Nowadays, you don’t have to outspend your competitors to beat them—you have social media. It can be your arena to reach your market and gain brand recognition without bleeding your pockets dry.
That’s one thing that businesses in the past did not have that you can leverage today to maintain an online presence. But, of course, you can’t do it all alone. You need someone with social media knowledge to produce impactful results. As such, hiring a virtual assistant and social media manager is becoming everyone’s next best move.
Both can push your sales to crazy heights on your social media platforms by creating reliable content and engaging followers in real time.
Let’s learn the differences between a virtual assistant and a social media manager and why it’s good for your organization to have them on your team.
A social media manager is a specialist who manages your social media accounts. They are responsible for developing social media strategies, creating and posting content, responding to comments and managing your campaigns and more.
A virtual assistant is a contractual remote worker who offers business-related services ranging from administrative and creative to technical.
The many responsibilities of a remote worker include answering phone calls, managing schedules and bookkeeping.
VAs are highly skilled at streamlining processes and systems to enhance productivity and efficiency.
The main difference between a virtual assistant and a social media manager is the scope of their respective responsibilities.
The former has a broader set of duties, while the latter specializes in social media.
This means that your virtual assistant will not just create and share posts on your Instagram account; they will also handle your database management. On the other hand, a social media manager mainly works closely with the marketing department to provide a voice for your brand across social channels.
Another difference is the skill sets. The typical virtual assistant has the proficiency to handle administrative tasks. They have excellent communication, organizational and management skills to meet deadlines and produce high-quality results.
Meanwhile, a social media manager has an in-depth understanding of your social media management needs. They are adaptable to trends and tools and skilled at analyzing performance analytics and driving engagement and growth.
Yes. There are many business owners and entrepreneurs who work with virtual assistants to manage and maintain their online presence.
Based on the survey of successful virtual assistants in 2019, the most in-demand skill was social media management.
VAs with social media management expertise can support you with various tasks, such as crafting engaging content, scheduling posts and analyzing the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.
However, it’s important to note that different types of virtual assistants exist. While VAs have plenty of skills to show off, you need to hire a specific remote worker with the knowledge and experience in social media management.
Being on social media is going to help your small business connect with everyone—at least over 5 billion of them.
Now, when it comes to the nitty-gritty business of social media management, your social media virtual assistant will take care of that.
So, what can you expect from your mighty social media VA?
A skilled social media virtual assistant knows how to effectively manage your multiple social media accounts. They can automate routine tasks, monitor performance, provide insights and manage interactions without you getting bothered by them.
As a small company, you have your own niche on social media that you want to hit. Generalized content won’t cut it out; you need campaigns that will appeal to your specific market.
Outsourcing a VA will make it work for you. They can create catchy captions and compelling visuals that will resonate with your targeted audience.
If you think that your virtual assistant for social media is only good at managing your schedule, you’re wrong. They also know how to schedule your content at peak times for maximum impact. This way, you can stay on top of your followers’ minds across all social media networks.
You can extensively conduct lead generation using social media all you want, but without follow-ups via email communications, for example, it’s still going to be difficult to turn prospects into customers.
If marketing and following up are giving you a headache, a virtual assistant can carry the workload and free up your time.
Your social media virtual assistant can help you stay up-to-date. With their gathered information, they can offer recommendations for features to explore and new strategies to try. They can help boost your online visibility by launching campaigns and partaking in trending conversations.
Yes, virtual assistants and social media managers can support your various business needs in various capacities. However, these two thrive in different environments, offering unique skill sets to the table.
Understanding this distinctiveness should be put into consideration before deciding which one of them is fit to support your digital marketing efforts.
A virtual assistant can streamline your daily operations and free up your time to do something more important. In contrast, a social media manager’s sole job is to expand your reach and improve your online presence.
A general VA can support your social media efforts, but they may lack the expertise to truly boost online visibility, the way a social media manager could. This is why, before hiring a virtual assistant, you should look for a certain type of remote worker with the level of social media specialization you need.That’s where a virtual assistant for social media comes in.
Social media managers are lifesavers, but they’re also quite expensive to hire compared to a virtual assistant with social media expertise.
Let’s take a look at the immediate advantages of hiring a VA as your digital marketing assistant:
We have a niche virtual assistant (in social media) with experience, training and a level of education that can turn things around for your social media platform.
These are not the typical VAs who handle repetitive tasks; they’re highly qualified to plan and execute social media strategies and recommend insights on each channel. What’s even better is that you have a wide pool of social media VA professionals to choose from.
Hiring a full-time social media manager is downright expensive. You wouldn’t be just paying for the salary but also for the rent, utilities, office equipment and compensation benefits.
And in an eight-hour workday, you won’t always get the kind of productivity you can squeeze out from your social media virtual assistant, who works and gets paid by the hour.
Even virtual assistants with superb skills don’t demand higher pay. They are very flexible and can work around your set budget.
Excellent customer service is the foundation of a successful business enterprise. And it’s not just us talking, but 89% of consumers.
In this aspect, a VA can offer 24/7 social media support. Since they live in different time zones, they can cover odd hours beyond operation hours. You can assist and meet your customer’s expectations and also address trending matters in real-time.
A responsive social media channel is often perceived by consumers as professional and reliable, building a positive sentiment that can push your modern brand into the limelight.
How do you stand out as a small business in an industry with fierce competition?
It’s not easy to play with the big dogs in the market without a social media marketing expert watching over your social media maneuvers.
A virtual assistant skilled in the arts of social media management can keep track of what people are saying about your products and company. They’re round-the-clock and proactive at encouraging customers and strengthening bonds.
You can’t have people flocking to your channel if you don’t have fresh and valuable content to offer.
Outsourcing to a skilled VA takes care of the content creation for your company. Not just that, they can also help you reach the right people by posting content that is targeted to your audience. This will have a massive impact on engagements as well as conversions.
Isn’t investing in a social media virtual assistant worth it? They’re not just cost-effective but also productive and flexible, and they can maximize engagements on social media platforms. So, yes, it is worth it.
Entrust your social media marketing to an expert virtual assistant, and unleash the strength of your social media.