What Does A Social Media Company Do?

Social media is at best a moving target and at worst a job that’s as difficult to define and manage as herding a group of cats. As new platforms pop up and are enthusiastically embraced by valuable demographic sets, business owners are left trying to precariously balance the everyday operations of their company and attempting to engage customers through these new and potentially unfamiliar platforms. A social media company acts as a management and guidance center for this type of outreach, simplifying and improving the interactions between a company and its social media-using customers.

Ta-Ta, Faux Pas!

Assigning an in-house employee or executive to manage social media accounts such as Twitter or Facebook may seem like a good idea in the short term, but the liability that carries is enormous. It only takes a single slip up – an employee forgetting to log into their personal account rather than the corporate one, a poorly-worded response to an irate customer, an inappropriate or copyrighted picture being posted – to forever brand your brand with a negative concept. These dangers increase in frequency without a dedicated social media employee, as well as putting your passwords in the hands of an employee that may seek social media revenge if they’re fired or laid off. A social media company is an independent team of professionals with a single goal: to increase your business and improve your image through outreach – no liability necessary.

When? Where? How?

Chances are, you already know what type of customer loves your products. What you probably don’t know, however, is what social media platforms they’re using and when they’re most likely to see your message. A beautifully-designed, flawlessly written message delivered when your target demographic is busy or isn’t following you is going to fall flat, no matter how hard you worked on it. Rather than stumbling through a rough stretch of trial-and-error that could make your company look like an amateur, you might want to consider calling in the status tweeting cavalry. A social media company can offer professional guidance on the best ways to reach your customers, as well as craft campaigns designed to appeal specifically to those users. In addition to connecting efficiently with your customers, a social media company will advise you on how to harness the search engine optimization and metric-tracking potential of those same customer-courting efforts.

Making Molehills into Mountains

A social media company offers not only exposure to their clients, but brand-building equity as well. Social media company campaigns are designed to promote the same “feel” throughout multiple social media platforms, which in turn makes even small startups look as impressive as larger rivals. Frequent posts, updates and other social media presentations designed by a social media company give the impression of a bustling office and upward mobility, ensuring that even mom-and-pop style businesses aren’t passed over by customers for looking less than professional. A social media company also helps drum up interest and engagement locally for brick-and-mortar businesses, increasing turnout, interest and attendance for special events and sales held in store.

As social media becomes more of a “must have” on everyday devices and online interactions, the need for businesses to inject themselves into those conversations becomes clear. As David Segal recently pointed out in a New York Times piece on social media engagement, the hashtag is king, and one of the most in-the-moment ways of having a real conversation and connection with a customer on the fence. While traditional online marketing, such as email, will likely always remain viable, a social media company is key to maintaining relevancy in the future to come.