Social Media Virtual Assistant Services

Social media statistics from 2019 indicate that there are 3.5 billion social media users worldwide, and this number is only growing. Overall, this represents 45% of the entire world’s population!  So, saying that the world is increasingly “socially connected” is a gross understatement.

A key factor in the high usage of social media is that the platforms are increasingly “mobile-friendly”. Consequently, with social media channels available as mobile apps, this allows users connectivity wherever and whenever desired.  For example, Facebook is the most widely used social media platform (with 68% of all US adults as users) and is the fourth most popular Internet site in the world.

Simply put, social media is everywhere, it’s unavoidable, it’s powerful, and it’s here to stay. Therefore your business needs to invest in social media marketing and in no way can it be ignored.

1 – Social Media Virtual Assistant Services Strategy Planning

As a starting point, social media virtual assistant services help your business SM strategy planning efforts.   While a business may already have a social media presence, hiring a social media VA is the opportunity to reevaluate. Specifically, to refocus and re-prioritize where you want the business to move forward. Before investing additional time and resources in social media activities, it is time to review the “SM plan.”

Your business social media strategy defines your brand’s goals and helps focus your SM virtual assistant’s priorities and activities.  Following are social media marketing goals that you should consider.

Goals | Research | Metrics

Set Goals That Are Realistic And Make Sense For Your Business – Basically, what does your business want from its social media investment? For example, increase brand awareness, increase website traffic, lead generation and sales, grow your brand audience, etc.

Research Your Business Target Audience – Although your business likely has a good profile of its target audience, your social media virtual assistant can identify which SM channel and type of message will be most effective.

Determine Your Business Social Media Performance Metrics – Your business social media metrics should be based on data results. Simply put, this can be Reach (number of unique visitors that saw your post), Clicks (the number of clicks to your content), Engagement (number of interactions versus content impressions), and Hashtag Performance (which are most related to your brand).

Competition | Content | Timing

Evaluate Your Business Competition – Your social media virtual assistant can review your competitor’s social media channels to determine what is working for them. Then conclusions can be drawn that will influence your business SM campaigns.

Create Content Specific To Your Brand Audience – Social media is all about content. Consequently, your social media virtual assistant will be challenged to create content consistent with your brand themes and message.

Timing In Social Media And Life is EVERYTHING – Posting content should be based on the best times to engage your audience. So, each social media channel has its behavior that your social media VA will need to take into consideration.

Review | Communication

Review, Adjust And Improve – Your business needs to review and adapt your social media campaigns based on what is and what is not working. So, your social media virtual assistant can use analytic data to offer recommended adjustments as your plan develops.

Communication Is A Two Party Exchange – Your social media activities is a sizeable business investment. So, your social media virtual assistant can help the communications with all vested interested parties, for example your boss.

2 – Social Media Channel Preparation

Next as part of social media virtual assistant services is preparing your business channels according to your social media marketing plan. Basically the time for talking is at end and now is the time to begin implementing the “Plan”. Following are basic steps prior to the formal launch of your business social media channels:

Set-Up

Set Up Of Social Media Channels – Whether it is just a new SM channel or several in parallel, the setup process takes time and attention to detail. While each channel has different specifications, all share similar concepts of precise text usage and high-quality graphic content. Consequently, your Social Media Virtual Assistant provides your business a clean, professional-looking channel with a “front face” that grabs people’s attention, creates a good first impression and a reason for a second look.

Channels

Research Of Social Media Channel Content – Your Social Media Virtual Assistant will need to research the right content to connect to the right audience. Then this converts “followers” into loyal customers, and potentially a sizeable following creates a boost to your brand. Of course, the “right audience” should correspond to your target audience, otherwise, you are not aligned with your SM marketing plan.

Calendar

Social Media Content Calendar – A Social Media Virtual Assistant is responsible for organizing and managing a social media content calendar. Basically, this is to make content easier for companies to plan and schedule across the accounts they manage. Furthermore, there will be a different calendar for each different social media channel since each is a little bit different in its needs. Finally, the goal is to consistently post great content, consistent with your business themes, while allowing flexibility for adjustments.

3 – Social Media Virtual Assistant Services Publication

Now comes one of the fun parts of social media virtual assistant services which is developing the content. Overall, content is the currency of the social web, since it eventually pays the bills. Correspondingly your Social Media Virtual Assistant is the key component in creating content to feed the insatiable appetite of your business social media channels. So, let’s discuss the content development process in more detail.

IDEA | VISUAL | CURATION

Creating Content Always Starts With An Idea – The idea should be relevant to your target audience, should interest them, should educate them, and should engage them with your brand. Then it is finding the materials, selecting the type of package, and delivering them in both written and visual form like a birthday cake with flaming candles. Lastly, your desire is a positive emotional response that leads the reader to take the desired action.

Social Media Is A Visual Medium – The majority of interactions using social media channels are via mobile telephones. Hence the importance of eye-catching visual images to complement copy and stimulate a click to your business website or blog post. So, your Social Media Virtual Assistant should have a keen eye for the visual, basic skills for editing (each SM channel has different needs), experience with graphic design templates, and where to source stock photographs for the economy.

Content Curation Passes The Good Stuff To Your Business Network – Your Social Media Virtual Assistant scoured the Internet for sources of relevant information, organizes it, and shares the best to your social media channels. Basically, your SM virtual assistant does the searching, sifting, selecting, and organizing of “good stuff” that your business network of connections and followers will appreciate. Consequently, the benefit to your business network is that you become the “go-to expert”, establishing more credibility and worth for your brand.

COPY | SCHEDULING

Copy For Social Media Posts – Effective copy for a social media post has to cut through the noise, stimulate conversation, and create an emotional connection behind the post. Accordingly, your Social Media Virtual Assistant has the skills and understanding of the differences between the different social media channels. Also, it helps to have a keen sense of human behavior and humor.

Scheduling of Social Media Posts – Your Social Media Virtual Assistant has a publishing calendar to follow for posting content. However, with multiple channels and volume, it increasingly becomes very time-consuming. So, there are various automation tools (e.g., Hootsuite) that help automate this process across multiple channels that should be considered to better maximize the productivity of your social media VA.

DISCLOSURE: Nexus Teleservices is a Nearshore Virtual Assistant Services business provider.

4 – Website Blog Publication

Social media virtual assistant services may also involve publication activities for your business website blog. Since a blog is very different from a social media channel, it is important understand their differences. Also, a business needs to evaluate its priorities and available resources required to support blogging as well. So here are some factors to consider about blog publication in more detail.

Your Exclusive Domain – Your business blog provides content that does not share space with others. Rather, once a reader visits your blog, it is one post followed by a series of other blog posts. Since you exclusively control the content, your business doesn’t compete for the reader’s attention, allowing you to develop a stronger community. Conversely, because the timeline keeps on updating, social media is constantly filled with competition.

Blog Content Differences – As mentioned, your business blog is dedicated to a more specific audience than social media. As such your blog audience has a higher expectation for article style, detail, and depth. Additionally, the reader will be investing more time reading your business blog article versus a brief social media post. Basically, it is a difference between quality (blog) versus quantity (social media).

The skillset of Virtual Assistant – While your Social Media Virtual Assistant will be very familiar with your brand, products, and services, this may/may not extend to creating original, detailed blog content. Often this responsibility falls to the business marketing “expert”, which creates the preliminary materials, references, and notes.  Later the social media VA repackages the business blog post in style and format  Additionally, the research (e.g., keywords, SEO), the software tools, and maintenance support are different from social media. Finally, not all social media VA’s have the experience.

5 – Social Media Virtual Assistant Services Performance Evaluation

At the end of the day you have to answer a fundamental question: Is your social media business investment achieving the goals and results desired? Accordingly, social media virtual assistant services provide the business management the data and analysis to reach an answer. So, let’s review the factors that will help you make an informed decision in greater detail.

Data | Analytics

It All Starts With The Data – Social data is generated anytime anyone post information on social media. For example, this data is created by consumers such as comments, likes, shares, retweets, etc.  These reflect the content published by social media publishers like your business.

Social Media Analytics – This is all about the measurement of social media data. For example, this would include the performance of your social media channels, your marketing campaigns, your competitors, and other brands. Unquestionably social media analytics provides access to the world’s largest focus group. This is where consumers discuss and critique products, services, brands, quality of customer service, your competitors, and of course, politics.

Why | Reporting

Why Use Social Media Analytics – It is all about understanding your audience. Specifically, what social media channels does your audience use? When should you post? What type of content is most effective? What does your competition do well? So, you can replicate their successes and avoid their failures. Obviously, the result is that you can make more informed business decisions.

Social Media Analytics Reporting – Time to present raw data into a usable form.  Basically it is converted into a visual form with graphs and pie charts. So, this is where your Social Media Virtual Assistant helps management evaluate their investment and make adjustments. Each social media channel provides their own unique data analytics. The social media VA “maps” the different data sets to the business goals (new customers, sales, website visits, etc.) Finally, It is important to not confuse data with information, where the latter allows a business to make informed decisions.