Online presence of a business is a must in the present world where impactful marketing means everything. Consumers in almost all sectors approach social media platforms to look for product and service reviews before deciding to spend their cash resources. Business owners also realize the importance of creating brand recognition on various social media platforms to increase their sales while creating long term positive growth for their organization.

Internet along with the introduction of various social media platforms like Google +, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn etc have revolutionized the world of marketing. A good majority of the customers prefer searching for brands online, way before they even decide to visit the physical store. And what’s more, there are businesses thriving only in the online world without ever having the need to create a physical presence.

It is hence extremely important to have a strong understanding of various key social media platforms as well as have the marketing as well as creative bent of mind to manage the same in a way to attract maximum customers while increasing the overall sales.

What is social media marketing and why is it important?

Social media marketing in simple terms is the process of generating sales as well as the required customer attention through various social media platforms like Google +, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube etc. Different social media site may be able to provide a variety of social actions. That said, each in itself or when being used together can turn out to be a powerful marketing tool. Most customers find it super convenient to interact with various brands on a social platform before they decide on a physical interaction at the brand outlets. In such scenarios, interacting with prospective customers on social media platforms becomes marketing must, and is a great way to achieve marketing as well as branding targets of a company.

So what does Social media marketing include? Well, it includes a whole lot of activities like posting content and graphics on various sites to create regular updates, creating and posting promotional videos as well as live interactive content to create customer engagement. While you could start your social media marketing journey straight off, it is best to first define your social media marketing goals. Ask yourself the following questions:

What do you want to achieve during your social media marketing journey?

Do you identify your most preferred/target audience?

Which social media platforms are most frequently used by your target audience?

What kind of messages do you want to send and the overall brand image that you want to create?

It is also important to consider the type of business that you own before creating a social media marketing strategy. Different business types find value through different social media platforms and choosing the right one is extremely important. Additionally, different platforms have their unique approach and developing a social media strategy that is specially tailored for each is important.

So what are some important social media marketing tips? Well, here’s a brief list that we don’t want you to miss out on:

Creating a social media marketing plan

Producing some great content (including text, images, videos, infographics, guides etc) for each chosen platform

Staying consistent with the company’s brand image

Content marketing

Sharing curated links

Keeping a regular track of competitors

Regularly using analytic tools to measure success and failures

Crisis management

What is a social media virtual assistant?

So, the overall need to have social media as a part of the marketing strategy for a growing business is clear. All businesses today, starting from a popular corporate organization to your local cake shop realize the importance of staying active on their preferred social media platform to connect with their potential customers.

However, the job is not truly as easy as it appears on the face. While most social media platforms are easy to use, the same can take a good amount of time each day to maintain a regular communication channel with the customers. Creating the right kind of content that can attract a target audience in itself is a full-fledged responsibility. Add to it the various other tasks like creating regular posts and updates, following other social media groups and finding people who can be potentially converted to customers, responding to the queries and issues of the existing clients etc.

With time being a precious commodity for all business owners and entrepreneurs, they often prefer to hire the services of skilled people called Social Media Virtual Assistant (also referred to as a social media VA). Like all professional careers, social media marketing is a highly evolved skill.

A Social Media VA is a remote executive who manages your Social Profiles, pages or accounts on your behalf which includes, publishing posts, replying to comments and direct messages, posts, and hashtags research, planning and executing social media strategies and paid promotions. Your brand's social reputation is dependent on a Social Media VA.

You can also find specialized skill sets like Pinterest VA, Instagram VA, Facebook VA etc depending on your chosen platforms. Since companies pay to hire social media Vas, it is important for them as a service sector to show the results that are expected of them. Most business organizations measure results in the form of sales generation as well as a positive brand image. A social media VA hence needs to understand way more than simply operating various social media platforms. They need to have a good working knowledge of skills like copywriting, SEO research, sales analysis and the use of tools like Canva, Photoshop etc.

Why do you need a social media virtual assistant?

A brand is built on its reputation. To achieve a growth, the brands need to engage with their audience. An active online presence with the resourceful content is the key to success. Entrepreneurs and Business owners know the fact, that they need a good online presence to drive sales for their products or services.

The social media influence the behavior of the consumer. They look at the brand's social profile and presence before they purchase a product or avail services. Most of the entrepreneurs cannot dedicate their effort on social media or even if they do they tend to quit at an early stage. Driving traffic or sales from social media requires a constant and dedicated effort with the relevant knowledge of the platform and data to back the efforts.

Increasing your Social Media Presence

Creating a strong social media presence is life support for a growing business. There is always an expectation with the customer community to see updated and interesting stuff on a site. A failure in consistent updating and monitoring leads to a loss of interest at the customer’s end. Simply developing a large following is often not enough. Creating a positive social media presence requires giving the audience what they really want. Understanding how to improve your organization’s social media presence can go a long way to create the sales numbers and the brand image that you’ve been targeting.

So what are the musts for creating the right kind of social media presence? Here’s our list of recommendations:

Choosing the right platform Active participation Boosting posts on various platforms Creating unique images for each post Demographic tracking to build a target audience Delivering personalized content Responding actively to comments (even the negative ones) Keeping a proactive plan for crisis management Using creative headlines and eye-catching visuals to engage clients and create interest Using the platforms for customer service Staying in tune with the latest trends on social media Monitor keywords Using Lead ads Using social media for event promotion Using hashtags

Social media can work in a great way towards creating a personalized rapport with your clients and showing them your human side. Hiring the services of a social media virtual assistant can hence be a big boon to your company when creating a powerful social media presence. Here’s what our social media virtual assistants can do for you:

Setting up, organizing and customizing your page

Scheduling posts on your chosen platforms, and creating content calendars

Sending newsletters as per your planned schedules

Referring the audience towards blogs, inviting people to like the page

Copywriting and SEO researching business-related information on various platforms

Proofread and edit content

Replying to customer queries and monitor all social media conversations

Creating surveys, promotional events

Creating monthly blogs

Interacting with customers on a regular basis, setting up email campaigns etc

Performing business analysis(using various analytic tools) and compiling statistics based on social media marketing

We at Webcenture, have an experienced and skilled social media ninjas to take care of your social profiles and overall online presence. Stay on top of the game at the 1/10th of what you pay for an in-house employee or to an expensive social media company.

We at Webcenture can help you with various skill sets that are an integral part of social media marketing. From creating a unique and customized social media marketing strategy to analyzing data to find you more target audience that can be converted to paying customers, we handle it all. For entrepreneurs who are just starting out building a social media presence, we at Webcenture can work towards setting up your pages and customizing them according to your brand image.

Hiring a virtual social media expert with reputed organizations like Webcenture is way easier than paying to keep a full time one. They are cost effective since you do not need to take care of their additional expenses that come with paying a full-time employee. You simply pay them for the work they do on an hourly basis.

How can our social media virtual assistant help you (Services provided)?

Using social media for business growth is more than sharing funny posts. You understand that, right? It is about creating a thoughtful mix of marketing and social media to attract the target audience and convert them into worthy long term customers. And that’s exactly what our social media virtual assistant can do for you. Here’s how our highly skilled social media experts can help grow your business:

Brand image creation- Consistent social media interactions using top-rated informative posts along with catchy images can often do the trick. Visual memories are often retained way longer and using social media to create one is a wonderful way to give a face to your brand.

Attracting new followers and customers using various advertising strategies on various social media platforms.

Researching competition organizations marketing strategies and analyzing your own ones in comparison.

Creating a communication channel that can work in a two-way manner giving the customers a chance to relate to your brand. This is a wonderful way to create personalized associations and generate confidence in your organization with your target audience.

Increase online traffic which can result in high physical footfall for your brand resulting in higher sales.

At Webcenture, our social media virtual assistants are completely competent on all the skills required to up your social media game, from increasing sales to running ads on Facebook, targeting the right kind of audience, writing attractive sales copes, budgeting etc. Here’s a list of services that our highly experienced social media virtual assistants can provide for your business: