In this post, we will explain what a virtual assistant for social media does, how that helps you to boost your business and what sort of tasks you can expect to outsource as part of your virtual assistant social media package.
What is a Social Media Virtual Assistant?
A social media virtual assistant is a remote worker who takes on all the tasks you would expect of a social media manager. They can create your social accounts from scratch if needed, plan and create your content (including social media ad campaigns), schedule it on your networks and interact with followers.
You outsource these social media virtual assistant services to this freelancer and allow them to fulfil your social marketing strategy with as much or as little input from you as needed. They ensure you maintain a consistent presence online and that you become an attractive prospect for your target audience to follow and engage with.
The VA can do everything from competitor research and strategic commenting on posts to leading complex promotional campaigns and undertaking in-depth analysis of your social media performance.
Isn’t this something I can do?
If you don’t want to spend most of your working hours on social media tasks you are really going to have to think about how you are going to balance your time across your business tasks and priorities. Where is your time best spent within your business? The great thing about hiring a virtual assistant for social media tasks is that they can do as little or as much as you need them to. They work on a flexible basis offering pay as you go hourly rates and in some cases, bespoke packaged prices.
If you want to grow you need to delegate the tasks that consume your days so you can really focus on your overall business development. It’s about working smart, saving time and growing your small business.
The Benefits of Hiring a Social Media Virtual Assistant
They have the expertise that you don’t have
One of the main benefits of a social media virtual assistant is the experience they bring to your team in terms of knowing what to post when to post it and where to post it. You may dabble in personal social media use, but a dedicated social media VA has immersed themselves in understanding the quirks and characteristics of all of the networks. This is invaluable in capturing the right audience and keeping them happy.
In its article about strengthening the online presence of the UK’s small and medium-sized businesses, Experian states: “The trick for SMEs, is to focus on the channels, including social media, best suited to your customer. For B2B customers, that could mean prioritising LinkedIn or Twitter for example, while for others, it could mean exploring newer platforms like TikTok.”
Anyone who is not a dedicated social media expert would struggle to produce consistently high quality and engaging content across all three of those different networks.
Increase consistency and efficiency
Consistency is also key when it comes to how often you post. You could try and produce enough individually tailored content for all your networks on your own, but it can easily consume far more time than you have when you run a business. Outsourcing to a VA increases your efficiency, as well as ensuring the standard of the posts remains high.
Minimise the costs
You can also reduce your costs when you outsource to a VA. You don’t need to train them in their job as they are already an expert at managing social accounts. In addition, they work remotely so you don’t have to supply them with a desk, computer and all the other equipment that payroll staff need. Finally, you only pay them for the work they do. Full-time staff get paid regardless of the time spent at work. For freelancers, they only invoice you for the time spent on your project.
Examples of Social Media Virtual Assistant Services
As well as the broad services such as ‘creating content’ and ‘running Facebook ads’, here are some examples of social media virtual assistant services that will benefit your business.
Creating an Instagram Theme
Instagram is a visual medium and that means everything needs to look on point. Not just your individual posts, but also your grid too. Many successful Instagram accounts employ a theme that captures the eye when interested users visit your profile. These include a checkerboard approach, where you alternate between two types of posts (sometimes this means two different main colours for the images). If you keep this up, the visual effect can be very powerful and a VA can put this into action for you.
Social Media Engagement
Producing great posts is certainly a key part of the virtual assistant social media package, but the best brands also take time to engage users too. Replying to comments, questions and even jokes helps show the brand as human and in touch with its customers. Obviously, this takes up too much time for the business owner to attempt, but it is worth outsourcing to a VA who can capture your brand voice.
In the words of Mike Eckstein of social media scheduling app Buffer, “without engagement, social media is just media. People don’t use social networks for a one-way experience. They’re seeking connections — with people and with… Click To Tweet
Ensuring You Provide a Great Mix of Content
If you were to post the same kind of content all the time, it would quickly become boring. One of the important social media virtual assistant services is making sure your profiles remain fresh. There are a host of different kinds of social media posts that you can employ to encourage interaction and click-throughs, and your VA will be able to put them all into play.
Hire a Virtual Assistant for your Social Media
To conclude, there are so many tasks that a social media virtual assistant can take off your hands that will both make your life easier and provide a real boost for your business in terms of utilising social media to its maximum potential.
If you want to know more, make sure you read our free guide to outsourcing to a virtual assistant. It includes details on what you can outsource, how to spot a good VA, how to work together effectively and how much it will cost you.
