4 reasons using existing employees to manage your social media is a bad idea
As more and more businesses see the real and measurable benefits that social media can deliver, they are trying to find inexpensive ways to keep up. The usual approach has been to put existing employees in charge of their social media management. But all too often, social media tasks and development that are simply “added on” to the responsibilities of existing employees are not done well.
Many Health Nutrition brands are home grown, and their culture is extremely employee-focused. The idea of promoting from within probably seems natural. But if you want your social media efforts to drive traffic and conversions, you should avoid tasking an existing employee with the challenge. Hiring a full-time Social Media Strategist or a social media agency is an absolute must. Here are 4 reasons why:
Managing Social Media is a Full-Time Job
If you have talented and motivated employees, and you’d like to keep them, asking them to do two jobs instead of one is not wise. Yes, social media can be fun, but not when you are trying to manage it on top of a normal workload. To do social media well, your brand will need a dedicated employee that fully understands how it works and how to implement effective social campaigns.
Your Employees Aren’t Social Media Experts Promoting an existing employee to Social Media Manger is probably also not a good idea unless you are certain that he or she is a social media expert. Eager employees may claim to be experts because they have Facebook accounts or send tweets a few times a week, but that doesn’t equip them to manage something as important as your company’s social image. Social Media experts regularly research and use the latest and greatest applications to help generate interest and drive conversions, and they understand how to keep your brand image and personality consistent across social media networks.
Your Employees May See Limited Possibilities
Again, you may have wonderfully talented employees, but if their understanding of social media is limited to personal use, they don’t know what they don’t know. The reason you should hire a Social Media Strategist is to make sure you are maximizing your reach. A qualified expert will leverage social media tools that are right for your business. And he or she will be able to come up with creative ways to capture your target’s attention.
Existing Employees May Interject Personal Viewpoints
If you aren’t convinced that you need to hire a social media agency or a dedicated Social Media Strategist, here is one final word of warning: When you allow an employee to post comments, respond to your customers or tweet thoughts on a daily basis, you are giving them free reign to express themselves as a representative of your company. A social media expert knows how to appeal to a target audience while remaining neutral about “hot button” issues. You’ll want to be sure that the person you choose to be the voice of your brand understands the possible impact of every word or image he or she posts.
If you enjoyed this article you may also be interested in reading:
Social Media Marketing Strategies for Your Health Nutrition Brand
Improve Your Health Nutrition Marketing with Clear Communication
Challenging Consumer Assumptions with Health Nutrition Marketing
photo credit: <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwarby/4915970843/”>wwarby</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/”>cc</a>
Jessica is a competitive athlete and the President of Energize HNM, a health and nutrition marketing agency. Jessica is committed to supporting health brands of every size by helping them define their missions and connect with their customers on a deeper, more meaningful level.