Social Media companies say you can do it yourself if you have the time and resources available. Most experts learnt online and by trial and error (usually more errors than you'd think). The good thing is that every error you make will teach you something.
So which Social Media Services work for you?
That will depend on your internal resources and your budget. If you're unsure feel free to book a session with Mike.
