7 Signs It's Time to Hire a Social Media Marketing Agency for Your Small Business

Everyone is on social media. And everyone is talking on social media.

But are they talking about your business? And if so, what are they saying?

The small businesses that get the most out of social media control the conversation. They post consistently with content that:

• Fits their brand,
• Promotes engagement, and
• Builds a community.

This exact combination delivers social media marketing results that enhance your bottom line by attracting new customers and building loyalty with existing ones.

It's not always an easy process, though.

Many small businesses don’t have the time or resources to get the most out of their social media marketing. Without an active social media presence, it's easy to miss out on crucial opportunities for engagement, brand awareness, and a competitive edge.

If your small business falls into this category, it might be time to hire a social media marketing agency that can get the most out of your online presence. In this article, we'll address the seven most common signs your business needs a social media marketing agency to help you see a better return on your digital marketing investment.

Why Small Businesses Use Social Media 

Before we identify those seven signs — and determine whether you need a full service marketing agency — it's worth outlining why social media is such a great channel for marketing your business through digital solutions. It's common to associate social media platforms with viral sensations and big brands, but it’s a powerful tool for businesses of all sizes looking to grow.

It's become a dynamic place where future customers for your business not only go to interact, but to actually shop for services and products — especially from local businesses. These potential customers associate local businesses with their real-life community and expect to see it engaging in their online communities as well.

That's why social media has become indispensable for local businesses wanting to:

• Connect with customers in their community,
• Build brand awareness, and
• Generate sales.

Your content can showcase your brand, values, and offerings to customers online who truly want to engage.And that's just the beginning. Strong content on your social media channels can boost search engine optimization efforts and help paid advertising become more successful and profitable — ultimately driving more revenue directly to your business.

Why is social media so effective? It allows a business to guide its audience through a customer journey towards purchase — all while making potential customers feel as though they're part of a community.

Benefits of Using Social Media For Small Businesses 

The benefits speak for themselves:

1. Increased Visibility

Consistently posting content helps build visibility.

Getting in front of thousands of potential customers for a fraction of the cost of traditional media is a major cost-saving advantage of digital marketing services. By maintaining a cohesive and recognizable brand image across posts and feeds, businesses can build trust and familiarity among their audience. This supports awareness for the business in their local communities and contributes to increased interest in a product or service offering.

To go one step further, digital marketing services like social media marketing can further enhance your online presence and drive growth.

2. Community for Conversions

Word-of-mouth referrals have long been the gold standard for local business customer acquisition, but social media has the potential to amplify organic referrals even further. When a small business keeps its social media up to date and gets its community involved, it's more likely that other people will share content, engage, and maybe even send it to their friends.

In fact, according to a study from LYFE Marketing, 71% of consumers who have had a positive experience with a brand on social media will recommend that brand to their friends and family. Social media basically gives your happy customers a megaphone.

This is part of the reason why social media offers small businesses an incredible high conversion rate. Customers interacting with businesses on their social media feeds are primed and ready to buy. In 2023, Forbes reported that 76% of social media users have made a purchase based on a brand’s social media posts.

Your consistent posting increases the likelihood of new customers.

3. Performance Analytics and Data

The easy use of analytics on social media platforms also allows businesses to refine their strategies and improve results.  Regularly analyzing performance data helps businesses understand what works and what doesn’t. This data-driven approach enables informed decision-making beyond the content that you post.

As social media management takes time and resources, analytics are especially helpful for businesses to understand and monitor the return on investment (ROI) of their digital marketing efforts. Without having a clear understanding of what social media marketing is delivering to the business, it's difficult to make strategic decisions over its effectiveness.

That's where social media analytics allow business owners insight into how their overall content marketing strategy is impacting the business and where they can pivot or make tweaks in order to maximize the impact of their social media efforts and paid advertising spend.

Social Media 101: What Are Successful Small Businesses Doing on Social Media?

We've discussed the benefits of using social media, but it's important to also understand the best practices to follow that will allow you to reap those benefits and drive results.

To get the most out of social media marketing, your content marketing should stay on brand, reveal awareness and engagement with trends, and maintain consistency and responsiveness.

1. Keeping Content On Brand

Strong content marketing strategies are vital for social media. The content you produce should be a reflection of your brand and the values of your business.

That means being authentic, and building a genuine connection with your audience. Your posts should always reflect your business’s core values and mission while supporting your broader marketing strategies. This content marketing approach builds trust and a loyal community.

For example, if your business prides itself on sustainability, your content should consistently highlight eco-friendly practices and initiatives.

Hot Tip To Increase Brand Awareness:

• Visual consistency is essential for making your brand easily recognizable. Use consistent colors, fonts, and styles across all your social media posts as a reflection of your brand. This uniformity ensures that your social media content aligns with your brand’s visual identity, making it more memorable for your audience.

2. Awareness & Engagement with Trends

Keeping up with the latest social media trends is crucial for maintaining fresh and engaging content.

Social media trends can change rapidly, and staying current helps your business remain relevant and interesting to your audience. It’s not just about jumping on the latest fad, it's about finding what works for your brand, and using the opportunity to improve your relevance on social platforms.

Regularly monitor industry news and social media updates to identify new trends that you can incorporate into your social media strategy.

Hot Tip To Increase Brand Relevance:

• Engage in trending topics and hashtags relevant to your industry. This can significantly increase your visibility and engagement among those you want to reach. By participating in these trends, you join larger conversations and connect to a broader audience.

3. Consistency & Responsiveness

Maintaining a consistent posting schedule is vital for keeping your audience engaged and informed about your business. Regular posting ensures your followers always have fresh content to interact with, which helps maintain their interest and loyalty.

Develop a content calendar to plan your posts in advance, ensuring that you post regularly without overwhelming your audience.

Aside from regular posts, it is important to be available to your audience when they interact with you.

Hot Tip To Increase Brand Reputation:

• Responding quickly to comments and messages helps create a sense of community and trust. It shows that you value your audience’s input and are actively engaged in the conversation. Timely responses can turn social media followers into loyal customers and advocates for your brand. Set aside time each day to check your social media platforms and respond to any interactions promptly.

The Challenge for Small Businesses Using Social Media

With all of the benefits and opportunities of social media, why isn’t every small business using it?

Social media management isn't easy. Getting started and staying active on social media is full of challenges, especially for a small business owner with an already long to-do list.

Here are the hurdles that often get in the way of getting social media results:

Time Constraints

• Content Creation: Developing high-quality content that is in line with a content marketing strategy takes time and expertise that small business owners may not have.
• Engagement: Responding to comments and messages can be time-consuming, pulling you away from other critical tasks.
• Consistency: Regular posting requires a social media strategy and ongoing content creation, which can be challenging for busy entrepreneurs.

Lack of Strategy

• Understanding Backend Dynamics: Social media strategies require a deep understanding of platforms, algorithms, potentially innovative solutions, and social media best practices.
• Audience Engagement: Effectively engaging your target audience consistently to drive revenue requires knowing who they are and what resonates with them.

Unfocused Goals

• Performance Measurement: Knowing how to measure social media success and what metrics to track is crucial for refining your strategy to align with broader marketing strategies.
• Strategy Adjustment: Using data to refine and optimize campaigns can make a significant difference in achieving your goals.

7 Signs It’s Time to Hire a Social Media Marketing Agency

The benefits of social media are undeniable.

Now that we’ve identified some of the best practices to fully realize the benefits of social media marketing, and identified some of the challenges small businesses face in implementing those best practices, we can move on to the main event.

Here’s how to tell if it’s time to involve a digital marketing agency in your small business's social media marketing:

1. You Are Too Busy with Core Operations

As a small business owner, your primary focus is often on the core operations of your business. This can leave little to no time for effective social media management.

If you’re too busy to give your social media the attention it needs, hiring a digital marketing agency can ensure that your online presence remains active and engaging without taking time away from essential business activities.

2. Social Media Feels Like a Chore

Managing social media can often become a burdensome task that keeps getting pushed down your to-do list. If you find that keeping up with posts, comments, and messages feels more like a chore than an opportunity, it might be time to seek dedicated support.

Hiring an agency to take over content marketing responsibilities for your social media accounts can allow you to focus on what you do best — running your business.

3. You Are Not Consistent with Posting

Consistency is key to building a loyal audience on social media. If your posting schedule is irregular, it can negatively affect the performance of your social media strategy.

A marketing agency can establish and maintain a consistent posting schedule, ensuring your target audience stays engaged and your content reaches its full potential.

4. You Are Out of Ideas

Creative block is a common issue, especially when it comes to consistently generating fresh and engaging content.

If you struggle to come up with new ideas and your social media presence has become stagnant as a result, a social media marketing agency can inject creativity and innovation into your content marketing strategy, revitalizing your online presence.

5. You Do Not Have a Strategy in Place

A comprehensive social media strategy is crucial for success. If you lack a clear plan, you need expert guidance to develop and implement one.

Hiring a social media marketing agency can provide you with the strategic direction you need. They will work with you to create a detailed roadmap that aligns with your business goals and maximizes your social media impact.

6. You Are Not Seeing Engagement

If your current social media strategy isn’t yielding the desired results and you’re unsure how to adjust it using data and analytics, it might be time to call in the experts.

A social media marketing agency can analyze your performance data, identify areas for improvement, and implement strategies that boost engagement and drive better results.

7. You Are Ready to See a Return on Investment

If you’re eager to leverage social media to drive sales and grow your business, but lack the expertise to do so effectively, it’s a clear sign you need and are ready fro a digital marketing agency to step in and help.

An agency specializing in social media marketing can design and implement strategies tailored to your business goals, ensuring that your social media efforts translate into tangible returns.

How Social Media Marketing Agencies Get Results

There are many social media marketing firms out there. But you need one that will deliver results.

When you hire a digital marketing agency for social media management, you can overcome the common social media challenges businesses face and implement a well-managed social media strategy that ensures consistent, strategic, and effective engagement.

The results?

Greater growth for your social channels and increased profitability for your business.

Get Your Social Media Running Smoothly with Harvard Excelerate

If you lack in-house expertise, have limited time and resources, struggle with consistent posting, or need a more robust social media strategy, you need to reach out to Harvard Excelerate.

Our comprehensive social media marketing services are designed specifically to help small businesses thrive online, through our:

Expertise and Proven Track Record:

• Our expertise in social media management is backed by proven strategies to enhance online visibility, drive organic traffic, and boost engagement and conversions for small businesses.

Data-Driven Strategies

• By using data-driven strategies and paid advertising, we'll maximize the reach and impact of your social media campaigns. We use advanced analytics to monitor performance, understand audience behavior, and optimize for high efficiency and ROI.

Personalized Approach

• We tailor our digital marketing services to the needs of your business. Your success is our success. That's why we leverage our proven track record to craft strategies that make your brand stand out and connect deeply with your audience.

What You Get With Harvard Excelerate

Harvard Excelerate isn't just any social media agency. The expertise and data-driven approach outlined above helps us:

• Develop a customized social media strategy based on your business goals.
• Create engaging content that will reach more customers on social media.
• Optimize social media marketing and content marketing to deliver results.
• Ensure a consistent posting schedule to keep your social media presence current.
• Provide innovative solutions for on-brand and compelling creative content.

With a thorough social media management consultation, our team will focus on helping your business achieve your social media goals, and most importantly, drive revenue by reaching your customers online.

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to increase your growth and profitability using social media. Take the first step towards an online presence that will impact your bottom line.

Contact Harvard Excelerate today for a free quote.