Hiring a social media marketing consultant could be a game-changer for your business. You could use the help of an expert if:
- You’re struggling to acquire or retain customers
- You aren’t getting the ROI you’d like from social media
- Your social media strategy is all over the place
- You or your team don’t have much social media experience
Social media consultants have the knowledge and skills to turn your lagging social media campaigns around. You’ll be able to access advice and strategic planning at the highest level.
If you’re considering working with a social media consultant, here’s everything you need to know:
4 Ways a Social Media Marketing Consultant Can Help Grow Your Business
Consider a social media marketing consultant your business’s Yoda. They’re the wise teacher and guide that can help you 10x your business through social media. Here’s what they’ll do:
1. Develop a High-Performing Social Media Strategy
A social media marketing consultant will take a deep dive into your current strategy and performance. They’ll help you figure out what’s working and what’s not to see where there’s room for improvement.
The consultant will work off of your business objectives or help you to set smarter goals if that’s what’s needed. From there, they’ll develop a custom social media strategy to help you smash your goals.
Your social media expert will help you with tactics tailored to your business and establish a high-performing social media sales funnel, which is key because on average it takes seven and a half visits to your website before somebody makes a purchase.
2. Achieve Big Results
Working with a social media consultant can be very rewarding. They will help you get the most ROI from your social media campaigns.
First of all, they can help you build a larger social media following. They’ll teach you how to grow a community around your brand and engage followers.
They can also come up with content and advertising strategies that:
- bring new potential customers to your business
- re-engage leads
- drive conversions and more…
3. Provide Expert Advice
The best social media consultants are experts that have tons of experience helping clients grow their businesses. They’re able to share that wealth of knowledge and experience with you.
If you’ve hit a roadblock on social media, a consultant can bring a fresh perspective and use their know-how to come up with solutions to your issues. They’re well-versed in established best practices as well as new trends, so they can for sure point you in the right direction.
Some social media consultants offer training so that you can continue to manage your campaigns effectively.
4. Help You with Analytics
It’s essential that you track your social media performance using the right metrics. 95% of the most successful B2B marketers use metrics to measure content performance.
When you monitor your analytics, you can see if you’re meeting your goals and where you might need to up your efforts or tweak your strategy.
But for some, all of the data and reports can get a bit much. A social media consultant can guide you towards the best tools or software for social media analytics and monitoring.
They can help you decipher reports and pick out the key information and metrics for your business or campaign objectives.
All in all, a social media marketing consultant will develop a strategy and implement tactics that will help you meet your goals and grow your business.
How to Get Started with Social Media Marketing Consulting
If you make the right preparations, you and your social media marketing consultant can hit the ground running. Your collaboration will run smoothly and you’ll get much more from it. So, here’s what you need to do to get started:
1. Figure Out What Kind of Consultant You Need
The first step is establishing what areas you need help in. You must decide what kind of role you want the social media marketing consultant to take. This may fall into one or more of the following categories:
Strategy
The consultant takes an advisory role. They do their due diligence regarding your company and target audience, for example, by interviewing the right executives within your team or creating buyer personas.
With all of the information gathered, they’ll create a detailed social marketing strategy, provide the necessary training and/or continue to advise you over a set period of time.
Project Management
It’s also possible to hire a social media consultant that not only comes up with the right strategy but also turns that strategy into an actionable plan. They’ll figure out timelines, budgets, resource allocation and so on.
Execution
In this case, the social media marketing consultant will do all of the above and then jump in the trenches with you. They’ll oversee and participate in the implementation of your strategy.
So, the question is do you need an advisor or somebody who is going to roll their sleeves up and see the project through, too?
2. Set Your Goals
Your social media goals are the jump-off point for a marketing consultant. They determine the overarching strategy to be implemented, as well as the key performance indicators to measure.
If you have an idea of what you hope to achieve through social media, then try to document your objectives as clearly as possible. For example, you may wish to increase your Instagram ad clickthrough rate by X%.
But, as mentioned above, if you’re lost, a social media marketing consultant can help you set goals and create a sales funnel from scratch.
3. Get Your Ducks in a Row
The final thing you need to do before working with a social media marketing consultant is to prepare any documentation or reports that you wish to share.
For instance, you might put together a package of analytics reports from the past year. Or perhaps you want your social media strategy to align with your wider digital marketing strategy. In this case, you’d need to share your documented strategy with the consultant.
The more useful information you’re able to share, the better.
Essentially, there’s a bit of groundwork you need to do before working with a social media marketing consultant. But, ultimately, it’ll make your work together that much more successful.
Measuring the ROI of Social Media Marketing Consulting Services
When done well, social media marketing produces a high return on investment. In fact, I used social media to generate $632,481 in sales in one year.
But, one thing you have to bear in mind is that the way you measure ROI depends on your goals. Sometimes, social media marketing activities have an influence on sales, but you don’t necessarily see the dollars that come directly from those activities.
For example, you might share blog content on social media to generate traffic and increase brand awareness. The way you would measure the ROI of such activities would be according to the number of views or levels of engagement.
Naturally, it’s easier to calculate monetary returns when working with lead gen campaigns or paid ads. In this case, you’d measure the number of leads generated or, simply, conversions.
It’s vital that you discuss ROI with a social media marketing consultant in terms of your goals. You need to understand what you can expect to achieve for the rate that you’re paying.
6 Point Checklist for Finding the Right Social Media Marketing Consultant
There are tons of social media marketing consultants out there. Not all are made equal. Hence, you need to know what to look out for and what kind of questions to ask in order to make the right choice for you:
1. Relevance
As mentioned above, there are different kinds of social media marketing consultants. Therefore, you need to see if the consultant offers the services you require.
Furthermore, do they have experience of working in your industry? Relevant experience with similar clients to you means they know which tactics are likely to be most effective for your target audience.
Check their website to see former clients and what they’ve achieved for them. Some review sites, such as Clutch, also indicate the size and category of clients.
2. Experience
In the world of consulting, experience is everything. A consultant might make big claims but can they actually follow through?
Anyone can take a quick online course or read blog posts about social media marketing. It’s an entirely different thing to have implemented successful campaigns IRL.
The first step is to check the consultant’s own social media channels. If their following, engagement rates or content seems a bit crap then they’re likely inexperienced and will do a crappy job for you.
Next, check their credentials. How many years of experience do they have in the industry? Do they have hands-on experience?
3. Connections
If you can find a consultant with industry connections or links to social media influencers, then it’s a huge bonus.
This is the kind of thing that the average business would find very difficult to achieve on their own unless they wanted to pay through the roof on influencer marketplaces and the like. Find out from your consultant what kind of collaborations are on the table.
At Neil Patel Digital, for example, we’ve fostered connections with thought leaders and influencers in a number of spaces over the years, including B2B, marketing, tech and more. We know what benefits such relationships can bring.
4. Examples
Firstly, it’s a good idea to source examples of a consultant’s previous work as proof of their experience. This might come in the form of case studies or blog content in which they talk about their professional experience.
You should also seek examples of what the consultant can do for you specifically. Obviously, they’re not going to map out an entire strategy for you before you agree to work together.
However, they should be able to give you examples or ideas of the kind of work they can do for you and what kind of results they would expect to achieve.
5. Pricing
Social media marketing consultants’ rates vary. Usually, you can expect to pay a higher rate for more experienced and more skilled consultants. But, be sure to do your research on all of the other points to check a consultant is worth the rate they’re charging.
You also need to consider how their pricing works logistically. Does the consultant offer tiered packages or an hourly rate? Is there a minimum length of contract? Are there additional costs involved?
Always choose a consultant that’s transparent about their terms and pricing.
6. Balance
The consultant you’re vetting should have a positive attitude. You should seek out somebody that is enthusiastic and confident about helping you grow your business via social media.
However, be wary of those that over-do it. A good social media consultant will also be realistic about what they can help you achieve and the time-frame you can expect to achieve it in.
Overall, don’t be afraid to ask a bunch of questions. A good social media marketing consultant will be willing to answer them clearly and openly.
Conclusion
It’s worth hiring a social media marketing consultant if you hope to revamp a failing social media strategy or to take your existing strategy to the next level. Using the right tools and tactics, they’ll gain an in-depth understanding of your business and target audience to help you achieve your goals.
When it comes to choosing the right social media marketing consultant for you, make sure they not only have hands-on experience with social media marketing but also experience relevant to your industry or the services you need.
Now it’s over to you to find a consultant that will help you grow your business. The first step: Set your goals and work out exactly where your business needs help.
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