Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter continue to become important channels for businesses to better engage with their customers and showcase their products and services. Due to this, a good number of organizations are also taking advantage of these websites and are using them as part of their marketing efforts.
However, while numerous businesses have the capability to handle their social media functions in-house, some do not have the budget and time to hire a full-time staff to tackle the task, while others just lack the expertise to carry out social media marketing successfully.
For these reasons, they simply opt to find an outsourcer and ask for a social media specialist to better focus on their core functions and ensure productivity.
Must-ask Questions When Hiring an Outsourcer
If you are tempted to let someone else handle your organization’s social media burden like other companies do, here are a couple of essential questions you need to ask a prospective outsourcer according to Deborah Lee in her Huffington post.
1. Are you familiar with the nature of my business or industry?
In order for social media professionals to develop effective social media strategies and compelling content, he or she needs to have a deep understanding of the nature of the business and the industry that their clients are involved in.
As such, you want to get a sense that the outsourcer you are dealing with has actually carried out due diligence to know the ropes of the industry, who your competitors are and what the current conditions are like for your business.
If the outsourcer has not conducted some research online before getting in touch with you, then you cannot expect that they will be able to develop a customized strategy that will ensure the success of your social media activities.
2. What other business experiences do you have aside from doing social media marketing?
Note that success in social media does not rely on increasing Twitter followers and Facebook page ‘likes’ alone. There is also a need for better audience engagement and brand building, which in turn could lead to conversions.
So how do all these relate to a social media expert having other business experiences outside social media? You see, if you are going to let someone have a free rein on handling the marketing efforts of your business over social networking sites, you want to make sure that the person is business-savvy enough to know which approaches work and which do not.
3. What can I realistically expect from my investment?
Of course, if you are going to spend money on outsourcing your social media activities, you want to get an idea of what you can expect in return. Hence, a prospective outsourcer should be able to provide you a realistic answer that strongly aligns with your goals.
For instance, if you want to increase sales, then a realistic answer you should receive should be somewhere in the lines of: “I can guarantee better awareness for your brand. With more people familiar with it, more prospective customers will be headed to your direction, which in turn can lead to conversions.
4. How do you think is this going to work out over the long term?
Any ethical outsourcer will have no trouble telling you that your organization should be able to handle its own social media activity over the long haul. After all, they are aware that as an outsourcer, the jobs assigned to them are not at all permanent.
The point here is that the outsourcer will only serve as your company’s guide to get you started with social promotion and will collaborate with you so that you will learn along the way and eventually venture out on your own time. If a prospective outsourcer could not provide you a straight answer to the aforesaid question, then this should raise a red flag that you are not making a good deal.
Outsource Your Social Media Marketing With PrimeOutsourcing
As you can see, social media can be used to establish influence online. You just need to use the right strategies to achieve it. PrimeOutsourcing has a team of online marketing specialists who are more than willing to help you. Get in touch with our Online Marketing Consultant and Online Community Moderator or directly contact us today!
