Five Reasons to Hire a Social Media Manager
Understanding the purpose of a Social Media Manager and whether or not you need one
As photographers, we wear many hats. Long before we even get in the car to go to the session, we have been emailing and educating clients, planning session flow, and prepping all of our gear. For most of us, we will be working on that session weeks after it is over. If only the job stopped there. Creating content for social media is its own full-time job. Blogs, website maintenance, and social media posts are all incredibly time-consuming. Unfortunately, most of us don’t have that extra time, and something ends up falling through the cracks.
One of the easiest things to pass over is your social media. As your social media manager, I create your content, pair it with your own images, and even make sure they get posted to your social media sites. Sound too good to be true? Here are five reasons why you should hire a social media manager.
Take Back Your Time
To create a sustainable, long-lasting business, you must implement systems that work with you to give you your time back. Photographer burnout is so real for so many of us, and that is partially due to it consuming every ounce of our day…on top of real life. We all know that feeling in late October when you have more sessions to edit than you have fingers and toes and twice as many sessions left in the year. The thought of getting on Instagram and creating an engaging post is laughable.
With a social media manager, not only do you not have to worry about coming up with an engaging post, but you don’t even have to worry about posting. Giving you one less thing on your to-do list and five more minutes to enjoy that cup of coffee, get in an extra snuggle or two, or even just sit and take a few deep breaths. Take the time back. You, your business, and your family deserve it.
Use Engagement to Grow Your Audience
As photographers, we want life-long clients. Clients who know and trust you and will come back for each milestone in life. Finding those clients can be challenging, but what better way to get to know you as a person and as a photographer than social media? It is through these platforms that your future clients develop the know, like, and trust factor. By creating social media posts that encourage engagement, your audience will grow naturally with followers who are more likely to become repeat customers.
Keeping Up with an Ever-Changing Landscape
Take a moment to think about what Instagram was like ten years ago. Then, it was only photos, all overly edited, and hashtags were mainly used to be clever than for purpose. So many things have changed and will continue to change. Having a social media manager will help you keep up with constant changes to the platforms that you use. Let me research and make the changes for you, giving you even more time back!
Reporting and Tracking
One of my favorite numbers to pay attention to is the engagement rate. This is a number based on the amount of interaction that you have when you post on social media. As your social media manager, I will not only calculate this number for you but also track which posts have better engagement than others. I love a stat and will report these stats to you monthly, so you don’t have to worry about it, which gives you more time back!
Personalized Posting
Before any posting, you and I will have a discovery call. During this call, I will do a deep dive into you, your business, and what your ultimate goal is with social media. One of the biggest concerns I hear prior to hiring a social media manager is photographers are worried that they will lose their voice in translation. This discovery call will ensure that I not only understand your voice but can speak in your voice as well. I will create personalized posts that resonate with your audience.
Social media is exhausting, but it doesn’t have to be. With a social media manager, the worry and stress of “What do I post today?” is removed and replaced with quality and engaging posts. Not only will you get your time back, but you will also see growth in your audience and how they are responding to each post.