This year marks 15 years since I first got on social media.
Not only have I used it for personal reasons, but I have managed social media accounts for companies and organizations. In fact, I’ve managed accounts for dozens of clients with a collective followership in the hundreds of thousands. I’ve managed Facebook pages, Twitter and Instagram accounts, Pinterest and Google+ profiles, and even YouTube accounts.
There was a lot of trial and error, and as social media changes, I learn what no longer works and what’s new.
One thing that I can be sure of after all this, however, is that I know what I’m doing.
I’m not a social media marketer. I don’t manage social media advertising. I’m a social media manager.
What that means is that I manage social media accounts. And managing a social media account is more than just creating ads. It’s about creating and curating content that followers find interesting, then engaging with them when they do.
Running a social media account is not the same as running a TV or radio ad. It’s dynamic, not static. It’s push and pull, not just push. It’s interactive, not just reactive. It’s, well, social.
And when you try to be social, people respond.
Consider the following screenshots.
These are all clients of mine. Each screenshot shows a 1-month period for the daily reach of their Facebook pages. Reach is the number of people who see a page’s Facebook posts during the day. Partway through that 1-month period is when I was granted access to their Facebook page.
As you can clearly see, in the first 2 weeks of each period, there is barely any engagement. As soon as I take over, reach is through the roof. The difference is stark.
Here’s another screenshot.
Not too long ago, I was hired on to help a local company manage their Facebook page. It was just a 3-month contract. Here’s a screenshot of their page’s reach for an entire year. You can clearly see when I started and when I stopped. And even after the contract finished, there was still some residual benefit from my efforts, compared to reach before I took over.
Here’s one last screenshot.
This is the reach for another client’s Facebook page for an entire year, the 6 months before I was managing it and the first 6 months I was managing it. In this one, the highs in the first 6 months are where the lows are for the last 6 months. Reach has more than double in just 6 months, and the maximum reach has nearly quadrupled.
And these are just examples for Facebook. I can do the same with Twitter and Instagram, for example.
Because I specialize in social media management, rather than advertising or marketing, my growth strategy is organic and long-term. I try to populate your social media accounts regularly (at least daily) with content that people want to see. And over time, you’ll see reach increase and followers increase.
If you want to grow your followers as quickly as possible, then you might want to look for a social marketer. But if you’re interested in increasing a quality follower pool using engaging, relevant content—without having to resort to bandaid gimmicks, like contests—then consider using a social media manager. It’s cheaper than hiring full-time.
Actually, on that note, I’ve had several clients who have gone from using my services to hiring in-house someone dedicated to their social media, because I was able to show them the potential of social media.
If you’re not in a position to hire a full-time person to manage your social media, but you’re too busy to manage it yourself, contracting it out to a social media manager could be the solution you need.
Email me today at info@hotpepper.ca to discuss what I can do for you, or DM on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
