Here are the big Facebook stats:
- 1.45 billion daily active users on average for March 2018
- 2.20 billion monthly active users as of March 31, 2018
That’s crazy. 1.45 billion people use Facebook every day.
And that’s just Facebook.
For the last 10 or so years marketers have been talking about social media and the ways to use it to eventually get people to buy something.
I wouldn’t say we’re at peak social media marketing. It even took a few decades to reach peak TV and even now we’re watching more content than ever. But if you’re looking to reach people it’s difficult to ignore social media.
I’ve heard business people say that Facebook’s platform helped swing the last US presidential election, but in the next sentence they say that they don’t believe that their target customer uses Facebook…
So that’s the pitch on using social media for your business. The next big question is:
Who should you hire to do it?
Here are some options…
#1. Full-Time
This is a big step for a lot of business leaders, but it’s probably the best option. You can test social media and see how things play out. But once you begin to see results and believe in the potential then you want to go all in.
You could start with the type of person from another point in this post, but a great place to end up, and the sooner the better, is with a full-time person focused solely on social.
Social media ends up being more work than most people think. It’s posting. It’s reading. It’s watching. It’s responding. It’s multimedia content creation and editing and all kinds of work.
#2. Part-Time, 100% Focus
You could hire someone that works for you part-time, but that has 100% focus on social media. This might be the next best step.
You can ease into things and save a little money, but it’s still good to have someone that’s 100% focused on social media.
Eventually you could then hire the person full-time, but if you’re strapped for cash or if you’re looking to test things out then this is a good route to take.
#3. Full-Time, Part-Time Focus
This is probably the most common type of person that businesses hire. And I don’t know that you really get the best results from it. I’ve experienced it. I’ve seen other businesses that do it.
You can certainly get results, but usually you don’t really get the full picture. The person may want to be involved in social media and may get frustrated by the lack of time they have. Or they may not want to be involved, but they’re the best person that’s already on the team.
#4. Intern
This is similar to #2 on the list. It’s kind of like the idea that you hire a young kid that “knows all about Facebook” to handle things.
There is some truth to that, but one tendency to watch for is micromanaging.
It doesn’t make much sense for a businessperson with little to no experience with social media to hire an intern with lots of experience using social media and then having the boss tell the intern exactly what to do.
Talk to the intern about your company values. Before you hire them learn about them. Hire someone you can trust.
Then let them have control. Use a soft hand when giving them directions.
The freedom you give them will allow the effort to succeed.
#5. Outsourced
If you’re not an expert in social media marketing or if you’re not interested in putting in the effort to learn then outsourcing might be a good option.
Some businesses think that their business is special. That’s true, but only to an extent. It will take a little time for an outsourced person to fully “get” your style, but they can pick up on it pretty quick.
And they usually also bring their focused experience and knowledge for social media marketing. They do it all the time.
Even if you hire a full-time person for the job it will take them time to learn your style. And they’ll probably never be as invested as you are as the owner, manager or whatever.
#6. Yourself
You can do it yourself. But you have to:
- Like social media marketing
- Have time to do it
If you can’t do both of those things you’re setting yourself up for failure. You’ll come to the conclusion that social media is a waste of time when really it was doomed from the start.
Conclusion
Social media marketing isn’t going away. It’s where most people are spending their time. You don’t have to do it. You don’t have to do anything with your business. But if you’re looking to test it out I’d recommend hiring someone that can focus on it 100% because that’s what it takes.