6 Reasons Why You Need to Hire a Social Media Expert

“All ‘social media experts’ need to go die in a fire” – this was supposed to be the title of an article I recently read. In the end, its author decided to go with something a bit tamer, but he also stands by his claim.

Even if the article is rather old, it struck a chord with me. And I know it’s still being read and (ironically enough) shared on social media. This is how I got to read things like:

“Being an expert in social media is like being an expert at taking the bread out of the refrigerator.”

That wasn’t true when the article was written and it’s definitely not true now.

“Social media experts” don’t know this. They’ll build you a fan page, and when all that work doesn’t convert into new sales, they’ll simply say, “Well, we’ll just post more.”

Tell that to the sales reps who said they closed deals directly from social media.

It’s also about brevity. You know what the majority of people calling themselves social media experts can’t do, among other things? THEY CAN’T WRITE.

That may be true if you hire social media experts based on fee alone. But real experts in social media marketing and management have incredible copywriting skills.

I’ll stop with the quotes. The entire article is very close to being qualified as hate speech. It lies on no real arguments or statistics, just on a weird desire to throw dirt at an entire profession.

I absolutely don’t agree with the author. And it’s not just because of the social media statistics I read every day. It’s because I’ve seen amazing things happen for our clients just through savvy use of social media.

Drawing on the experience that my team and I accumulated, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that there are at least six reasons why you should hire a social media expert.

Yes, even if you are a marketer yourself.

6 Compelling Reasons to Hire a Social Media Expert

When someone says that being a social media expert is “like being an expert at taking the bread out of the refrigerator” what they mean is that social media requires no real skills. After all, if you can handle your own Facebook and Instagram profile, you can handle a business one, too, right?

Wrong!

Which brings us to reason #1 for hiring a social media expert.

1. It’s a Whole Different World

Business pages work completely different from personal profiles. And I’m not just referring to the different buttons and options you have for them. I’m also talking about how many people you can reach and the rules for posting.

For instance, if you post something that is not in accordance with one network’s rules on a personal profile, you may or may not be reported by a friend. If that happens, you will be banned for a couple of days.

If you do the same on a business profile, you have a much higher chance of being reported. People are more prone to take a stand against a message they disagree with if it comes from a company than if it comes from an individual.

When you hire a social media expert, the chances of this happening are incredibly low – if said person is worth their salt. It is their job to know the ins and outs and the particularities of every network.

2. Social Media Management Is Time-Consuming

Especially if you’re doing it right! Yes, you can schedule a week’s worth of posts in an hour. But only if you do it without any strategy in mind.

Otherwise, looking for the right content, researching the right hashtags, influencers, hot topics and many more is literally a full-time job. Plus, social media is not just about posting – it’s about being part of the conversation.

When you hire a social media expert, one of the first things they will do is connect with influencers in your field and engage them in conversations. This is how you attract valuable fans/followers and win brand awareness, not by bragging about how awesome your company is.

3. It’s more Cost Effective

I know what you’re thinking: how can paying yet a new fee can be cost effective. Well, it’s quite easy.

If you hire a social media expert, you can expect to pay less for ads and get better results. One of Idunn’s customers decreased their Facebook ads budget by 25% after two months with us. Why? They were getting more leads than they could handle at the moment. As soon as they hired new people, their ad budget got back to normal, of course.

I know that the Twitter or Facebook ads interfaces may look friendly. And, indeed, it is quite easy to set up a campaign. But optimizing it for the best price-quality ratio is a whole different story. It takes a lot of (costly) trial and error to get it just right.

Plus, even when you get the copy and targeting just right, you’ll be “safe” for a few days, a month at best. If you leave your ads ongoing without tending to them, you might as well throw the money out of a window.

4. Your Entire Strategy Will Be Refreshed

When you hire an external marketing strategist, you know your strategy needs a make-over. But breathing fresh life into it is never a bad idea.

Even if you hire a social media expert just for daily management and marketing, you will still draw inspiration from their work. At Idunn, we work on both strategy consulting and management. Quite often, we get messages from clients saying that the latest thing we posted on their accounts inspired them to try a new approach or write a new blog post.

No matter how confident you are in your strategy, extra input never hurts. Bonus: if the input comes from someone outside your company, who can literally cast a fresh pair of eyes on things, you stand to gain a lot.

5. You’ll Get ROI-Oriented Reports for Every Dollar You Invested

Just like blogging or content marketing, social media is not a goal in itself. It doesn’t really matter how many followers you have if they are bought followers.

What matters is the way social media helps your business goals. In other words, the way social media can boost your profit.

When you hire a social media expert, you should receive detailed reports about the campaigns you are running and the evolution of your profiles. A good consultant will not just tell you how many new likes you got; they will also explain why they matter to your business and offer insight into the type of customers your social media channels attract.

6. You Can Avoid Spreading Yourself too Thin

One of the most common mistakes business owners make is trying to be everywhere. On every social network. “A friend told me Instagram is cool”. “My son loves Snapchat”. “One of our clients raves about LinkedIn”.

I’ve heard all of these and a ton of variations on them hundreds of times. Yes, all those points may be valid – your friends, family and even some clients have clear preferences when it comes to picking social media networks.

But the social media expert you hire can tell you precisely what the buying habits of your target audience are and what social network they like to “hang out” on. They know which industry to pair with each network and they can offer valuable advice on whether you should try that “new, up and coming” network or not.

Looking to hire social media experts that can help you reach your business goals? Your improved ROI is just a contact form away: