Why you need to manage your own social media

You need to manage your own social media or at the very least employ someone to do it for you. Ok, so that first sentence on the surface may seem contradictory, but if I clarify a little it should make more sense. When I say employ someone to do it I mean someone that works in your business as your employee and not as a third-party business that will manage it for you. Over the last couple of weeks I’ve observed a couple of companies that claim to "manage social media" for their clients. They are touting silly things like Klout scores and impressions as justification for you to hire them. I’ve noticed that web designers are offering social media management as an "add-on" service. I’ve seen all of these things and the dollar amounts attached to them. I’m a little concerned for the businesses that get sold on these services. They have relinquished control of their entire reputation based on a score that can be gamed. I’m going to address why a Klout score should not be a reason to hire a third party to control your reputation and why design companies may not be suited to do the work either interestingly the reasons are the same.

Influence isn’t everything

Two of the most "influential" people online based on their Klout scores are Justin Beiber and Lady Gaga. Would you hire either one of them to manage anything in your business? What makes them qualified to speak for your business? Let’s say you are a mortgage broker…what value would Justin Beiber give to your social media posts if he were your social media manager? Could he speak intelligently on reverse mortgages, 1/5 ARM’s, and FHA guidelines? Could Lady Gaga promote your HVAC company effectively? Would she be able to talk about condenser units, or ductless heat pumps? Now suppose they can speak intelligently on plumbing, electrical, banking, wine making, bed & breakfasts, etc. A person who claims to be able to help you with your social media management that has no background in your industry is selling you a service you can’t use. They may be able to fake it and make some impact on the social media element of your company…but what about the bottom line? Is it enough to generate likes and influence? No. You need anything you pay for to have a return for your business or it will have been wasted effort. You might find a person who has a Klout score that puts them at the top X% of all Klout users and sounds impressive, but in the end the value they bring is dependent on the information you give them or that they intuit about your industry.

Let’s talk about personality.

Does your company use pop-culture vernacular? As a professional service, how would your clients feel if you used hashtags in every post? Are cat memes something that your plumbing company wants for the sake of "more ‘engagement’"? Every company regardless of their industry norms has a unique identity relative to their competition. Does your web designer know the personality of your company and come naturally to it? No? Well it might not be a good idea for them to represent you on Facebook.

Why would a social media professional tell you to not hire a social media professional?

Good question…so glad you asked. There are different types of social media professionals. Some would offer you a seemingly great value by taking something that is foreign or difficult off your plate and letting you focus on what you do best…run your business. CnctNOW on the other hand has no intention of taking over for you. Without a doubt cnctNOW is capable of managing your social media accounts and bringing you more traffic and more "likes". The problem with that proposition is that the quality of the "likes" and traffic may not be what you are looking for. You can manage your social media presence and make more money doing it. I can teach you how.