How to Successfully Delegate Social Media

Social media has become a primary way for people and businesses to connect and engage online. According to datareportal, there are nearly 5 billion social media users worldwide as of October 2023, representing over 60% of the global population. With the meteoric rise of platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and more, having an active social media presence is crucial for any business wanting to build brand awareness and connect with customers. 

However, properly managing social media accounts takes consistent effort. From crafting engaging posts to monitoring comments and analytics, it can quickly eat up time better spent on core business activities. The solution is delegating social media management to a dedicated virtual assistant. This allows you to reach social media goals without sacrificing your schedule.

Social media is a crucial part of any modern business, but it can be incredibly time consuming to manage. Delegating your social media management to a dedicated expert can provide huge benefits:

- They have expertise in social media platforms and best practices. A social media manager will have extensive knowledge of each platform's algorithms, features, and best practices. They can optimize your posts and strategy for each platform.

- **More engagement.** By consistently posting quality content and actively engaging with your audience, a social media manager can help grow your followers and increase engagement. Studies show brands see more likes, shares, and comments when they delegate social media management (Alt360).

- Regain your time.Managing social media accounts takes hours each week. When you hand this off to an expert, you free up your time to focus on higher priority tasks 

Delegating social media to a coordinator who lives and breathes these platforms is the best way to grow your followers, engagement, and brand awareness.

Engaging with your audience on social media platforms is critical for building brand awareness and loyalty. According to research, active social media engagement can increase sales by up to 800%.

To see results, you need to commit to consistently posting quality content and community management. This means responding to comments, questions, and feedback in a timely manner. It humanizes your brand and encourages positive conversations.

With billions of active social media users worldwide, platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter offer immense potential to connect with current and potential customers. But it takes time and effort to create shareable content, monitor discussions, and maintain an active presence in your niche community.

Delegating community management frees you up to focus on high-level business strategy while your social media manager handles day-to-day engagement. They will get to know your brand voice and identify new opportunities to organically grow your following. With a dedicated specialist on your team, you can transform social media from an extra task into a valuable sales channel.

Running a business takes a tremendous amount of time and effort. As a business owner, your time is scarce and there are only so many hours in a day. According to a VerticalResponse survey, 43% of small business owners spend 6 or more hours per week on social media marketing alone. 

That's a huge chunk of time that could be better spent focusing on core business activities like meeting with clients, developing new products and services, and analyzing growth and revenue metrics. By delegating social media management to a dedicated specialist, you free yourself up to reallocate those precious hours to the projects that will have the biggest impact on your bottom line.

Rather than getting bogged down managing multiple social profiles, you can devote energy to high-level strategy and planning. Let your social media manager handle creating content, engaging with customers, and reporting on performance. With the day-to-day tasks off your plate, you'll finally have time and mental space to focus on growing your business.

Many business owners have concerns about handing off social media responsibilities to a virtual assistant. The two biggest worries tend to be:

It's understandable to be anxious that an outsider won't be able to capture your brand's unique tone and voice on social media. However, this can be mitigated by providing detailed brand guidelines and content templates to your social media manager. As explained on Streambank Media, "Give your VA an overview of your brand along with guidelines on your target audience, messaging, voice, and tone."

Allowing someone else access to your social accounts can feel risky. According to The Unforeseen Pitfalls of Delegating Social Media, compromising your login credentials is an "ethical and legal landmine." A safer approach is to add your VA or remote worker as a collaborator which allows them to post and engage without seeing sensitive info. You can also enable two-factor authentication.

Social media platforms are constantly evolving. Algorithms that control what content users see are updated frequently, sometimes as often as multiple times per year. For example, Facebook and Instagram change their algorithms multiple times per year. In addition to changing algorithms, platforms are constantly rolling out new features. Instagram Reels, Twitter Spaces, and LinkedIn Stories are just some of the latest feature additions. Staying on top of new features takes time and effort.Social media platforms also have extensive and frequently updated terms of service. Violating terms can result in account suspensions or bans. A social media manager will be familiar with each platform's rules and regulations.Handing off social media management ensures your brand follows best practices and complies with each platform's unique terms, features, and algorithms.

Social media manager roles can vary greatly depending on the needs of each business. Some key responsibilities often included in the scope are:

- Content creation - Developing engaging social media content including text, images, video, and graphics that align with brand guidelines. Tasks may involve brainstorming topics, writing posts, editing visuals, etc 

- Community management - Managing the brand's social community by responding to comments, questions, and messages in a timely manner. This helps build relationships and loyalty with followers  

- Analytics and reporting - Analyzing platform insights and generating reports to track the effectiveness of campaigns. Metrics like engagement, reach, conversions, and ROI should be monitored. Findings are used to refine strategies

 Clearly outlining these key duties will help set appropriate expectations for your new social media manager. You may also want to specify the number of posts per week/month expected across each platform. This ensures alignment on the scope from the start.

Social media hacking is unfortunately a common thing but you can avoid it by:- Creating a strong password (a password manager like Dashlane can generate one for you and keep it secure)- Inviting your social media virtual assistant as a collaborator instead of sharing your personal login credentials- Requiring two-factor authentication 2FA- Assigning specific permissions- Having an action plan ready in case of a security breach The key is to give your virtual assistant enough access to do their job successfully while also protecting your accounts from being compromised. Using tools like collaborator permissions and 2FA provides security without sacrificing productivity. And being prepared with an action plan gives you peace of mind.

Your social media manager needs the right resources to succeed. Be sure to provide them with brand guidelines, including your brand voice, tone, messaging, and audience. Share visual assets like logos and product photos so they can create on-brand content. Canned responses for common questions and comments also help your social media manager engage consistently with your audience. According to social media marketing resource Social Champ, canned responses raise response rates by 51%. Equipping your social media manager with guidelines, assets, and canned responses ensures they understand your brand and keeps messaging consistent. As recommended in this list of top social marketing resources, provide a social media SOP or playbook as an easy reference tool.

It's important to review your VA's early work closely to ensure they understand your brand and messaging. In the beginning, check every scheduled post and story for accuracy, tone, grammar, links, imagery, and publishing dateProvide prompt feedback on any corrections or tweaks needed. As they become more familiar with your brand's voice and guidelines, you can pull back to periodic spot checks. Continue to review a sampling of scheduled content weekly or monthly. Random checks help ensure quality remains high even months into the partnership. If you notice errors creeping back in, have an open discussion to realign. With steady feedback and oversight, your VA will get a strong grasp of your brand's social media presence.

Giving regular feedback is crucial for helping your VA improve their work on your social media accounts. Provide constructive criticism on aspects like their content calendar, platform focus, visual assets, and tone. Ask yourself questions like:- Does their messaging align with your brand identity and target audience? - Are they promoting certain products or services that you want to highlight more?- Could the images and videos they use be more eye-catching?When giving feedback, focus on being clear, specific, and solution-oriented. Set up weekly or bi-weekly touchpoints to provide feedback consistently. Avoid vague criticisms that don't provide direction. Frame feedback as suggestions for improvement rather than just criticism.Also make sure to actively listen to any feedback from your VA. As social media experts, they likely have great ideas for engaging your audience and growing your accounts. Be open-minded about suggestions for new platforms, content formats, and growth strategies. While you ultimately get final say on your accounts, incorporating your VA's input can lead to better results. Giving and receiving feedback helps create an environment of open communication and constant improvement. This ensures your social media presence stays fresh, engaging, and aligned with your goals.

Delegating social media management frees up your time to focus on business priorities and goals. The opportunity cost of managing social media yourself is huge - one study estimated it at over $30,000 per year in lost productivity. Rather than spending hours creating content, engaging with followers, and analyzing metrics, you could be dedicating that time to core business activities.

For example, you could be:

- Developing new products or services 
- Building strategic partnerships
- Planning marketing campaigns 
- Improving internal processes
- Focusing on high-value clients 
- Working on long-term vision and goals

Every minute spent on low-value tasks like posting on social media is a minute not spent growing your business. When you delegate social media management, you free up your calendar and mind to focus on the projects that will take your company to the next level. Your time is precious - spend it where it really counts.

Hiring a social media manager can be a daunting task, especially if you are looking to hire remotely. While you may be tempted to post on job boards or freelance sites, working with a specialized agency offers unique benefits for finding an expert social media professional.Agencies like Zabota have an extensive network of qualified candidates that go through a rigorous screening process. This saves you time from having to vet candidates yourself. Their recruiting specialists can help match you with someone who has the exact social media skills and experience you need. For example, Zabota works with candidates who have at least 2 years of professional social media management experience. They also evaluate personality fit and English fluency. This results in pre-vetted candidates that are guaranteed to meet your standards.Zabota also handles the entire hiring process for you. This includes conducting interviews, skills assessments, reference checks, and preparing the final offer and contracts. They can even set up payroll so you don't have to worry about processing payments or taxes. Overall, hiring through an agency like Zabota simplifies the process of finding an expert social media manager. Their dedicated team handles all the legwork of recruiting, screening, hiring, and onboarding on your behalf. This ensures you can focus your time on running your business while they find you the ideal candidate to delegate your social media to.

Delegating your social media management is a great way to free up your time while still maintaining an active online presence. Here's a quick summary of the key steps we covered:- Identify your social media goals so you can communicate expectations clearly to your virtual assistant- Specify the scope and responsibilities of the social media manager role  - Safely provide access to your social media accounts through tools like two-factor authentication and collaborator permissions  - Equip your VA with resources like brand style guides, ideal customer profiles, and content guidelines- Conduct regular quality checks, especially when first starting out- Provide constructive feedback to help your VA improve, and be open to their suggestions too- Enjoy having your time back to focus on core business activities while your audience continues engaging with your brand on social mediaWith the right strategy, you can build an effective partnership with a virtual assistant to meet your social media objectives. If you want to skip the hiring process entirely, we can match you with a pre-vetted social media coordinator from our global talent network. Start hiring a world-class remote assistant in just a few clicks.