Does Your Small Business Need a Dedicated Social Media Manager?

Your business’s social media profiles can be something of a double-edged sword. Keep them updated, and they can be a great boon for you; but leave them unattended and they can damage your reputation. So should these high-maintenance profiles be managed by a dedicated member of staff? Well, that’s something of a loaded question – and here’s the loaded answer.

What goes into a social media strategy?

Your first question when tossing up the idea of hiring a social media manager may be, what does this potential role actually involve? The answer to this question will differ depending on a few factors, including your industry and so on, but here’s a general rundown of the responsibilities:

• Publishing new social posts on a daily basis
• Responding to questions from your audience
• Developing new ideas to grow your social audience

These are high-level descriptions, but the concept is sound. And of course, this role is only really required if you’re certain you’ll see a benefit from deploying a social media strategy.

Do you need a social media strategy?

Not all businesses are the same, so what works for one might not work for another. This goes double for newer technologies like social media. Before you make a decision about whether or not a dedicated social media employee is right for your business, you need to consider return on investment. For example, consider a company that focuses on local trade only and generates most of its leads through word of mouth. In this case, social media probably won't have a huge impact when it comes to returns. On the other hand, imagine an online clothes shop that generates leads through online advertising and social sharing. In this case, social media is a lynchpin of the overall strategy. In these cut and dry cases, the value of a social media manager should be clear.

The bottom line of social media management

Whether or not you make the choice to hire a dedicated social media manager is entirely up to you. We'd recommend that you take what you know of your business and its method of operation, then go from there. If you’re somewhat on the fence, there’s another option: a hybrid role. If you already have marketing staff or other digitally focused roles, you could always introduce some social media management responsibilities to these staff members, then monitor progress as time goes on. If it’s looking like a full-time job, you’ll already know what the next step is.

Before you can manage your social audience, you need to manage your real-world customers as best you can. If you’d like to streamline and refine customer management the easy way, check out the AutoVu platform. With our system in place, you’ll find it much easier to decide how best social media strategy could help you and you customers.