As the Director of Social Media for Heron Agency, one of my least favorite things is to hear a business owner say, “My (insert family/friend here) is on Instagram/Facebook/LinkedIn, and they manage my social channels!” Let’s be honest, knowing how to post a picture on Instagram doesn’t make anyone a social media guru. Certainly anyone can post on social channels, but are they able to optimize posts, ensure follower acquisition, maintain engagement and exceed ROI expectations? We can – one of our most recent campaigns, MIRACLE The Musical, generated a 5,000% ROI just through social media. The show’s producer, Senator Billy Marovitz, loved our work so much that we were hired for his other projects – a true testament to how we do things.
You would be surprised how many people think they understand social media just because they manage their own online profiles. It’s mind-boggling and something brands and businesses should pay closer attention to when deciding between an agency, in-house position or freelancer, because it can be the quickest way to make (or lose) money. Below are the top 5 reasons you need to hire a social media agency for your company now.
You Get Experience
We have been managing social media accounts before Facebook Business Manager was even a reality – that’s practically prehistoric in the digital realm. Doing this for so long has allowed us to truly grow with all the platforms and understand their ever-changing algorithms each and every day. Not many people know that social media is a blend of mathematical calculations, highly educated guesses from past experiences and creativity in art. Those three factors need to work seamlessly together in order to create a successful social campaign. One small change in targeting or picking the wrong image can severely impact your overall campaign and therefore lose money.
You Get a Team
When you hire a freelancer or decide to have an in-house person handle your Social Media, you have one person’s time and that is it. They might be extremely creative, but there will be a point when creative burnout hits… and it will happen. With an agency, not only are you getting someone who knows how to manage your account but you are getting a whole team of creatives with different experiences and perspectives. We take pride when clients tell us we come to the table with the most out-of-the-box ideas, because it’s true! Our ideas are endless and you will have a powerhouse behind you when you hire an agency with a lot of people’s eyes on it every day.
You Get the Right Tools
Social media management can be an all-consuming activity if you don’t have the right tools in place. Sure, you can check analytics through Facebook and Instagram, but it won’t give you the same data as a fully integrated management platform that includes social listening, monitoring, reporting, etc. Both Facebook and Instagram platforms also limit the durations of their reporting, which can be a deterrence when you want to pull a quarterly or annual report. As an agency, we have that info and can pull any report at any given time. Don’t forget – social media management tools are not cheap so you will want to consider an agency that has one.
You Get Passion
I’ll be the first to admit, Social Media is not an easy job. Think about it – you’re sitting behind a computer all day being bombarded with constant messaging whether it’s political, superficial, materialistic, etc. while managing people’s accounts and reputations – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. It takes a toll on one’s mental health. Social Media managers don’t get to sign off at 5pm every day and take off on the weekends. That’s not realistic. That is why it is 100% imperative to hire an agency who genuinely has a passion for what they do. They need to live and breathe Social Media at all times in order to stay on top of the latest trends, current events and industry news. If they don’t, your brand will fall flat and no one will be interested.
You Save Time & Money
Many people think hiring an agency is expensive, but trust us – it’s not. It is way more timely and cost effective to hire an agency that knows what they are doing versus hiring a person that needs to be interviewed, trained, etc. with the potential for them to not work out. With an agency, we are ready to hit the ground running as soon as you sign on the dotted line. Due to our experiences, we already know what works and what doesn’t work because we touched so many industries. Not many people can say that, but it is one of the things that sets our agency a part from the rest.
Interested in taking your social platforms to the next level with Heron Agency? Feel free to reach out to us at info@heronagency.com or 773.969.5200!
